For a fifth consecutive year, Democrats in the state Senate have passed legislation preventing state-chartered banks from investing in or financing private prisons.

State Sen. George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay, voted against S.114 for a fifth consecutive year – though his opposition recently in the state Senate took on a different tone after the correction officer strike that struck New York state earlier this year. The bill passed the Senate by a 37-22 vote. The bill hasn’t come to a vote in the Assembly yet.

“But this year, in light of the prison crises here in New York state, we’re the last state to be telling any other state how they should be running their prisons,” Borrello said. “Are you kidding me? Inmate on inmate violence is up dramatically. Inmate on staff violence is up dramatically. Morale is down. I mean, I can’t think of another state at the moment, unless we go to some third world banana republic, that has done a worse job of running prisons than New York state has. This year, my message is who the hell are we to tell anyone else how to run their prisons.”

New York State has prohibited private prisons since 2007, but state law does not yet prohibit their financing.

State Sen. Cordelle Cleare, D-New York City, said banks and other investors can earn income by investing in private prisons in other states, circumventing the state’s ban on private prisons by allowing financiers to earn money from a practice prohibited in New York state.

Like Borrello, Cleare said the fifth passage of S.114 is different than prior years. She pointed to changes at the federal level that expands the use of private prisons for incarceration and detention.

“New York has been wise enough to ban the very existence of private prisons in this state and thus, it is completely logical, to prohibit banks chartered by the very same state from investing in an activity that we have declared is not only prohibited, but morally unpalatable,” Cleare said. “As we stand here today, over 115,000 people in this country, are in private prisons, and the number being detained by ICE only adds to this alarming figure. In my public service career, I have helped numerous constituents who have family members in private prisons and the experience was horrendous.”

Borrello said he has a philosophical difference with Cleare and many Democrats on S.114, though he credited Cleare’s advocacy that has helped result in several changes in state law this year dealing with state prisons. The state budget alone included several prison-related measures, including investing over $18 million for the expansion of the body worn camera program and codifying the program to ensure cameras are powered on and recording at all times when employees are interacting with incarcerated individuals; $400 million for the acceleration and continued installation of fixed cameras in all facilities; and $7.2 million to expand and restructure the Office of Special Investigations (OSI).

“We can have a philosophical difference,” Borrello said. “I think that I have been debating this bill since my first year in the Senate, so this is probably my sixth time debating this bill. But, this year is a little different for me. In the past, as I have said, I think advocacy works, it works effectively. I think Senator Cleare has done a good job with that, as others have in the past. I have said, and it still stands true in my opinion, we’re setting a dangerous precedent by telling banks what they can or cannot invest in.”

Sen. Liz Krueger, D-Manhattan and chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said the federal government has similar authority to tell chartered banks what they can and can’t invest in – making the Senate’s preferred action with state banks a logical extension of its authority.

“And, in fact, what disturbs me perhaps was how many conservative states have done equivalent laws saying that you can’t invest in companies that refuse to do firearms and private prisons,” Krueger said. “So the opposite side of this argument. So it may be a little new for New York state to pass a bill like this, saying there are certain activities that we recognize as not being in the best interests of people, and there is more than enough research showing very disturbing outcomes that many private prisons throughout this country, which is why I am very proud New York state doesn’t let them in our state.”