Pass a budget plan, save a prison?

Remember the razor-thin Democratic majority in the New York State Senate?
Well, the Albany Times Union reports today that it might be just the wedge needed to save a North Country prison.

The premise is that as the Senate takes up Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch’s proposal for fixing NY’s deficit-riddled budgets, Democrats in Republican-leaning districts in upstate New York may exact a price for their votes…and that price could be keeping a prison open.

The idea, says the Times’ Rick Karlin, was floated by Sen. Darrel Aubertine yesterday:

While one senator can’t shift an entire state policy, Aubertine is one of a handful of Democrats — most from Republican-leaning regions — who once again find themselves in a pivotal position due to the Senate Democrats’ need to marshal their entire 32-vote majority to pass initiatives that Republicans, with 30 seats, are likely to oppose.

The paper goes on to point out that the Ogdensburg prison – with 287 jobs — on Gov. Paterson’s closure list is in Aubertine’s district. And quotes Aubertine thusly:

“There is some real skepticism on my part about borrowing more money,” Aubertine said of the Ravitch five-year proposal, which would authorize the state to borrow up to $6 billion under certain conditions.

There’s a rally to save the prison, today at 4 on the steps of Ogdensburg City Hall.