November 25, 2008

REP. WALKER SUPPORTS DEFICIT PACKAGE
Emphasizes the need to address the incarceration of minors in adult prisons

Rep. Toni Walker, labeled the deficit mitigation package as "a positive first step," and urged legislators to seek creative solutions to the ongoing budget crisis. Rep. Walker noted that one piece of the puzzle would be to raise the minimum age for charging a juvenile criminal offender as an adult.

"Our prison population keeps expanding. This is one of the reasons why I am an advocate for raising the age of juvenile jurisdiction," Walker explained. "In the long-run, raising the minimum age will save the state millions of dollars as children who would have ended up in the adult correctional system are diverted into a system that would rehabilitate them and reduce their chances of re-offending."

Walker has proposed alleviating unnecessary Department of Corrections spending by reducing the mandatory minimum sentence for minor crimes and raising the age that youths are treated as adults. In adult prisons, youths frequently have no access to education or counseling. Research demonstrates that youths who go through the juvenile justice system, where such services are available, are less likely to commit future crime.

Walker applauded the money saving measures included in the budget deficit mitigation package approved by the legislature on Monday. She urges the state to look at bidding out for proposals on vacant state properties and revisiting the procurement process for supplies and services. Encouraging the development of vacant state property would help reduce the payment-in lieu-of taxes (PILOT) to a host municipality for state-owned property, bring revenue on a sale to the state and reduce maintenance costs. Large institutions across the state such as businesses and universities have also been able to save money by streamlining their procurement process.

"I am pleased that we are taking a sensible approach to the looming deficit, but know that we have to exhaust many options before we are done," said Walker. "These hard economic times call for drastic measures, and although we need to cut state spending, I think that we could make rescissions in areas other than just human services that support many of our residents that have been affected by the downturn in the economy."

Representative Walker represents New Haven's 93rd Assembly District and serves on the Appropriations, Human Services, Judiciary and Legislative Management Committees.