Believes there are funds for upgrades
BY PATRICK J. POWERS
News-Democrat
Believes there are funds for
upgrades
BY PATRICK J. POWERS
News-Democrat
A little compromise on the part of Illinois Senate Republicans would've gone a long way to constructing and upgrading metro-east roadways, state Rep. Jay Hoffman said.
The Collinsville Democrat tried to push Democratic legislation in May that would net another $120 million for metro-east road construction. The legislation, which called for borrowing $2 billion to be repaid from the state's road fund, died along a party-line vote.
"It's disappointing," Hoffman said about the failed vote. "We believe there are sufficient funds in the road fund to get this done."
But Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson, R-Greenville, said there was no guarantee the money would ever find its way to specific metro-east projects.
"Trust is a factor," Watson said. "Trust is a huge problem for this administration. We've had some concerns about how this administration's been operating. We are not opposed to a capital program at all, but we need to have certain parameters and certain guarantees."
Watson said the only assurance Senate Republicans were given that the metro-east would benefit was a draft copy of the projects to be funded. Language certifying where the money would go never made it into the bill, he said.
"There'd have to be a lot more specifics before I could vote for it," said Sen. Dave Luechtefeld, R-Okawville. "You keep borrowing and finally you will make it impossible for anyone to be governor without raising taxes."
It's an issue Hoffman, Gov. Rod Blagojevich's ally in the Illinois House, quickly dismissed.
"That's a red herring that some people are hiding behind to rationalize a party-line vote," Hoffman said. "The list was made public. The administration was even willing to sign memorandums of understanding to ensure these projects would be completed."
Without approval from the General Assembly, the projects remain only aspirations.
The plan was to pay for the projects by bonding $2 billion for road and bridge construction across the state. State leaders would repay the bond by taking $140 million from the road fund every year for the next 20 years. It was a plan supported by the Transportation for Illinois Coalition.
"Additional funding would not only improve our state infrastructure, it would also create an average of nearly 17,800 jobs each of the (next) four years," the coalition -- comprised of business, labor and transportation representatives -- said in statement to legislators.
The bill never made it into law, but that doesn't mean those road projects won't ever be completed.
"I would hope that during the (November) veto session we could take this up again," Hoffman said.
Contact reporter Patrick J. Powers at ppowers@bnd.com or 239-2562