Quinn to propose closing Dwight, Tamms prisons

Gov. Pat Quinn will deliver his budget address Wednesday. (Photo used under Creative Commons from Flickr user ChrisEaves.com)

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois could lose two prisons, including the state’s only supermax facility, and 1,400 state jobs if lawmakers approve Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget.

The governor’s office unveiled the $33.9 billion spending plan that Quinn will deliver to lawmakers Wednesday at noon in the statehouse.

Among the highlights:

• Pay Illinois’ $5.2 billion pension payment
• Cut $2.7 billion in Medicaid costs
• Eliminate more than 1,400 state jobs
• Close 14 state facilities, including four developmental centers and two prisons – including the maximum-security facility in Dwight

Quinn’s chief of staff Jack Lavin said closing the Tamms supermax prison in far southern Illinois will save the state $26.3 million and allow for “more efficient” use of other prisons. Tamms currently has 389 inmates, including 197 supermax inmates.

Much of the focus Wednesday will be on the governor’s plan to trim Medicaid spending. Quinn is pushing for a $2.7 billion cut, but he is not saying how that may happen.

Southern Illinois looks to take a beating in Quinn’s budget. In addition to Tamms, Quinn is proposing to close the youth camp in Murphyboro, the Murray Developmental Center in Centralia as well as the Department of Agriculture’s animal welfare lab in Centralia, the Illinois State Police crime lab in Carbondale, and consolidate all state police communication centers in southern Illinois into one headquarters in DuQuoin.

Early reaction

Union officials say Quinn’s budget cuts go too far.

Anders Lindall, spokesman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, or AFSCME, Council 31, said the cuts are harming priorities like public safety and care for the most vulnerable. He said closing the facilities will put thousands of people out of work.

Lindall said the state needs to deal with its unfair tax system before cutting services to the state’s most vulnerable. He says the tax system is “riddled with giveaways to rich people, who pay a lower effective tax rate while the middle class gets squeezed.”

Lindall also cites the fact that only one-third of the state’s corporations pay income taxes.

State Rep. Jason Barickman, R-Champaign, called the prison closures, including Dwight, an “unrealistic plan … at a time when those facilities are already overcrowded.”

“Unfortunately, this is more of the same,” Barickman said in a statement. “After years of mismanagement of our state’s finances, he is turning to short-sighted facility closures without actually addressing the core problems facing the state budget. I’m disappointed in the Governor’s plan.”

Barickman’s opponent in the March 20 primary for the 53rd Senate District, state Sen. Shane Cultra, said the Dwight closure could be “crippling” to Livingston County’s economy.

“I said earlier this month that Governor Quinn has declared war on common sense. He is exactly like Rod Blagojevich with his constant threat of prison closures,” the Onarga Republican said in a statement. “They have tried to close Pontiac twice and now they want Dwight, shame on them.

“Governor Quinn needs to rest assured of one thing, we are in this fight for the long-haul and that’s exactly what this is – a fight over families’ lives, local economies and our state’s public safety,” Cultra said.

Metro News Service and WJBC Staff contributed to this report.