Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner wants to create a new commission aimed at trimming more than 12 thousand prisoners from state rolls in the next 10 years.
Jennifer Vollen Katz is with prison watchdog the John Howard Association. She says, "A huge step in the right direction toward cutting the overcrowding and beginning to provide meaningful programming to the inmates that are in there."
Former Representative Dennis Reboletti says this idea is a long time. He acknowledges that Illinois does have a lot of impotent, if well-meaning, commissions already, but he believes this one will be different.
"I think the governor should be taken at face value, he wants to put a commission together. You gotta start somewhere."
Vollen-Katz says she’s also taking this as a commitment from Rauner to cut the prison population.
"And we’re gonna be watching to see that this goes into action, that this happens and it doesn’t linger."
The Illinois state government already has more than 350 boards, commissions, task forces and councils.