SPRINGFIELD - A Southern Illinois lawmaker says Gov. Rod Blagojevich's controversial decision to move 148 jobs from Springfield to his district has been in the works for two years.

The Illinois Department of Transportation announced last week 148 traffic safety jobs would be moved from Springfield to Southern Illinois. State Sen. Gary Forby said Monday those jobs would almost certainly go to his district, if not the Benton Democrat's hometown.

"If it happened anywhere in my 13 counties, it would be a big issue for me," Forby said.

But he said the planned move isn't a reward from the governor for not supporting a recall proposal that would allow voters to perhaps pull Blagojevich and others from office. Forby said he was told six months ago an announcement about the jobs would come this summer.

Forby said he first asked about the jobs two years ago.

Moving state jobs around isn't uncommon recently, but there's no guarantee any of the planned changes will actually happen.

Earlier this year, Blagojevich unveiled a plan to close part of the Stateville Correctional Center near Joliet. That plan was officially scrapped Monday.

Now, the administration wants to close the Pontiac Correctional Center instead. Blagojevich has tried to do that, and failed, before.

To move the traffic safety jobs from Springfield to Southern Illinois, the state will hold hearings to get public input, DOT spokesman Brian Williamsen said.

That's an about face from Friday, when Williamsen said the hearing process would be skipped.

"We're just being cautious here," he said.

Williamsen said the lease on the Springfield building where traffic safety workers are now costs too much and a Southern Illinois office could save money.

But union officials and Springfield lawmakers have criticized the proposal. They say if the state wanted to save money, it could relocate the workers elsewhere nearby without uprooting families.

"I think it's a terrible idea," said U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, a Springfield Democrat. "I guess if you asked Abraham Lincoln in his day, he'd say it's like the state of Illinois taking money out of one pocket and putting it in the other and losing a few coins in the process. We're not building the economy by transferring jobs out of Springfield."

Mike Riopell can be reached at mike.riopell@lee.net or 789-0865.