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Quinn's proposed budget cuts prison programs

By WEEK Producer
March 12, 2012 Updated Mar 13, 2012 at 9:10 AM CDT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill -- There's word that under Governor Pat Quinn's budget plan, drug counseling and job training programs for prisoners would be reduced or eliminated.

Quinn's budget proposal calls for eliminating the maximum security prison at Tamms, and the women's prison at Dwight, along with transition centers in Peoria and other cities.

The John Howard Association, a prison watchdog group, said the end result will be more inmates returning to the prison system because they lack job training or the skills to avoid drugs.

The Governor's office said making the cuts would save the state about $12 million.

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