SPRINGFIELD - As Gov. Pat Quinn ponders releasing prison inmates as a budget-cutting move, he's taking a huge political gamble that has the potential to sink any chance of him being elected back to the governor's office.

On Tuesday, Quinn vetoed another component of the state budget and told state lawmakers he expects deeper cuts, among them nearly 2,600 layoffs including more than 1,000 in the state prison system, though the initial 500 cuts wouldn't come until Sept. 30. Quinn's trying to wipe out a two-year deficit that tops $12 billion.

One consideration is the early release of prison inmates, something state law already allows for those within a year of their scheduled release.

Suburban lawmakers expressed concern with the idea saying it could exacerbate crime and overburden already overwhelmed parole agents.

"It's a huge mistake," said state Rep. Dennis Reboletti, an Elmhurst Republican and former prosecutor in Will County.

A spokesman for the state prison system said inmates are being identified for early release to parole.

Reboletti noted there appear to be no plans for adding parole agents to handle the potential hundreds if not thousands of newly released inmates.

At a Chicago news conference Quinn said only that the entire system is being reviewed for savings.

"We're going to take a look at everything under the Department of Corrections," he said.

There's substantial political risk with such a proposal. One need look back no further than the 1988 presidential election to see how prisoner furloughs can politically backfire. That campaign is remembered for the Willie Horton ad that raised racial tension across the country but effectively sank Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis' White House bid.

Horton was a convicted killer serving a life sentence in a Massachusetts prison but got weekend furloughs during Dukakis' tenure as governor. While out, Horton kidnapped and raped a woman.

But tough budgets, a sinking economy and soaring prison costs have Illinois and a select few other states considering early inmate release. An Associated Press review of legislative proposals earlier this year found at least eight states considering freeing inmates or sending convicts to rehabilitation programs rather than prison.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed saving $400 million by releasing more than 22,000 inmates who were already within two years of release.

Ohio is considering thousands of early releases to alleviate overcrowding and its own multibillion-dollar deficit. Of note, Quinn's nominee to run the Illinois prison system, Michael Randle, comes from the Ohio prison system.

The risk for a politician like Quinn is that one of these released inmates will commit another crime and the publicity will sink any chance Quinn has of holding onto the office he inherited in January following the impeachment and removal of Rod Blagojevich.

Longtime Illinois political observer Paul Green said the budget situation is making Quinn consider perilous choices.

"Obviously it's risky," Green, director of Roosevelt University's School of Policy Studies, said of the possible prisoner release. "They're desperate. These are desperate times to try to figure out how to get out of this."