Costello II: House votes to keep Chester Mental Health Facility open and saves hundreds of jobs

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[On Tuesday state Rep. Jerry Costello II (D-Smithton) released the following statement regarding the House vote to keep Chester Mental Health Facility (CMHF) open:

"My colleagues in the State House and I voted to keep Chester Mental Health Facility open today. Senate Bill 2412 passed the House with a vote of 92-20-0. This vote followed a deal struck between House leadership, Senate leadership and the governor to appropriate funds to keep several state facilities open through the fiscal year.

Thank you to all those who joined me in defending the facility and those who work there. The continued operation of CMHF can be credited to everyone who testified at the Oct. 12th Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting & Accountability (COGFA) hearing, signed the community petition to keep Chester open, and supported the CMHF staff since the Governor's closure announcement. Through these efforts, CMHF was one of two facilities to receive a unanimous recommendation to not be cut out of the budget from COGFA. After speaking with the Senators and Representatives on the COGFA board, it was clear that their recommendation was made in large part to the professionalism they saw in CMHF staff and the arguments made at the Chester hearing.

The community petitions distributed by AFSCME Local 424, local residents and my office were instrumental in showing what the scope of the facility's closure would have on our region. In two months, the community came together behind this issue and we were able to present the Governor and General Assembly over 8,000 signatures, urging them to keep CMHF open.

Our efforts went the distance in emphasizing the importance of CMHF to our region, causing my peers in Springfield to take notice and vote against the impractical closure. I am confident in the facility's future and I thank everyone for joining in this effort to keep CMHF open."

Costello represents the 116th District, which contains all or portions of Perry, Monroe, Randolph, and St. Clair counties. He can be reached at (618) 443-5757, staterepcostello@gmail.com, or www.facebook.com/staterepcostello.