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* Gov. Rauner vetoed bipartisan legislation sponsored by Reps. Brandon Phelps, Terri Bryant and John Bradley as well as Sen. Gary Forby today which mandated the reopening of the Hardin County Work Camp…

Veto Message for HB 4326
To the Honorable Members of
The Illinois House of Representatives,
99th General Assembly:

Today I veto House Bill 4326, which would require the Department of Corrections to reopen the Hardin County Work Camp, but provide no resources to fund repairs or operations.

Hardin County Work Camp closed in January 2016 as a result of high maintenance and repair costs from a fire at the Camp. Due to the burdens of the State’s procurement process, the Department was initially unable to undertake such repairs and the costs continued to rise. The Department followed proper facility closure procedures and all the persons housed at the Camp were relocated to other similar facilities. Employees were offered other employment opportunities at nearby facilities.

While I appreciate the impact of this facility closure on the local economy, forcing the Department of Corrections to reopen the Camp is an unnecessary spend of taxpayer dollars. The funds required to complete the repairs are not within the Department’s budget nor were they appropriated in any budget proposed by the General Assembly. As such, this legislation would require the Department to reallocate resources from other vital services in order to comply.

I am committed to reducing our prison population and believe that work camp facilities play an important role in rehabilitating offenders. However, requiring the opening of a dilapidated facility hamstrings the Department’s discretion in using its limited resources.

Therefore, pursuant to Section 9(b) of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return House Bill 4326, entitled “AN ACT concerning criminal law”, with the foregoing objections, vetoed in its entirety.

Rauner vetoed several more bills today and signed quite a few. I’m still going through them, but the entire list is here.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 4:05 pm

Comments

That should help Phelps and Forby.

Comment by 360 Degree Turnaround Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 4:13 pm
We can’t continue to lean on prisons to prop up communities. And incarceration tears communities apart.

Comment by Politix Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 4:24 pm
If DOC were to reopen a workcamp, and that probably will not happen anyway, Tamms MSU is far more economical to reopen.
The reality is that with early release programs, there are not enough inmates eligible for these beds.

Comment by SOIL M Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 4:31 pm
Vetoing the MPEA bill is nothing more than a way to punish Chicago.

Comment by Stunt double Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 6:47 pm
I guess the southern Illinois correctional officers are sorry they got out the vote for Rauner. It hasn’t panned out.

Comment by State worker Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 6:53 pm
Going to help the Southern legislators for sure. Chicago Rauner doesn’t want jobs in Southern Illinois. Even Mike Madigan wants that workcamp open. 😄

Comment by DuPage Bard Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 10:08 pm
“We can’t continue to lean on prisons to prop up communities. And incarceration tears communities apart.” Best comment of the day.

It’s impossible to understand how the small town types who vote for politicians like Phelps think about the justice system, because everything is personal to them. Example: “I’ll never be arrested for DUI, everyone knows me around here.”

Brandon Phelps hometown of Harrisburg is home to the Illinois Youth Authority juvenile prison. Phelps caters to the police unions/ prison guard/ law and order types. To a lot of the people “down there” black people from Cook County are a cash crop. Phelps should work on getting a coal mine reopened instead if he genuinely cares about jobs.

Comment by Payback Monday, Aug 22, 16 @ 10:47 am