Legislators call for review of Downeast prison closing
Earlier this year, Gov. Paul LePage's state budget proposal included a plan to cut funding for the Downeast Correctional Facility in Machiasport.
Now, some members of the Legislature’s budget committee have called for public hearings over the proposed closure, the Bangor Daily News reported.
Rep. Drew Gattine, D-Westbrook, who co-chairs the committee, said during committee deliberations that lawmakers need to know how the closure plan will affect inmates, employees and the community. But two Republicans on the committee said the hearings aren’t necessary.
“This is too late in the ballgame,” Rep. Jeff Timberlake, R-Turner, said of the call for hearings.
Earlier this year, The Quoddy Tides reported that if LePage's proposal makes it through the budget process and is part of the adopted budget, the facility could close by June, with the loss of 50 jobs.
The facility, located at the former Bucks Harbor Air Force Station in the town of Machiasport, was established by the Legislature in September 1984 and began receiving inmates in June 1985. The facility is a minimum-security institution with a prisoner count of 148. In 2011, a state task force looking for savings in the state budget tabled a proposal to close the facility.
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