West Virginia Watch, News from the States – While facing the huge uncertainty around proposed federal cuts to food banks, SNAP and school feeding programs, county officials have been sounding the alarm that if their county jail bills keep increasing, they do not know how their counties can afford funding popular, non-mandated services like senior centers and food banks.
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Instead of taking seriously these fiscal concerns raised by county officials, state lawmakers have been moving legislation that would make the problem of hefty jail bills tremendously worse, funnel millions more dollars into the failed war on drugs, while providing no additional funding for prevention and treatment programs proven to work.
Senate Bill 196, which has already passed the Senate, proposes 21 increased penalties for drug offenses when the research is clear that higher penalties will not deter drug trafficking or reduce the demand for drugs.
