|
Chamber Op-Ed: There's a stealth campaign to lure business away from Illinois. Lawmakers must halt it.
Earlier this week, Illinois Chamber Interim President and CEO Keith Staats was joined by the Greater Springfield Chamber, Chicagoland Chamber, and Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in an op-ed opposing changes to the federal perimeter rule at Raegan National Airport. Provided below is a portion of that editorial published in Crain's.
Today in Washington, D.C., the fourth phase of a multi-decade strategy to entice business from Illinois and other Midwest states using legislative stealth continues apace. Utilizing the "boiling frog" approach — moving sufficiently small to not draw attention until it is too late — hostile business interests work through their federal representatives to quietly nullify small advantages of Midwest commercial interests. In so doing, they cripple a critical component of regional air travel, which raises their odds of capturing high-value meetings and conference business.
Two troubling signs indicate these efforts are successful: the migration of corporations from less-populous areas of Illinois to larger cities, and the migration of major conferences and meetings to destinations west of the Rockies.
Multiple Illinois airports prioritize direct access to Washington airports because business views getting into and out of D.C. frequently and easily as fundamental to their operation. (See Boeing's relocation to Arlington, Va., as exhibit A.) Key to this access is Reagan National Airport, designated for short-haul flights, and the federal "perimeter rule" that governs its operations, along with its long-haul sibling, Dulles International Airport.
Congress governs operations at the two Washington airports through the perimeter rule. It segregated short-haul flights within a 1,250-mile perimeter of the smaller Reagan, which requires smaller jets and overall less infrastructure to handle passenger traffic. The larger, more expansive Dulles was designated for long-haul flights to the far western U.S. and overseas. As a result, Dulles was built to handle the largest passenger jets and the dense passenger traffic and luggage that comes with them.
Starting in 2000, at the behest of far-west business interests, congressional representatives from west of the Rockies initiated a sustained effort to amend the perimeter rule so that slots at the already maxed-out Reagan could be flipped to long haul: to Texas, California, Washington state, etc. A handful of slots were flipped, then again and yet again.
And what was the result? Multiple regional airports saw a reduction or elimination of direct flights to Washington, D.C. And many larger corporations relocated their headquarters to larger cities where air travel is more accessible, leaving behind extensive negative economic effects.
It would be a mistake to look at the steady decline of regional air transportation and think that larger cities are immune. It would be akin to the frog thinking that the warmer water temperature was tolerable. And this would deliver the exact result that the architects of this plan hoped to realize.
The cumulative effect of perimeter rule flips dramatically increased traffic to far-west destinations intent on expanding their tourism and conference industries at the expense of traditional conference destinations, such as Chicago's McCormick Place. More than 3,000 associations are based in Washington, D.C., and many hold an annual conference.
Read the full piece here.
FAA Reauthorization Bill
Currently, the five-year reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration is moving through Congress. On Wednesday evening, the US House of Representatives opposed an effort to add more flights to the already at-capacity Reagan National Airport [DCA]. The Coalition to Protect America's Regional Airports (CPARA) and its nearly 150 members nationwide commend the Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle who voted to ensure safety, limit delays and cancellations, and protect regional access to the nation’s capital for communities across the country. As the issue moves to the Senate, substantial and growing opposition to adding more flights at DCA will ensure that Congress passes the critically needed FAA Reauthorization bill on time. The op-ed above written by the Illinois Chamber and fellow members of the CPARA is an example of this advocacy in opposition to perimeter rule changes.
Release: Two New Members added to Illinois State Toll Highway Authority Board
Melissa Neddermeyer will serve as a Director on the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority. Melissa Neddermeyer is the Sole Practitioner and Owner of Neddermeyer Law Offices and has been a practicing attorney for nearly twenty years. She serves as Village President for the Village of Willow Springs. Prior to being elected Village President, she served as Village Trustee. Committed to public service and collaboration, she is an active member of the Southwest Conference of Mayors and the West Central Municipal Conference.
Mark Wright will serve as a Director on the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority. Mark Wright is Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Diverse Facility Solutions (DFS). Prior to his tenure at DFS, Mark was the Director of Operations at Midway Airlines' Terminal Consortium (MATCO) from 2001 to 2003, and he played an instrumental role in the monumental $793 million-dollar Midway Airport Development Project the Naperville Planning and Zoning Commission, Naperville Development Partnership (NDP), SOS Children's Village, and the College of DuPage Foundation.
| 
