Thomson deal splits local lawmakers
SPRINGFIELD - A dozen state lawmakers, including two local members, are poised to recommend today whether Illinois should close and sell the Thomson Correctional Center, a largely vacant prison that could end up housing inmates from a U.S. prison camp abroad.
The plan to transfer prisoners from Guantánamo Bay to Thomson will be discussed in Chicago by the General Assembly's Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability.
The potential sale of the prison comes at a time when the state is trying to fill a budget deficit of approximately $12 billion. It also comes just one week after Gov. Pat Quinn publicly apologized for the early release of prisoners as a money-saving measure, and days after one GOP candidate unsuccessfully tried to legally block the sale.
The politically polarizing plan has been largely reviled by Republicans and praised by Democrats, including U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Springfield and President Barack Obama.
The two suburban lawmakers on the panel are similarly split. State Sen. Matt Murphy, a Palatine Republican, who's running for lieutenant governor, opposes the deal. On the other hand, Northbrook Democratic state Rep. Elaine Nekritz said she'll likely support the sale.
Murphy said there still are too many unanswered questions about the issue for him to recommend the sale, beginning with safety and financial concerns.
Many opponents have cited fears of having suspected al-Qaida terrorists in Illinois, but Murphy also questioned the sale price associated with the prison, saying the $120 million figure he's heard is about $25 million short of the cost taxpayers took on to build the prison. In addition, he said the state would still need a new prison down the road.
"And it won't be $140 million to build it the next time," Murphy said. "It will be considerably higher."
Murphy said that if the commission doesn't reach a conclusion at today's meeting, he'll seek to put the question before the General Assembly in the coming weeks.
Nekritz disagreed with Murphy's argument, and said she's likely vote to support the sale.
She said Quinn's executive powers cover this issue as the prison system is an agency under the governor's control. While not necessarily opposed to bringing the decision before lawmakers, Nekritz said it would likely be another symbolic gesture.
"But I don't know that it could be binding on the governor's office," she said.
The roughly $145 million Thomson facility simply was too great of an investment not to fully utilize, Nekritz said. Although the prison was completed in 2001, it did not begin housing inmates until 2006, and still has only 171 inmates there as of Monday at a facility with a capacity of 1,600.
The 12-member commission is expected to convene around 1 p.m. at the Thompson Center in Chicago to discuss and vote on whether to recommend the purchase. Alternatively, the commission may vote to reject the sale. Nekritz said both votes allow the group to add conditions that could specify details of the transaction.
However, any recommendations are merely advisory.