Illinois General Assembly Passes Budget Includes Funds For Dwight Prison
By: WMBD/WYZZ TV Newsroom
Updated: May 31, 2012
SPRINGFIELD-The Illinois General Assembly has passed a budget that
includes funding for Dwight Correctional Center.
Governor Quinn wanted to close the
prison to save money.
The facility is one of Dwight's top employers and closing it would be a
major blow to its economy.
Tonight the
mayor of Dwight and prison employees are breathing sighs of relief.
Dwight mayor Bill
Wilkey said, "It's
a very happy day. As far as the first three hurdles we had to go across and now
he's the last one."
Prison Employee Shane Long said, "Makes us feel good. The morale is still high.
We're keeping on, keeping on. We've said from day one the prison was open and
it's going to stay open."
Dwight isn't out of the woods yet. The budget now has to be signed by the
governor.
