Grisanti will oppose plan to fund college classes for prisoners

New York State Sen. Mark J. Grisanti, R-I-Buffalo, has said he is opposed to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's proposal to use tax dollars to pay for college tuition for inmates at state prisons. 

Cuomo's plan, announced during the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus this weekend at the Capitol, would provide college-level education at 10 state prisons, at a cost to taxpayers of about $5,000 per inmate per year. There are an estimated 54,500 inmates currently confined in state prisons.

"I support rehabilitation and reduced recidivism, but not on the taxpayer's dime when so many individuals and families in New York are struggling to meet the ever-rising costs of higher education," Grisanti said. "I am fighting to restore the availability of graduate-level Tuition Assistance Program funds for middle-class taxpayers that was previously eliminated, and I will continue to fight for its reinstatement before I even begin to entertain the idea of supporting this program."