Lawmakers: Reform census for prisoners
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NEW YORK STATE -- Lawmakers are trying to change the way some New Yorkers are counted for the census, specifically prisoners.
Democratic lawmakers, standing alongside Citizen Action, introduced a bill Monday that would require the state to count people in prison as residents of their home communities rather than as residents of the districts in which they are incarcerated.
Sponsors of the bill say the current system inflates populations in some communities and therefore makes their votes worth more than those of other citizens across the state.
"It's a question of right and wrong. Prisoners are kept on an average of 34 months. They go back to where they came from, where their roots are, where their parents are, where their children, their spouses are," said Senator Neil Breslin.
Lawmakers say the state observes prisoners as living at their communities for every other purpose including voting, taxation and marriage, but not for the census.