Contact: Michael Fraser, (518) 455-3751 (office); (518) 859-8518 (cell)
(R,C,I-Canandaigua) Statement On Governor's Proposal To Provide College Education To Inmates
"The Governor's proposal to provide college degrees to incarcerated individuals lacks a shred of common sense and demonstrates how out of touch he is with the real-life issues facing New Yorkers. If the State is going to hand out free college educations, why don't we start with deserving students who actually respect the law?
This proposal is an insult to families struggling to find money for tuition, to young men and women who take on mountains of debt in student loans, and to the millions of New Yorkers who pay the highest taxes in the nation and are now asked to subsidize college degrees for criminals.
Paying for a college education is an issue that keeps parents up at night. It is a massive financial commitment that has become even more onerous as years have gone on. Any effort to reward convicts with something that law-abiding men and women can hardly afford is an affront to all New Yorkers."