SPRINGFIELD - Efforts by a Chicago lawmaker to change how the state operates its super-max prison in the southern Illinois community of Tamms are part of a plan to close the controversial facility, state Rep. Brandon Phelps suggested Tuesday.

"If you make it harder for prisoners to go to Tamms then that means you are going to need less staff," said the Harrisburg Democrat of state Rep. Julie Hamos' legislation targeting the prison. "What I think they really want to do is close it down."

Comparing the treatment of inmates at Tamms to those at Guantanamo Bay, prison reform advocates Tuesday told a legislative panel that prisoners should only be housed there for one-year stints. They also want more stringent rules regarding what kinds of inmates can be sent there.

The panel agreed with Hamos' proposal and sent it on to the full House for further debate on a 4-3 vote.

Tamms Correctional Center holds nearly 250 of the states most dangerous criminals. Inmates there can be subjected to 23 hours of confinement, which opponents say is too long and equal to torture.

"This has become a growing human rights problem," Hamos said, adding her legislation was not an attempt to shut down the prison.

Phelps, whose district includes Tamms, said the 11-year old prison needs to have tough rules to house the state's worst criminals.

"They have earned their way into this facility," he said.

Johnnie Walton, who served the last five years of a 20-year sentence at Tamms, also testified to the House Prison Reform Committee about the brain damage caused by serving multi-year terms in a prison that allows limited communication with others.

"There were young guys cutting their private parts off just to get out of their cell," said Walton, 57.

Sergio Molina, executive assistant to the director of the Illinois Department of Corrections, said lawmakers should not set guidelines on where the department sends prisoners.

"I think we have concerns with any rules that would dictate how we operate a facility," Molina said.

The legislation is House Bill 2633.