Pam Althoff Sums Up Legislative Session – Part 4

Pam Althoff

Pam Althoff

A press release from State Senator Pam Althoff:

End of Session Review

Economic Development Omnibus

On the final day of the scheduled legislative session, the Senate also passed a major economic development incentive measure that Althoff said had many laudable projects, but the process was rushed and not well thought through.

Senate Bill 20 paves the way for a long list of public projects through a variety of incentives and authorizations. Projects impacted would include:

  • a new arena for DePaul University near Chicago’s McCormick Place
  • improvements at the Rosemont Convention Center
  • the proposed third major Chicago-area airport near Peotone
  • the Cronus Fertilizer Plant near Tuscola
  • a Brownfield Redevelopment Zone in Chicago’s south suburbs
  • a Chicago Midwest TIF extension for Mt. Sinai Hospital
  • additional funding for the state’s Underground Storage Tank Fund
  • farmland assessment changes
  • a Grundy County Economic Development Project Area
  • a new Riverfront Development Fund that will impact Aurora, East St. Louis, Peoria, Elgin and Rockford
  • property tax changes needed by the Washington Community Center and
  • changes to the state’s Enterprise Zone, Rivers Edge and High Impact Business programs

Unfortunately, as was the pattern with much of the legislation from the 2013 session, the measure contained anti-small business language that would make it harder to small employers to participate in state projects. Althoff did not support the measure due to the process and the fact that each of these projects should have been in their own piece of legislation rather than lumped together.


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