It’s Masters weekend! Hope you get a pimento cheese sandwich, a cold beverage, and the chance to watch some golf this weekend. This was the last week of “spring break” and it might be our last chance to relax before the legislative rush. Starting next weekend, blink, and the next thing you know it’ll be June.
At our meeting (more on this below), Senator DeWitte’s pick of Jordan Spieth is looking pretty good as of Friday afternoon. I’m feeling good about Justin Thomas and Cameron Smith and Senator Fowler’s pick of Ricky Fowler? I’m pretty sure he’s at home watching on the tv with us.
Illinois Chamber Infrastructure Council Holds Spring Meeting
On Thursday, April 8th the Illinois Chamber Infrastructure Council held its annual Spring Meeting. This year's virtual event featured Senate Transportation Committee Chair Villivalam (D) and Republican Spokesman Dewitte (R). These two transportation leaders provided updates about the capital bill implementation, future transportation funding sources and how they think the remainder of session will play out.
Senator Fowler (R) also gave a presentation and answered questions during the event. In his update on the Cairo Port Project, Senator Fowler said the infrastructure investment will be the one of the biggest revitalizations of a depressed area in the United States. Aside from the potential economic boom, the impetus for the Cairo project is that 80 percent of all barge traffic in the nation passes through the region.
Also of note, Chairman Villivalam said that attendees should be on the lookout for design-build legislation introduced in the next week. The Spring Meeting is one of the Council's quarterly gatherings available for Infrastructure Members.
Capital Bill 2024
We ended Thursday’s meeting with a discussion on the next capital bill. It’s important the state break a decades long cycle of “massive funding, gradual decry, crisis”. Attached is our first draft outlining principals for the future of infrastructure funding.
Committee Updates
The Senate Transportation Committee will meet on Tuesday at 3:30. Here are the bills to be heard:
The House Transportation: Vehicles and Safety Committee meets on Wednesday at 10 am. Just two items will be heard:
As always, let us know your thoughts on these bills.
Articles of Interest
Clark
