Senator Cropsey asked and was granted unanimous consent to make a statement and moved that a statement be printed in the Journal.
The motion prevailed.
Senator Cropsey’s statement is as follows:
I rise to explain a very reluctant “yes” vote on this bill. When the current administration first took office, one of the first consequences in the Department of Corrections was that some information was no longer posted on the Internet, or it was posted as late as years afterwards. Only recently have they finally met their basic obligation of letting some sunshine into the MDOC process.
I am concerned that is all about to change. The media has reported about the speeded-up parole process this administration is using to empty prisons so they can be closed. The fig leaf the Michigan Department of Corrections holds out to the public is that the Michigan Prisoner Re-entry Initiative, or MPRI, is a safety net to keep the surge in parolees from victimizing us yet again.
I am holding in my hand a rather unsettling document. This summer, the department ended all of their contracts with the MPRI administrators a year early. They put out a new request for proposal, or RFP, to put in place a new contract. Remember, these are the community providers and administrators who actually comprise the safety net. Among some of the troubling elements of the RFP, the department boasts of using a risk assessment tool, COMPAS, to evaluate prisoners. But on page 10 of the contract, mental health issues are not even a part of the COMPAS evaluation.
On page 19, the Michigan Department of Corrections is reserving the right to not fund vendors chosen by the local administrators. So much for local input or local control. On page 31, “the state will have the right to recommend and approve in writing the initial assignment, as well as any proposed reassignment or replacement, of any key personnel.” On page 32, “contractor must not remove any key personnel from their assigned roles or the contract without the prior written consent of the state.” Talk about micromanagement, the department will now be telling groups like the United Way and the Michigan Works! Association how to operate. You might want to ask your local administrators how they feel about that part of the contract.
On page 33, the state reserves the right to approve or disapprove of any vendor chosen by the administrator. My question is, why even bother having an administrator? Worst of all, on page 29, section 2.031 in its entirety, “Media releases. News releases, including promotional literature and commercial advertisements, pertaining to the RFP and contract or project to which it relates shall not be made without prior written state approval, and then only in accordance with the explicit written instructions from the state. No results of the activities associated with the RFP and contract are to be released without prior written approval of the state and then only to persons designated.”
I can hardly believe what I’m reading. In 2009, under this administration, the MDOC is putting a gag order on every single administrator involved with the MPRI. Any information given to the media anywhere in the state must be written in Lansing, approved by Lansing, and then given only to whoever Lansing chooses to give it to. Systemic parole violations? You’ll never hear about them again—and no wonder. This spring, the department had the gall to tell our subcommittee that parolees who disappear are not failures. Lack of effective programming, which was how another state categorized the MDOC this summer? You’ll never hear about it. New crimes committed by parolees? You’ll never hear about it from the MPRI administrators.
Earlier this summer, I read this headline in the UAW 6000 newsletter: “MPRI program held together by chewing gum and bailing wire.” When the workers on the streets tell us we have a problem, we need to listen. Instead, this proposed contract is shutting down any public oversight of public safety. It shrouds the MPRI with an iron curtain of darkness. It is the most un-American contract I have ever read.
While I support this bill so our hardworking parole agents and tether monitors will get paid, we will regret the direction the department is taking this state. This contract and its soviet-style language ought to be a wake-up call to all of us. While I am voting for this bill, I am asking the administration, Madam Governor, rip up this contract.