Where should Oregon commit taxpayer money? Pressure for both prisons and preschools as governor forges her spending blueprint

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown must decide whether to keep two small prisons in North Bend and Lakeview open, after lawmakers acceded to outcry over the prison jobs that would be lost and opted not to begin the process to close them earlier this year. In this file photo, a corrections worker stands in the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem.

In just a few days, Gov. Kate Brown will release her blueprint for state government spending over the next two years. And with Oregonians hit hard by the health and economic impacts of COVID-19, their immediate needs are at the forefront.

But the governor and lawmakers also face spending decisions that could affect Oregonians for decades. One of the thornier decisions for Brown: whether to stop pumping taxpayer funds into two small rural prisons to save money.

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