Q-C business leaders ask Illinois lawmakers for $375M in projects

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By Kenneth Lowe | Thursday, April 3, 2008 12:37 AM CDT | () comments

SPRINGFIELD — Quad-City business leaders and elected officials went to the Illinois capital Wednesday to call on legislators to pass a construction plan and a budget that would earmark $375 million for local projects.

It has been nine years since a construction plan or “capital bill” has been passed in Illinois, and many lawmakers say it will be a hard sell in the state’s current fiscal situation.

The governor’s office has put forth a construction plan proposal that promises $25 billion dollars in funding.

Rick Baker, president of the Illinois Quad-City Chamber of Commerce, was among those lobbying for funding for projects ranging from a new campus for Western Illinois University to a passenger rail line connecting the Quad-Cities and Chicago.

“Our message is a very unified message of a need for a capital bill for Illinois,” Baker said.

Baker and the other lobbyists met with legislators from the Quad-City area, including state Rep. Pat Verschoore, D-Milan.

He said the requests of the Quad-Cities are not unreasonable given the overall money promised to the state. He also said the need in his district is great.

“We haven’t built a new school in my district, or in Rock Island County I think, in 40 years,” Verschoore said.

Don Welvaert, the mayor of Moline, said the Western Illinois campus is the highest priority for the group, and that it would have great benefits for the entire state.

“The General Assembly as a whole and the governor’s office are interested in jobs,” Welvaert said. “They’re interested in stimulating the economy and they’re interested in education and higher education. Western meets all three of those criteria.”

Baker said a large part of getting the attention of legislators is bringing big numbers of people who return every year to let legislators know what is important.

Even then, Verschoore said there is no guarantee the governor’s office will actually release the funds once the General Assembly approves them.

“That has been one of the things that the legislators have been so disappointed about,” Verschoore said. “At some point these people have got to stand up to their word.”

Kenneth Lowe can be contacted at Kenneth.lowe@lee.net or (217) 789-0865.