New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo, who is a democrat, wants to use taxpayers’ money to pay for college education for prison inmates.

According to NPR, Cuomo says a college education will keep ex- convicts from returning to prison once they’re released.

“Forget nice; let’s talk about self-interest,” Cuomo responded. “You pay $60,000 for a prison cell for a year. You put a guy away for 10 years, that’s 600 grand. Right now, chances are almost half, that once he’s released, he’s going to come right back.”

According to NPR, it will cost about $5,000 a year per inmate to pay for education, which is a small price to pay if it keeps a former inmate from returning to prison.

State Assemblywoman, Addie Russell, says that this plan won’t sit well with taxpayers when they’re struggling to pay their kids tuition and books.

“That is the vast majority of feedback that I’m also getting from my constituents,” Russell says. “You know, ‘Where is the relief for the rest of the law-abiding population?’ ”

In 1994, President Bill Clinton expanded America’s prison system and eliminated federal aid for inmates.

Prison expert, Gerald Gaes, told NPR that Clinton’s tough on crime was misguided. College classes save taxpayers money over time, Gaes told NPR.

“I was very disappointed that the policy had been changed,” says Gerald Gaes, who served as an expert on college programs for the Federal Bureau of Prisons in the 1990s. He has since written extensively on the impact of higher education behind bars.

Darryl Robertson (@darry_robertson)