CCA CALLS FOR THE PASSAGE OF THE EARNED TIME ACT IN RESPONSE TO THE GOVERNOR’S NEW BUDGET PROPOSAL

EXPANDING GOOD TIME AND MERIT TIME FOR ALL INCARCERATED PEOPLE IS EVIDENCE-BASED POLICY THAT SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN THIS YEAR’S BUDGET

ALBANY, NY – In response to recent reports that Governor Kathy Hochul is advancing a proposal to expand eligibility for earned time credits in New York’s prisons as part of the State Budget, Thomas Gant, Community Organizer at Center for Community Alternatives (CCA), issued the following statement:

“Expanding earned time credits for incarcerated peo ple is a critical step toward building a system that val ues rehabilitation, recognizes transformation, and responds constructively to the current crisis in New York’s prisons. The data is clear: earned time programs reduce recidivism, make facilities safer, and save taxpayers millions of dollars every year.

Currently, the vast majority of people in New York prisons are not eligible for merit time, which provides incentives for participating in educational and vocational programming. New York has one of the most restrictive earned time systems in the country and over 80% of people are excluded from the program. Our cur rent system denies hope, undermines transformation, and ignores a basic truth: people change.

This year’s budget pro vides an opportunity to pass the Earned Time Act, an evidence-based policy that would create clear, consistent, and inclusive pathways to rehabilitation and release. It would help reunite families, ease staffing shortages, reduce costs, and build stronger, safer communities across New York by allowing all incarcerated people to earn merit time and strengthening the earned time program in New York’s prisons. The Earned Time Act enjoys broad support across the state from labor leaders, former DOCCS and law enforcement officials, over 200 organizations, and 74% of New Yorkers. Now is the time to pass the Earned Time Act.”

BACKGROUND

• The Earned Time Act strengthens and expands good time and merit time programs, supporting rehabilitative efforts in state prisons and preparing incarcerated people for workforce and community reintegration.

• Research, including from DOCCS, shows that earned time opportunities help to prepare incarcerated people for reentry, reducing recidi vism rates and correctional costs, and making prisons safer.

• Currently, New York lags far behind states like Oklahoma and Alabama in providing earned time opportunities.

• The Earned Time Act is supported by law enforcement, including the former prison commissioner of the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) and the former New York City commissioner of corrections and probation, the American Bar Associa tion, dozens of labor unions, and over 200 organizations.

• It is also popular with New Yorkers. Recent polling by EMC Research found that 74% of New Yorkers support the Earned Time Act.