New York's solution to hand sanitizer shortage: Prison labor, hourly wages below $1

NTD ^ | 3/10/2020 | NTD

[mikelets456]

ALBANY, N.Y. – What do you do when fear over the new coronavirus leads to a shortage of hand sanitizer?

If you're the state of New York, you make it yourself. Or you have prisoners do it.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday the state had begun producing its own line of hand sanitizer, known as NYS Clean. The state will distribute the products to schools, local governments, prisons and other public entities free of charge.

The low price of making the sanitizer in house – $6.10 a gallon – will allow the state and local governments to save big, particularly when a coronavirus-fueled run on the product has led to rising prices if you're even able to find it at all.

But it's the way the state is containing its costs that has some lawmakers and advocacy groups alarmed: By paying prisoners as little as 16 cents an hour to make it.

[RetiredTexasVet]

Get your “Fredo Hand Sanitizer” .... the same stuff used by those in Albany.

[reg45]

There is no such thing as isopropyl ethanol. There is isopropanol and there is ethanol. Isopropanol has three carbons and ethanol has only two. Isopropanol is commonly called rubbing alcohol. Ethanol is commonly called grain alcohol. Methanol or wood alcohol has only one carbon.

You could make isopropyl ethanol by mixing isopropanol and ethanol. That was tried during Prohibition to denature grain alcohol but it was easily defeated by simple distillation.

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

Great minds...

[reg45]

The next thing will be unpaid gulags for conservatives, Christians, and Republicans.

[The Great RJ]

Tbe hand sanitizers are typically gelled ethanol with a denaturant to discourage drinking it. Back in my college chemistry days one old professor would spike our lab ethanol supplies with phenolthalein, a powerful laxative, to discourage any drinking of lab supplies.

[Moltke]

Sure. I was just making a little prison, aka the Big House, joke.

That said, why not keep the cons busy doing admittedly redundant work instead of them “shiving” each other in the yard?

[trebb]

“But it’s the way the state is containing its costs that has some lawmakers and advocacy groups alarmed: By paying prisoners as little as 16 cents an hour to make it.”

Yep - can’t have them poor prisoners being a benefit to society w/o paying them living wages.....oh......wait....