Case must be made to keep prison open
Pennsylvania has no shortage of inmates. The current prisons are overcrowded and waiting the opening of two new complexes, one in Fayette County, to relieve the overflow. Even still, the forecast calls for quickly filling those beds. In light of this, it makes little sense, simply from the warehousing of inmates, to close the State Correctional Institution in Waynesburg.
From an economic perspective, the toll to law-abiding citizens that count on the prison for jobs and the impact of their paychecks on the local economy could be devastating for a distressed area.
Mothballing SCI-Waynesburg will also have a dramatic impact on the number of jobs available once the Fayette prison goes on line. Rather than the many new jobs the prison was expected to create, a mere shifting of jobs from Waynesburg will take place.
State Rep. H. William DeWeese and state Sen. J. Barry Stout, who both represent Greene County, are lobbying the Rendell administration hard to keep the SCI-Waynesburg open. That prison and one in Pittsburgh are scheduled to be shuttered under the austere budget that Rendell proposed and legislators quickly adopted.
While the governor’s second budget round includes investing in Pennsylvania’s economy by working to develop industry, it does not restore deep cuts initiated in the first round.
The governor has, however, put a temporary halt to plans to close SCI-Waynesburg pending further review of the costs.
There will be attempts by every department and every interest group to plea for more funding now that the budget is being revisited.
Not all, but some of this will be justified – keeping SCI-Waynesburg open is one.