SPRINGFIELD - December 5, 2012. Governor Quinn issued the following statement regarding the sustaining of his budget vetoes to close half-empty and empty facilities.
"Today is a victory for the taxpayers of Illinois.
"The Illinois House of Representatives sent a strong message about their serious commitment to reducing spending the state cannot afford.
"Closing these empty or half-empty prisons and juvenile detention centers that are no longer needed will save Illinois taxpayers $88 million a year, once the closures are fully implemented. These closures will strengthen our long-term effort to cut state expenses and put Illinois on sound financial footing.
"Once permitted by the courts, inmates who are still at the facilities will be transferred to other nearby facilities where there is room for them. All guards and other personnel will be offered jobs at other nearby facilities. And the taxpayers of Illinois will no longer be on the hook for spending millions of dollars we don't have on empty facilities.
"There is more work to do. We must work together in the weeks ahead to restore critically needed funding that will protect the state's most vulnerable children from abuse and neglect. I will continue working closely with the General Assembly to restore critical funding to DCFS to prevent the layoff of more than 500 front-line child abuse investigators.
"I am committed to continuing to take the difficult steps necessary to restore fiscal stability to Illinois.
"Working in partnership with the General Assembly, we've had a productive veto session and I look forward to continuing this progress in January as we tackle pension reform."
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