HARRISBURG – Gov. Tom Corbett has applauded the passage in the General Assembly of House Bill 135, the second half of the Justice Reinvestment Initiative that will redirect funds from corrections to communities.
Corbett established the two-part Justice Reinvestment Initiative to evaluate ways to make the state’s criminal justice system more effective and efficient.
When implemented, those ideas can identify ways to reduce spending and generate savings in the state prison system. Funds are then redirected back to local communities to be used for law enforcement, probation, parole and victims’ services.
On Tuesday, the reinvestment portion, House Bill 135, unanimously passed in the Senate and House of Representatives. The first component of the Justice Reinvestment Initiative which also included savings, also known as Senate Bill 100, passed last July.
“Working together, we can deal with crime in a way that will redeem more offenders, appropriately incarcerates violent offenders and sexual predators, and keeps us all from being held prisoner to the growing costs of locking up the bad guys,” Corbett said. “We need to be as smart as we are tough on crime.”
Corbett thanked Sens. Stewart Greenleaf (R-Bucks), Dominic Pileggi (R-Chester), and Daylin Leach (D-Delaware), as well as Reps. Ron Marsico (R-Dauphin), Thomas Caltagiorone (D-Berks) and Glen Grell (R-Cumberland), for their leadership and efforts to get the legislation passed.
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