S. Illinois lawmakers hopeful about Tamms prison funding

TAMMS, Ill. -- The roughly 300 employees of Tamms Correctional Center got their pink slips last week, but Southern Illinois lawmakers are still fighting to make those disheartening pieces of paper null and void.

The Illinois Senate included $25 million in its budget Wednesday night for the prison while the House was expected to work into the start of the Memorial Day weekend to find the money -- and perhaps a compromise -- that would keep the doors open at the so-called supermax prison that has both minimum- and maximum-security units housing 375 inmates.

Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Harrisburg, said Friday he was optimistic that the House would pass its version of the budget that would also include an amount comparable to the Senate version. That plan would provide $25 million for 2013 to keep the prison open.

"We need every job and every dime of revenue we can get in Southern Illinois," Phelps said. "That's the biggest employer in Alexander County."

Phelps last week rolled out a compromise that would convert the prison from a maximum-security prison to a minimum-security prison, which he said would allow the prison to run less expensively and could house three times as many inmates. Phelps has said that the prison could easily be converted from a prison that is for the most violent offenders. Relaxing the strict rules of a supermax would allow more inmates to be eligible to serve their time at Tamms and increase the number of inmates to as many as 1,200 -- up from the current 400.

Some legislators say the prison should be closed as it only confines the inmates to their cells for 23 hours a day. Phelps said his proposal would help alleviate those concerns as well.

"Legislators in the northern part of the state think it's inhumane to keep them confined for so long," Phelps said. "Personally, I don't really care if it remains a supermax or they make it a medium-security prison. If they have to re-purpose it, that's fine by me because sometimes you have to make concessions to make sure you can keep your facility open."

But even if both chambers reach an agreement by the constitutionally mandated May 31 deadline, the prison won't necessarily be safe from closure.

Phelps is calling on Gov. Pat Quinn to make a commitment that, if both chambers of the legislature include funding for Tamms, he won't use his veto pen to eliminate the money from the budget once it lands on his desk for final approval. Quinn and other state leaders have proposed closing the prison, along with several other corrections facilities, to save money as the state struggles to balance its budget. Illinois has $8.5 billion in unpaid bills, according to a February report.

Earlier this month, a state commission recommended that the 14-year-old prison not be closed to save the state money. But the original proposed budget only included $5 million to keep the prison open until August, so employee contracts require a 30-day notice, which prompted the pink slips. Corrections Department spokeswoman Stacey Solano said Friday that growing Medicaid and pension costs continue to squeeze available state resources, and the department and many other state agencies have been tasked to reduce spending by 9 percent.

For the Corrections Department, she said, that translates into a reduction of about $112 million and requires the closure of two prisons, six adult transition centers and reductions in nearly every area of the department, which results in reductions to staff.

Lt. Toby Oliver has worked at the Tamms prison for 15 years. He said he and his fellow employers breathed a sigh of relief when the Senate included funding for Tamms, but they would feel completely out of the woods until Quinn signs a budget that has the money in it.

"Nothing's safe until after the budget process," he said. "We're all just waiting. It's just a waiting game. We're at the mercy of whatever they do."

smoyers@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

8500 Supermax Road, Tamms, IL