Union sues governor to block prison closure

CHAMPAIGN -- The union that represents the state's prison workers is suing the governor to stop his plan to close a central Illinois lockup.

In the lawsuit filed Wednesday in Livingston County, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees argues that Gov. Rod Blagojevich doesn't have the authority to close the Pontiac Correctional Center.

If he closes the prison and uses any of the $58.87 million the General Assembly appropriated to run the prison through June 2009, the governor would exercise powers reserved for the legislature, the lawsuit says.

"The General Assembly passed a budget and the governor signed it into law. We're asking the court to ensure the governor follows that law, which directs the state to operate Pontiac," union spokesman Henry Bayer said in a statement.

Some prison employees, state lawmakers from the Pontiac area and city Mayor Scott McCoy join the union as plaintiffs. Pontiac, a town of about 12,000 people, is about 40 miles northeast of Bloomington.

The governor has not seen the lawsuit, a spokesman said.

"Any decision about Pontiac will be made objectively, based on the best interests of the state and the employees," Brian Williamsen said, declining further comment.

Department of Corrections spokesman Derek Schnapp said agency leaders hadn't seen the lawsuit either, but plans to close the prison in Pontiac early next year are on course.

He called it "a very objective proposal that was in the best interests of our agency and for the state taxpayers."

The governor and corrections Director Roger Walker are named as defendants, along with state Comptroller Dan Hynes and Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias.

Blagojevich has said closing the prison would save about $4 million a year as the state tries to deal with a $2 billion budget deficit.

The prison's 1,650 inmates and its jobs would shift elsewhere in the state. Most of the inmates would wind up at a largely unused prison in Thomson, in northwestern Illinois.

But in Pontiac, where the prison's 570 jobs make it the second largest local employer, many people believe politics is behind the governor's plan.

Blagojevich initially wanted to close a prison in Joliet, targeted Pontiac after Democratic Sen. A.J. Wilhelmi earlier this year decided not to support placing a recall initiative aimed at the governor on the November ballot. Republican lawmakers that represent Pontiac supported the measure.

On Tuesday, the legislature's Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability voted 9-0 to oppose Blagojevich's plan. But the vote is purely advisory, and while Williamsen said the governor will consider it, Blagojevich said a similar vote earlier this summer on his plan to move a traffic-safety office out of Springfield won't change his plans.

The governor also faces a lawsuit over that plan, which would move 140 jobs from the capital city to southern Illinois.

The union in 2002 filed a lawsuit similar to the one filed Wednesday to block a proposal by then-Gov. George Ryan to close the Vienna Correctional Center as he tried to balance the budget. Pressure from the union and downstate politicians eventually led Ryan to close another prison, in Sheridan.