The Alabama Senate Tuesday passed a bill that would allow the state to borrow an additional $500 million for state prison construction.
SB 60, sponsored by Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Atmore, would increase the state’s borrowing power for prison projects to approximately $1.28 billion. Albritton, who said the economy could be “a little bit rocky,” said on the Senate floor Tuesday they don’t have to borrow the whole amount, but with the increase in building costs and an economy that’s expected to be “a little bit rocky,” this will put them in a comfortable position to finish the projects.
“It’s going to allow us to continue with the construction that’s ongoing, without stopping and without letting up,” Albritton said.
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Lawmakers approved $1.3 billion in 2021 to build two 4,000-bed men’s prisons in Elmore and Escambia counties. Lawmakers hope the new spaces will alleviate prison overcrowding, create safer environments for inmates and staff and increase space for rehabilitative programs.
But costs of the project have soared well beyond initial estimates. The price tag for the Elmore facility, named for Gov. Kay Ivey last year, has risen to over $1 billion. The plan received Democratic support on the Senate floor, with Senate Minority Leader Sen. Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, saying that “it’s not like this is just a hobby for us and we just want to build some prisons.”
“We’re here because we have a target on us, and we’ve seen in states like California and Carolinas, where the feds have gone in and taken over those prisons,” Singleton said.
Singleton did ask what increasing the borrowing power would do to the state’s credit rating. Albritton didn’t directly answer the question but said that “financially, we’re capable and able to handle this.”
“Our credit rating has improved substantially on the national and international market. We have made huge improvements in our standings,” Albritton said.
The Alabama Department of Corrections has been under scrutiny for prison conditions, staffing shortages and rising inmate populations. The U.S. Department of Justice sued Alabama in 2020, alleging violence in men’s prisons violated inmates’ Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment.
Albritton said that although the new prisons won’t address every lawsuit the Department of Corrections is in, it will be a “huge step in being able to correct those ills that we have.”
Singleton agreed, saying that Alabama has had “some real inhumane facilities – facilities really not built for human capacity” and that what lawmakers are doing is “number one, safety.”
“Not only safe for the inmate but safe for those people that we send in, those Alabamians that we send in there every day to do that job, which is not a sexy job,” he said.
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