State of Illinois
92nd General Assembly
Legislation

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92_SR0388

 
                                               LRB9216612BHbh

 1                          SENATE RESOLUTION

 2        WHEREAS,   Governor   Ryan's   proposed   Department   of
 3    Corrections budget  for  FY03  does  not  include  annualized
 4    funding for the Vienna Correctional Center or for Valley View
 5    Youth Center; and

 6        WHEREAS,  These facilities now house over 1,000 adult and
 7    juvenile inmates; and

 8        WHEREAS, The Department of Corrections has not  presented
 9    a  clear plan as to how the Illinois prison system can absorb
10    these numbers of inmates at other facilities; and

11        WHEREAS,  In  presenting  his  budget  to   the   General
12    Assembly,  the  Governor  indicated  that  he  was willing to
13    consider changes to the budget and welcomed  the  opportunity
14    for  dialogue with legislators in shaping a final budget that
15    would have the approval of the General Assembly; and

16        WHEREAS,  The  General  Assembly  is  currently   holding
17    hearings and considering amendments to the Governor's budget;
18    and

19        WHEREAS,  The  Illinois House of Representatives acted on
20    April 5 to amend the Governor's proposed  budget  to  include
21    full funding for Vienna CC and Valley View IYC; and

22        WHEREAS, DOC originally stated that the closure dates for
23    Vienna  and  Valley  View  would be July 31 and September 30,
24    respectively; and

25        WHEREAS,  On  April  9,  in  a  clear  violation  of  the
26    Governor's commitment to allow for  input  from  the  General
27    Assembly,  DOC  announced that it intends to move the closure
28    date for both facilities forward to May 15  and  to  lay  off
29    most employees as of that date; and

30        WHEREAS,  DOC  has  already  begun  to  move inmates from
 
                            -2-                LRB9216612BHbh
 1    Vienna - with some 400 having been moved out in recent weeks;
 2    and

 3        WHEREAS, As a result of the loss of maximum security beds
 4    at  Joliet  Correctional  Center,  a  significant  number  of
 5    inmates have had their status arbitrarily downgraded; and

 6        WHEREAS, There are reports  that  incidents  of  violence
 7    have  begun  to increase throughout the Illinois correctional
 8    system in recent weeks; and

 9        WHEREAS, Two correctional  facilities  are  currently  on
10    24-hour lockdown; therefore, be it

11        RESOLVED,  BY  THE  SENATE  OF  THE NINETY-SECOND GENERAL
12    ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that  we  strongly  oppose
13    the  Department  of  Corrections'  actions  in moving inmates
14    during the course of legislative deliberations and oppose any
15    closure or downsizing of Vienna CC or Valley View IYC without
16    legislative approval; and be it further

17        RESOLVED,  That  the  General  Assembly  calls  upon  the
18    Governor to uphold his commitment  to  full  input  from  the
19    Senate in the shaping of a final budget.

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