Cross, Rose advance economic stimulus package

Lawmakers take their chances with economic stimulus plan

By Amy F. Reiter

Saturday March 15, 2008

CHAMPAIGN – Two Illinois legislators hope to make increased gambling income a key part in a statewide economic stimulus plan.

The plan, introduced at a Friday press conference at the Illinois Employment Training Center in Champaign by State Rep. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, and House Republican leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego, also aims at freezing property tax bills for some seniors, and increasing tax credits for businesses.

Cross said he hopes to generate about $10 billion in state money – matched by about $9 billion in federal money – for the building and and upkeep of state roads and facilities, possibly including Parkland College.

"We have lost over 200,000 jobs in a relatively short amount of time," Cross said. "We need to do what we think we can do to push the economy forward ... as it seems to soften."

Rose said the federal stimulus package has given states opportunities for bettering the economy, but said Illinois "is not positioned to take full advantage of what the federal government is offering."

He said he had liked a greater tax credit for businesses for job training and investments including research and development, as well as benefits tied to depreciation of assets.

Rose said the plan, which is still being drafted, is "aimed directly at helping middle-class, lower-income working people in the state."

Cross pushed for the state getting a $10 billion capital building bond, with the federal near-match. That money would go toward improvements in roads, K-12 schools, higher education and state facilities.

He said the state would need a predictable revenue stream of about $800 million to $900 million a year to pay back the $10 billion bond. He said about $300 million to $400 million of that could come from a gambling license that he said "is now free and clear." Other money could come from increased tables and slots at existing riverboats.

State Sen. Michael Frerichs, D-Champaign, said "a capital plan could be a great economic stimulus for the state of Illinois if the money was spent in the right places." But he worried that the gambling revenue would largely go to Chicago-area projects, unless protections were made to include downstate projects.

Parkland President Tom Ramage said the college is long overdue for a physical expansion, including a student services center that has been planned since about 2001. He said Parkland has remained sixth on a state building-priorities list for nine years now, and would have immediate use for capital money.

"We're nine years behind the curve," Ramage said, adding that the school has had to take classroom spaces for offices.

He said the priorities list made sense only if money were given out based on that list, without projects jumping rank, a point Frerichs agreed with. "The list was created without regard to politics based on need and priorities," Frerichs said. "We should remove politics from the decision and follow that list."

Cross said he's found some bipartisan support for a stimulus package, but blamed Illinois Democratic leaders for lack of movement on it. "The votes are there," he said. "It's a few people on the Democratic side who just don't want to sit down."

Frerichs agreed that timing is good for a state economic stimulus package, but placed blame for lack of one more widely. "I think the time has been right over the last year," he said. "Unfortunately, we've not been able to have both parties from both chambers sit down and negotiate in good faith."