New York State Assemblyman Jim Tedisco’s sympathy for wealthy prison inmates, if he had any, reached its “tipping point” when multi-billionaire Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff landed a 150-year sentence. Madoff’s jail term will cost the North Carolina government about $70 per day until the 71-year-old kicks the bucket (which, as suggested by a Fox News report, may not take long). Reports of wealthy inmate Tuvia Stern, who was convicted of fraud, throwing an extravagant bar mitzvah for his son, complete with 60 guests, a catered Kosher meal on china dishes, and a live band within prison walls, didn’t help either.

In response, Tedisco finally proposed his “Madoff bill,” which he said he has been considering for a while. The bill would require “rich” prisoners to foot their own prison bill. In doing so, the state could save some of its annual $1 billion cost of housing inmates.

"This concept says if you can afford it, or even some of it, you're going to help the beleaguered taxpayers who play by the rules," Tedisco said.

New York certainly isn’t the only state trying to offset prison costs. Iowa's Des Moines County Prison considered charging inmates for toilet paper, which would have saved an estimated $2,300 per year. (Not surprisingly, the sh*t hit the fan among inmates, and the idea was dropped.)

New Jersey is discussing a bill similar to Tedisco’s, which will charge prisoners $5 per day for room and board, and $10 per day for infirmary stays. The overcrowded Richmond, Virginia, city jail has already started charging $1, which they hope will bring in up to $200,000. A Missouri country prison might charge $45 dollars per day.

No other state’s suggested rate came close to the $90 a day proposed by Assemblyman Tedisco for New York. But considering the price of apartments in the city, exorbitant prison rent seems fitting. New York is the only state that plans to charge prisoners only if their assets surpass a certain value.

What’s the magic number? Under Tedisco’s plan, inmates will pay the entire prison tab if their assets, not including the value of their home, mortgage costs, tax bills and child support, exceed $200,000. Those between $160,000 and $200,000 will pay 80 percent of prison costs, and those under $40,000 will still be able to stay for free.

As anyone would expect, the bill has stirred plenty of opposition from human rights advocates, who oppose the idea of discriminating against inmates based on the color of their collar.

“It’s the spouses, children and parents who pay the fees,” Sarah Geraghty with the Southern Center for Human Rights told the Associated Press. “They are the people who contribute to prisoners’ canteen accounts.”

Fortunately for Bernie Madoff, whom the New York Times diagnosed as a clinical psychopath, it seems unlikely that his deceased parents will suffer much from the extra bills, and his wife Ruth was left with $2.5 million in cash, though short a Manhattan apartment and properties in Long Island and Palm Beach, Fla. Madoff’s two sons, meanwhile, were the ones who turned him into the police back in December.