Durbin, Bustos Ask President to Include Additional Funding for Thomson in his 2015 Budget
U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Cheri Bustos (IL-17) today sent a letter to President Obama asking him to include the necessary funding for the second year of activation of the Thomson Correction Center in his Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 Budget request which will be released on Tuesday.
“We write today to respectfully request that you prioritize the activation of Illinois’ Thomson Correctional Center in your FY15 budget proposal which is expected to be released on March 4, 2014,” wrote the Illinois members. “According to the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), the full activation of this long delayed facility should take two fiscal years (FY 2014 and FY 2015) and include about $25 million for construction and other related facility upgrades and approximately $170 million for staffing and equipment. The first installment of those funds should now be available as a result of the Fiscal Year 2014 Consolidated Appropriations Act which was passed by Congress and signed into law by the President in January.”
Text of today’s letter is below
February 27, 2014
The President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Obama,
We write today to respectfully request that you prioritize the activation of Illinois’ Thomson Correctional Center in your FY2015 budget proposal which is expected to be released on March 4, 2014. According to the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), the full activation of this long delayed facility should take two fiscal years (FY 2014 and FY 2015) and include about $25 million for construction and other related facility upgrades and approximately $170 million for staffing and equipment.
The first installment of those funds should now be available as a result of the Fiscal Year 2014 Consolidated Appropriations Act which was passed by Congress and signed into law by the President in January. We believe the legislation includes adequate funding for the BOP’s construction and staffing accounts and expect a final announcement soon from the BOP on the level of funding that will be directed to the activation of the Thomson Correctional Center.
Higher security prison facilities, including penitentiaries, are currently operating at 54 percent over capacity and medium-security institutions are 44 percent over capacity. This critical problem puts the security staff and inmates alike at risk and also negatively impacts mental health treatment and programming for inmates. The Thomson Correctional Center can immediately alleviate some of this overcrowding with high-security bed space that would accommodate 2,600 high-security inmates, in addition to 200 minimum security inmates.
Overcrowding also strains the infrastructure of BOP facilities, including water, sewage, and power systems. The frustration and anger from a lack of resources is a precursor to inmate violence, which poses additional risk to prison staff and other inmates.
Thomson Correctional Center, when fully activated, would also add 1,100 jobs in our region and is expected to generate more than $122 million in local expenditures, $19 million in labor income, and $61 million in sales at local small businesses. The prison’s activation would not only be good for our economy, it would also generate a sense of pride amongst the surrounding communities to see the dormant facility finally be put to use.
On behalf of the prison staff who risk their lives daily in crowded prisons throughout the country, as well as our constituents in Illinois, we thank you in advance for your consideration of this important request. We look forward to working with you to ensure that Thomson Correctional Center helps alleviate overcrowding and that all prisoners held there are treated appropriately and humanely.
Sincerely,