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Contact: Max Hall
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Private Prison Ban Bill Passes Minnesota House Committee, Heads to General Register
Today, HF 1200 (Wolgamott), a bill to ban private prisons in Minnesota passed through House committee.
SOUTH SAINT PAUL, Minn. – AFSCME Council 5 Executive Director Julie Bleyhl and AFSCME Corrections Policy Committee (CPC) President and Corrections Officer Jeff Vars released the following statement after the unanimous passage of HF 1200 in the House Public Safety Finance and Policy Committee, heads to the House General Register:
“More than 2,000 AFSCME Council 5 state correctional officers and our entire union applaud the passage of HF 1200 in the House Public Safety Committee so we ensure that private prisons are banned in Minnesota once and for all," said Executive Director Julie Bleyhl. "Private prisons are immoral, more costly to the state, and encourage the profiteering off the back of human beings in order to pad profit margins of corporations rather than maintain public safety."
AFSCME Corrections Policy Committee President and Corrections Officer Jeff Vars said, "Private prison corporations put profits over the safety of staff and rehabilitation of inmates in state and local prisons and jails. When Corrections Corporation of America, now called CoreCivic, ran a private prison in Minnesota, they routinely failed to properly pay and train staff and completely ignored safety and security concerns brought forward by staff. Private prison corporations put our lives at risk in order to profit on staff assaults and failed inmate rehabilitation programming. They must be banned once and for all."
Executive Director Julie Bleyhl said, "Our union members have fought to pass a full ban on private prisons in Minnesota for more than 10 years and are excited to keep pushing this priority until it gets across the finish line. It is long past time to take a stand and live up to our state's values and declare that Minnesotans believe in public safety over corporate profit. We call on the Minnesota House and Senate to swiftly pass this legislation and send it to Governor Tim Walz for his signature."
We thank House Public Safety Chair Representative Kelly Moller for hearing this legislation and Representative Dan Wolgamott and Senator Clare Oumou Verbeten for leading the effort with our union to pass HF 1200 and SF 1241 so we can ban private prisons in Minnesota once and for all!
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AFSCME Council 5 is a labor union representing more than 43,000 workers who advocate for excellence in services for the public, dignity in the workplace, and opportunity and prosperity for all workers.
