Senate budget keeps Larch open

Larch Corrections Center’s prospects have brightened as two state senators from Clark County joined forces to spare the minimum-security prison from closure.

Sen. Craig Pridemore, D-Vancouver, and Sen. Joe Zarelli, R-Ridgefield, have convinced their colleagues on the Senate Ways and Means Committee to shift funding from the McNeil Island Corrections Center in Puget Sound to the Larch prison in rural Clark County. Larch would be restored to its full capacity of 480 beds under the amended Senate budget.

That budget, which passed the full Senate Saturday, would close all state institutions at McNeil Island except the Special Commitment Center for sex offenders.

It would save the state $25.3 million over the 2011-13 biennium, according to Senate budget officials.

“The Senate Ways and Means staff is convinced that this proposal will save money through 2018,” Pridemore said Tuesday. “It’s all around the best proposal. It results in closure of a more expensive prison.”

Gov. Chris Gregoire’s Department of Corrections budget would close Larch by June and transfer most of the remaining inmates to a newly designated minimum-security prison at McNeil Island.

The proposed House budget, which has not been voted on by the full House, would close half of Larch, leaving it a 240-bed facility, and close half the McNeil Island prison as well. House budget officials estimate the downsizing would cut the Larch budget by about $3.8 million between now and June 30, 2011.

But Pridemore said the House plan would cost more overall, in part because the state would lose the services Larch inmates provide to other agencies.

“Larch is far more than just a corrections facility,” he said. “Its inmates provide critical wildfire response, fish habitat restoration, and other valuable services. The benefits of Larch extend far beyond its walls. Most of the calls I hear for keeping Larch open have come from the general public.”

Pridemore and Zarelli worked closely across party lines to win the amended budget language.

“My focus is on delivering state services as efficiently as possible,” Zarelli said in a statement. “McNeil is more expensive to operate, per bed, than any other state correctional facility because of its location, which is accessible only by water. Larch is well-run and represents a better value for the taxpayers. Why Larch ever was targeted for full closure is not clear, but that question is for another day.”

Pridemore agreed.

“I wish all decisions up here were made on the basis of financial soundness, but the reality is that other things go into it,” he said.

The original Senate budget released last week would have pared McNeil to a population of 512 offenders and closed Larch.

Sen. Rodney Tom, vice chairman of Senate Ways and Means, is “thoroughly on board” with the new Larch-McNeil plan and will be a key player in House-Senate conference committee negotiations to reconcile the two budgets, Pridemore said.

Viet Shelton, a spokesman for Gregoire, said the governor is keeping an open mind on the corrections budget and the future of Larch as House and Senate Democrats prepare to hammer out their differences.

“We are vigorously working with both chambers in the Legislature to end up with a compromise on the budget that creates the most cost-efficient state prison system,” Sheldon said. “We’re going to be working through what the state Senate just passed as well as what the House has proposed. We’re going to be negotiating with them on a package that all three parties can agree on.”

Gregoire remains focused on cutting costs, operating more efficiently, and reducing as much excess capacity as possible, Shelton said.

“Her proposal is still the one we’re working with,” he said.

Kathie Durbin: 360-735-4523; kathie.durbin@columbian.com.