DECATUR - Supporters believe in the city's now-defunct CeaseFire project so much, they're backing legislation that would double the amount of money Decatur and other cities in Illinois would receive to operate one.

Standing with a half dozen other people, state Rep. Bob Flider, D-Mount Zion, announced the measure Wednesday outside the project's former headquarters, 1212 N. Edward St.

"We're not going to go away," he said, "and we're not going to let a power struggle result in lost funds for Decatur."

Flider was referring to a line-item veto by Gov. Rod Blagojevich that eliminated $6.25 million from the state budget for Operation CeaseFire, including $250,000 for Decatur's project.

House Bill 4170, introduced Nov. 6 by state Rep. Susana A. Mendoza, D-Chicago, and co-sponsored by Flider and 10 other Democrats, would appropriate $12.5 million statewide and $500,000 for Decatur. Flider said the additional money would help Operation CeaseFire "make up for lost ground" since funding was cut in August.

The veto affected two dozen projects, 16 in Chicago and the others in Aurora, Cicero/Berwyn, East St. Louis, Maywood, North Chicago, Rockford and Waukegan.

Flider said the faith-based initiative has mediated more than 1,200 high-risk conflicts around the state and prevented between 300 and 1,000 people from being shot.

Also speaking on behalf of Decatur's project were city Councilman Dan Caulkins; the Rev. Leroy Smith Jr., executive director of The Promise Community Center; the Rev. James Hodges, the project's former violence prevention coordinator; and Brandi Brown, the former outreach supervisor.

Brown said she and Hodges still are trying to rehabilitate at-risk individuals living in Decatur's CeaseFire zone, bounded by Garfield Avenue and Water, Eldorado and Van Dyke streets, but "there's not a lot we can do without the community."

Executive Director Ray Batman of Dove Inc., the lead agency in the city's CeaseFire Coalition, said residents stayed in their homes during CeaseFire's first anti-violence march in the spring but by June were not only out on their porches but also holding signs.

"We raised the level of hope for people that things could be different in this neighborhood," Batman said. "It's a shame when the legislative process takes away that hope."

Theresa Churchill can be reached at tchurchill@herald-review.com or 421-7978.