Senator praises announced Rockford road projects

SPRINGFIELD – Steve Stadelman (D-Loves Park) today praised the Illinois Department of Transportation's announcement of a six-year, $12.62 billion construction plan that includes several million dollars in updates and reconstruction to roads, bridges and railway in Winnebago County. Stadelman released the following statement after the announcement:

"Today's IDOT announcement is great news for the Rockford area, but I would like to hear this type of announcement more frequently," Stadelman said. "These projects make our roads safer while creating thousands of jobs across the state. Investing in infrastructure and making improvements to our roads should be one of the biggest priorities of our state. Passing a capital bill once every decade will not allow us to stay up to date on our infrastructure which is essential in keeping Illinois roads and bridges safe."

The biggest projects in Senator Stadelman's district include:

• Re-establish passenger service to the Rockford area, including two new stations in Rockford (Alpine Road and South Main Street). Trains will run at least one round-trip daily between Chicago's Union Station and Dubuque. The project is estimated to cost $60 million, and is funded through the Illinois Jobs Now! capital plan.
• Rockford Multimodal Station. The City of Rockford will design and engineer a new multimodal station that will be built on the site of the former Amtrak station, just south of downtown. The station had not been used since the early 1980s, had fallen into disrepair and was demolished by the city at its own expense in 2011. This multimodal station will serve Amtrak's new Chicago-Rockford-Dubuque corridor with one round-trip train per day. The project is funded by $1.052 million from the state of Illinois and $2.268 in federal funding.
• One phase of a multi-phased project to rehabilitate Runway 1/19 at Chicago Rockford International Airport at an estimated cost of $4,965,000.

For more Rockford-area road projects, click here.

SPRINGFIELD – In an effort to move a proposal to make Rockford the Midwest recreational sports destination forward, Senator Steve Stadelman (D- Loves Park) today passed a measure allowing Winnebago County to impose a 2 percent tax on hotel stays. It is estimated that this new tax, which would be shouldered by out-of-town visitors, would generate $13 million for the project.

"Currently in Rockford, hotel guests pay a 12 percent tax at checkout. But surrounding areas like Peoria and Galesburg have a 13 percent tax, and Chicago has a 16.4 percent tax. So Rockford will still be competitive in attracting tourists," Stadelman said.

The Reclaiming First proposal transitions the former Ingersoll building into a riverside indoor sports complex, while making improvements to Sportscore One and Two. The project, Reclaiming First, was introduced in December 2011 and has rallied support from across Winnebago County and the surrounding area.

"The majority, if not all, of the estimated $37.5 million needed in funding for the new project would come from non-local sources including grants, charitable contributions and state funding," continued Stadelman.

Since 2007, Rockford's amateur sports tournaments have dropped 11 percent annually, resulting in $1.4 million loss for the region each year. In an effort to turn this downward trend around, local economic development and city planners, elected officials, business owners and labor leaders collaborated on a proposal that would not only bring back Rockford's declining sports tournaments, but expand resources to make Rockford the amateur sports tournament capital of the Midwest.

The measure now moves to the House for further consideration.

RELATED: VIDEO: Stadelman discusses Reclaiming First

The Illinois Senate has long had a tradition by which a freshman senator introducing his first bill is grilled mercilessly — but in good fun — by colleagues, and State Senator Steve Stadelman (D-Loves Park) was not spared.

On Thursday, Stadelman introduced Senate Bill 2347 —a measure involving the baiting of deer and wild turkey for hunting purposes — and endured several senators' playful questions. State Senator Mike Noland (D-Elgin), as he usually does, opened the questioning.

"Senator, given the language of this bill, I have to believe that you are baiting the entire chamber to make inquiry, are you not?"

"I am baiting you to support this bill, yes," Stadelman said, laughing.

After more tongue-in-cheek scrutiny from Noland, State Senator Gary Forby (D-Benton) joined the fray to ask for some clarification.

"There's some you put in a glass and there's some that you hunt out in the woods," Forby said, "so I want to make sure we have the right wild turkey."

After all the ribbing, Senate Bill 2347 passed the Senate 52-0, and it now heads to the House for consideration.

SPRINGFIELD – University of Illinois' President Robert Easter testified Thursday in front of the Senate Appropriations Committee regarding Gov. Pat Quinn's proposed fiscal year 2014 budget cuts. Committee member Senator Steve Stadelman (D-Rockford) was disheartened to hear the university may have to cut or possibly close its Rural Pharmacy Program, which is based in Rockford.

"Rockford has the unique opportunity to bring people in from across the state and nation to participate in the Rural Pharmacy Program," Stadelman said. "The program's purpose is to address the shortage of pharmacists in rural Illinois. Closing the program would hurt those efforts and Rockford's ability to diversify its economy with the recent addition of the Pharmacy School."

According to the testimony, Quinn suggests a $500,000 reduction in funding for the program, which equates to an estimated cut of $2,500 per student. If the university decided not to eliminate the program after the funding cut, the only other likely option would be a raise in tuition.

"Families are struggling to make ends meet, and a raise in tuition would discourage potential students from participating in this program," Stadelman continued. "It is unfortunate that a student who is interested in pharmacy would miss out on their dream job because we made educational programs like the Rural Pharmacy Program too expensive and therefore unattainable for them."

The General Assembly will consider the governor's proposed FY14 budget in the coming weeks.

"I will not support the governor's budget, or any budget proposal, that eliminates the funding for the Rural Pharmacy Program because it's not good for my district and it's not good for Illinois," Stadelman said.