Phelps fights back private prison bill three times
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The Illinois House repeatedly voted down a bill Thursday designed to prevent a company from building a private prison in Crete to hold federal immigration detainees.
State Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Harrisburg, led opposition to the bill as it might also have closed down the publicly-owned but privately-managed Tri-County Detention Center in Ullin that serves as the county jail for Alexander, Pulaski and Union Counties.
Supporters of SB1064 brought the bill to a vote for the first time Thursday afternoon but it failed to secure a majority.
Sponsors of the bill offered an amendment Monday grandfathering the Ullin facility under the law but Phelps said both Republican and Democratic county commissioners in Pulaski County remained concerned that the bill could prevent future management leases if the current company ever lost or gave up their contract.
Lawrence Benito, executive director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, claimed after the first vote that the Southern Illinois facility would not be "impacted by the legislation."
When asked about the county commissioners' concerns he seemed shocked that they would still have them.
"The spirit that we wrote it is that the facility would be (grandfathered), that we would protect them. We tried to address the concerns that they had with this legislation. That was our intent," he said.
Earlier in the day Phelps had noted a second concern that a yes vote to block the Crete facility would be turning away those jobs in Illinois.
"If they don't build it in Illinois and (the feds) cancel that contract why should I let Iowa or Indiana have it," Phelps added.
Benito though switched the argument pointing out his group's belief that if the Crete facility was built Illinois jobs would likely be lost at the three jails that already host federal immigration detainees in the state.
Two of those facilities are located in Southern Illinois, the Jefferson County Jail in Mount Vernon and the same Tri-County Detention Center in Ullin that Phelps was trying to save.
The immigration group's spokesperson, Monica Trevino described the opponents' view as "misinformation," and hoped that they could "convince enough people to get on board."
Phelps never did.
"I don't believe that," he responded when hearing the new arguments. "They're going to do anything they can to get their votes. It has nothing to do Mount Vernon or Ullin," Phelps said. "Tri-County already has got a contract."
After the first vote supporters used a parliamentary maneuver to reconsider the bill Thursday night. That vote failed 59-54 with one person voting present. Sixty votes were needed for passage.
Later in the evening supporters filed a motion to reconsider the vote yet again. Opponents moved to table the motion. That failed 47-70. The motion to allow a third vote then prevailed 60-57. It looked like the bill had enough votes to pass, but it was false hope.
Phelps and his allies had actually strengthened the opposition. On the third vote the bill failed 57-58.
All of the Southern Illinois representatives, Democratic and Republican voted no on the bill except state Rep. John Bradley, D-Marion, who voted in favor of it.
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Musgrave receives e-mail at jmusgrave@dailyregister.com</li>
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