Public safety has been a priority for Virginia’s Republican Party this session, but when the House GOP’s leader took issue with a reform effort in the budget, one of his own members pushed back.
Republicans and Democrats worked together in 2020 to create an enhanced earned sentence credit program – reducing prison time in exchange for good behavior. There’s about $16 million dollars inthis year’s budget for the program, but Republican Minority Leader Todd Gilbert proposed an amendment for what he called a glitch.
He said, as the law sits now, the credits may not apply to some violent offenses, but would apply to add on charges that could be just as violent.
“A robbery with a gun means you do your time, except not as much with the gun part of it, even though we spend all this time talking about ending gun violence in here, and not wanting to incentivize it,” Gilbert told the chamber.
But among those Republicans who helped craft the law was Chesterfield-area Delegate Carrie Coyner. In the House chamber Thursday, she said the law disqualified 17 categories and over 100 offenses from the benefit. And in a rare move, Coyner stood and spoke against her own party’s amendment.
“I would rather us encourage folks and give them incentives to make great choices while they’re in there for the best rehabilitation they can get, and we reinvest the dollars we’re going to save by people having time off for better reentry services,” Conyer said.
Advocates for the program say Virginia could save between $28.3M and $118.2M in incarceration costs if they continue its funding.
Gilbert’s amendment failed in part thanks to Coyner’s vote, but also with help from two other Republicans: Eastern Shore Delegate Robert Bloxom and Danville-area Delegate Danny Marshall.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
