In an effort to shave approximately $3 million annually from their $27.4 billion budget (State of Massachusetts), GOP lawmakers in Massachusetts have announced a bill to cut the payment of prisoners for performing routine maintenance duties within the state’s penitentiaries. This bill, while having the potential of realizing a marginal savings to taxpayers, is flawed. If enacted, this law would take away the only way some prisoners have of paying for vital personal care items such as toothpaste and razors while the cost of relegating these tasks to unionized labor, the norm in Massachusetts, has not even been determined. This nation, can not allow its prisons to become an even greater breeding ground for increased crime, debt, and demoralization than they already are. Certainly not while attempting to paint a picture of fiscal responsibility by lawmakers for the taxpayers they serve.