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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.