Several Downstate Illinois legislators were furious last week that Governor Pat Quinn decided to go ahead and close some state facilities, including prisons, in their districts.
They weren't just upset about the lost jobs, however. Some also claim that Quinn brazenly broke a deal on the closures. "If the governor proceeds with this, he has gone back on his word," Representative Mike Bost (R-Murphysboro) told a crowd gathered to protest the planned closures last week. Bost and others indicated that the trade was made over revenue issues, but he didn't get more specific.
Bost did not return a phone call, but he was almost surely referring to the cigarette-tax increase.