Southern Illinois State Representative Brandon Phelps has launched a petition drive to show public support for keeping the Tamms Correctional Center open.
Governor Pat Quinn wants to close the super-maximum security prison as a cost savings measure. Phelps calls the Governor's plan " bad politics." The super-maximum security prison provides some 300-jobs to residents in the Tamms area. The Harrisburg Democrat says Alexander county is one of the only counties in the state the Governor won in the last election. Phelps says the Governor's plan is a slap in the face for a county that is already impoverished and has high unemployment and needs every job it can get.
Phelps says his office is collecting signatures of local residents that he will personally deliver to the Governor's office in the coming weeks. Phelps says it's still early in the budget process and what Governor Quinn talked about in his budget speech is just a blueprint and doesn't mean it's going to happen. Phelps says he's willing to work on both sides of the aisle to try to get this done, but he says the call to close Tamms is an attack on southern Illinois.
