Lawmakers & Union Leaders Protest Prison budget cuts - CBS4 - WHBF Quad Cities, IL-IA News Weather Sports

Lawmakers & Union Leaders Protest Prison budget cuts

By: Katie Jones

kjones@cbs4qc.com

Today local lawmakers and union leaders joined together to protest Governor Pat Quinn's budget. Earlier this year Governor Quinn announced the closure of several state correctional facilities. And while the E-M-C-C wasn't on the list ... AFSCME local 46 President Gregg Johnson says it's still being affected. He says this year alone the prison will gain more than a hundred inmates. And with a hiring freeze in effect Johnson says the guards are now outnumbered 10 to 1. He says when other state prisons close ... Highly dangerous inmates will be shipped to East Moline.

 "It's a domino effect that takes super maximum security inmates to a maximum and then maximum security to medium and medium go to minimum like our. You get inmates that have no business in East Moline"

Union Leaders say the E-M-C-C is supposed to get 72 more inmates any day now.