Stupak Visits Newberry to Offer Moral Support
by Jim Diems, Editor for the Newberry News - Released July 13th, 2005

U.S. Representative Bart Stupak (D – Menominee) and his Upper Peninsula aide, Tom Baldini of Marquette, stopped off in Newberry last Friday afternoon to discus the possible closure of the Newberry Correctional Facility by the State’s Republican legislators. Fourteen of Newberry’s movers and shakers were able to take time off work to meet with him at the Village offices to hear what he had to say about the situation.

“Thanks for taking the time to meet with me,” Stupak began. “We just wanted to touch base with you to see what’s going on, what you’ve been doing and what can we do to coordinate our efforts to see that Newberry stays viable.”

Stupak went on to relate that he had met with State Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema (R – Wyoming) the week before and discussed the NCF situation with him. According to Stupak, Sikkema told him that the Senate was going over the House budget proposal line by line.

“The Senate is on call. There is a group working on the budget,” explained Stupak “and they’ll be coming back every Wednesday. Whether they call back the whole Senate will depend upon negotiations with the Governor. I think your biggest ally so far in this whole thing is the Governor. Her staff does not see her backing out of this issue.”

Stupak questioned where the 1,100 prisoners would be relocated if NCF and Camp Manistique were closed. He also challenged the true savings to the Department of Corrections if the facilities were to shut down. House Republicans have claimed the closure would save the DOC $29 million.

During Friday afternoon’s meeting, Village manager Bev Holmes related a conversation she had with State Senator Allan Cropsey (R – Dewitt). According to Holmes, Cropsey estimated that by the time the prisoners are moved and the Corrections Officers transferred, the true savings would be only around $1 million.

“If they suddenly closed Newberry and have to move 1,100 prisoners, where are they going to put them?” persisted Stupak. “I can see the Federal Courts stepping in, saying, ‘No…it’s too crowded, it’s too much. You don’t have a good plan here, and you’re not allowed to do it.’

“The Senate is the only body down there that has some experience. The House…most of them have two years in (due to term limits). They don’t know what they’re doing. I don’t mean that disrespectfully; it’s a complicated issue. The largest employer in the State of Michigan is the State of Michigan itself. I’m optimistic that the Senate will at least do some things. I think that they squeezed Corrections about as far as they can go. Even the State Police are looking at a three percent cut; they’ve not been spared.

“No matter where I went over the Fourth of July, even in Bessemer, people there are saying ‘You’ve got to help Newberry.’”

Although the U.S. Congressman could not promise any direct aid from Federal sources, he did offer a few of rays of hope.

“Federally we can’t get an appropriation bail-out for the State of Michigan,” Stupak admitted. However, he believed that if Michigan were allocated additional federal money for its road transportation projects it might free up some Michigan taxpayer money that could be spent in other Michigan departments, such as the Department of Corrections. He estimated that the amount of Federal money could be as high as $50 million.

Along those same lines, Stupak stated that the U.S. Congress recently “put almost a billion dollars towards veterans. Part of that should go into Veteran Homes such as Jacobetti in Marquette and in Grand Rapids. The only thing I can promise is that getting more money back into Michigan (from the Federal government) should free up some money in the State.”

Stupak was quick to point out that funding given out by the Federal government is earmarked for specific programs and must be used as such. However, if the State already utilizes monies from the general fund towards those same programs, any redundant funding could be used for other things.

Another ray of hope that no one has mentioned before Stupak came to town was the possibility of NCF becoming a Federal prison.

“If the Newberry facility suddenly became open, would we push the Federal government to come in and bring in Federal prisoners? Yeah, we would,” said Stupak. “I’ve been [to NCF] a couple of times. It is the newest, most efficient one you have. If for some reason [the State] vacates it, it certainly would be something we would be interested in.”

Lisa DenBoer, director of Luce County Planning, asked, “Would there be Federal interest in that property for any other type of business besides corrections?”

Stupak stated that the Federal Courthouse in Marquette is the least secure facility in the nation. The U.S. government is planning on building a new one soon, but Newberry could certainly serve as a temporary Federal Courthouse. “As a temporary or interim arrangement, why not come here if this facility is open? You don’t have to worry about security, and it would be a short walk into where they’d be serving time.”

DenBoer related that Luce County has already been hurt by just the rumors of NCF closing. “Building permits in the last eight years have typically netted $10,000 (for June); we made two grand last month. I issued 17 permits versus 38. That’s not happened in the eight-year history that I’ve been here.”

Stupak was also in favor of raising state income taxes back to what they used to be at four percent, which is a raise of only one-tenth of one percent. “I suggested to Sikkema that they go back. You raise it one-tenth of one percent, you go back to four percent. I don’t see anyone squawking about it. You could fully fund the prisons, fully fund the State Police.”

He estimated that such a move would generate over $200 million. But because of term limits, Stupak believes State legislators will never do it because of upcoming elections.

“That’s all [the concept of] term limits does. All it does is get you worried about the next election and you forget why you’re down there.”

Stupak touched on other items of interest among those present, such as health insurance, lobbyists (“They’re not necessary. You are your own best lobbyists.”) and pensions. His last bit of advice was to continue to go down to Lansing and “Be visible; wear those shirts. You know your community better than anyone else. Go see them.”