Lincoln prison to close under Quinn budget plan

CHICAGO – Gov. Pat Quinn said Thursday that he wants to close seven state facilities, including Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln, and lay off 1,900 employees to live within the budget lawmakers sent him.

The Lincoln facility is a medium-security prison for men, with a population (as of May 2011) of about 1,970 inmates. It opened in 1978. Other facilities on Quinn’s list include mental health centers and facilities for people with developmental disabilities.

The Democrat said he has no choice because lawmakers did not approve enough money to run state government for a full year. He said Thursday’s cuts could be mitigated if lawmakers sustain about $376 million in line-item vetoes Quinn made in June, during the upcoming fall veto session. Lawmakers appropriated about $33.2 billion.

“You can’t spend money that you do not have, that is not appropriated by the General Assembly,” Quinn said during Thursday’s press conference.

The closures and layoffs would violate an agreement Quinn struck with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The union is almost certain to sue. AFSCME spokesman Anders Lindall says the union will do what it can to fight the cuts.

“AFSCME has shown that we will do whatever is necessary to see that the rights of our members, under the contract and under the law, are upheld. We don’t think that it should take a judge or arbitrator, but we will go to court if we think that’s necessary.”

The closures would also initiate a months-long process that will include a review by a commission of lawmakers.

“This takes several months, but it has to begin today,” Quinn said.

Reaction from around Central Illinois

The General Assembly’s veto session is not scheduled until late next month, but State Sen. Larry Bomke, R-Springfield, is willing to come in sooner if that would help, seeing as how the governor has left the door open to undoing all of the cuts announced Thursday.

“If we can do that with a simple re-allocation of funds that the governor has vetoed from the budget, then I think that is something we ought to be considering,” says Bomke, whose district includes Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln.

Don Moss, a Springfield advocate for the disabled, actually welcomes the news that two centers which house the developmentally disabled – in Jacksonville and Dixon – are to be closed; he says the clientele are better off in community-based group homes anyway.

State Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, said Quinn’s proposed closings and layoffs amount to “less than a quarter of 1 percent of the state’s operations budget” and could be accomplished instead by rooting out “waste and inefficiencies.” He said in a statement that Quinn was “targeting some of our state’s most vulnerable citizens.”

“We need a systematic, well-reasoned approach to reducing the state’s budget, which we must do, but the Governor has chosen a quick fix that will disrupt the care that patients and their families receive in our mental health and developmental disability facilities and further strain an already overcrowded prison system,” said Brady, who lost to Quinn in November’s general election.

State Rep. Dan Brady of Bloomington told WJBC, he doesn’t believe the governor’s move is the only solution to the budget crisis.

“There are other areas to spread things out … to soften the impact of those cuts,” Brady said.

State Rep. Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth, questioned Quinn’s motives.

“It’s a continuation of Governor Quinn’s war on downstate Illinois. The state has a high unemployment rate and the governor is just going to make it higher. Not only did the Democrats raise taxes, but now they’re closing facilities,” he said.

Meanwhile, former Pontiac Mayor Scott McCoy is glad the Pontiac Correctional Center and Fox Developmental Center in Dwight weren’t targeted.

“(Both facilities) have been political targets before, which caused a lot of people in these communities great concern,” he says. “Thankfully, the Pontiac and Dwight facilities were not included in the list of closures.”

In 2008 and 2009, McCoy fought then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich to keep the Pontiac Correctional Center open. McCoy is running for the 106th House District seat.

State Sen. Shane Cultra, R-Onarga, echoed McCoy’s sentiment.

“It’s only somewhat comforting that Pontiac Correctional Center was not mentioned. The Livingston County area has dealt with facility closure twice,” Cultra said. “Any cuts to security staff at our correctional centers should be considered extremely short-sighted. I expect the announced closure of Logan Correctional Center will only negatively affect our correctional system.”

State Representative Jason Barickman, R-Champaign, questions Quinn’s leadership.

“Governor Quinn’s actions today sound very similar to other scare tactics he has used in the past in order to pressure lawmakers to give him additional funds. Those threats didn’t work then and I don’t believe they will work now,” Barickman said.

“I continue to believe that we do need to find additional efficiencies and costs savings within the budget, but it is important that those decisions are made in a well thought-out manner.”

Lincoln Mayor Keith Snyder expects an immediate economic impact from the announcement, as families employed at the prison are forced to scale down.

“People are going to start cutting back on some expenses, whether it be restaurants, gasoline or groceries. Not all 357 families affected live in Lincoln, but they’re a part of Lincoln in one way or another. They may buy their gas here on the way to work, or groceries on their way home.”

WJBC’s Ryan Denham and Paul Morello and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Listen to Quinn’s full statement below:

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