ROCKFORD –- At least 960 lead municipal water lines will be replaced with $4 million in Illinois Environmental Protection Agency funding, State Senator Steve Stadelman announced today.

Service lines are small pipes that carry drinking water from water mains into homes. Many homes built before 1990 have lead service lines, which can corrode over time and release lead into drinking water.

"Lead is a toxin that can accumulate in the body and cause serious illness or even death," Stadelman said. "This funding protects public water supplies and helps Rockford and other cities across the state replace these aging water pipes before IEPA deadlines kick in."

ROCKFORD - Libraries in Rockford, Loves Park, Cherry Valley and Belvidere will benefit from $379,097 in state funds to purchase books and new technology, hire staff and offer digital access to patrons.

Public Library Per Capita Grants made through the Illinois Secretary of State were announced Monday. Based on population served, Rockford Public Library will get $219,000 that Director Lynn Stainbrook said will allow patrons to choose from an expanded and updated collection of reading materials.

"Without the support of the Secretary of State and State Legislature, our ability to buy new children's books, to update our nonfiction collection with accurate health, legal, business, even geographic information -- and to provide for the latest bestsellers -- would be greatly hampered."

ROCKFORD – To give local tourism efforts more support, State Senator Steve Stadelman announced that the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity has granted over $50,000 to Winnebago County tourism organizations.

“Illinois is a great place to visit with iconic stops in so many cities across the state,” said Stadelman (D-Rockford). “From the Discovery Center Museum to Loves Park, our community has so much to offer. I look forward to the support these grants will bring.”

The Route 66 Grant Program and the Illinois Travel and Tourism Grant Program will support the following organizations in the 34^th district:

• Discovery Center Museum of Rockford - $30,355
• Klehm Arboretum & Botanic Garden - $10,000
• Loves Park - $10,000

ROCKFORD -- Nearly $1 million in new state funding is headed to local human services providers for construction and accessibility projects that State Senator Steve Stadelman today deemed "much needed and long overdue."

Awards totalling $947,471 to 6 local agencies are among 70 statewide under the first-ever competitive Human Services Capital Investment Grant program, established to address infrastructure and accessibility needs in early childhood education, substance abuse and mental health treatment, homelessness prevention and developmental disability support.  Funding is through the six-year Rebuild Illinois capital spending legislation Stadelman supported in 2019. More than 450 organizations applied statewide for grants of $50,000 to $250,000.

"For far too long, our most vulnerable citizens have not been adequately supported. The dedicated non-profits who serve them are accustomed to vying for operational funds from government," Stadelman said. "But they have not previously had any opportunity to receive capital dollars to repair buildings and make them safe and accessible."

The local organizations that won grants are: