The Illinois Senate and House of Representatives have both given approval to sell bonds to pay for this year’s capital project program. This will include $4.2 billion in general bonds and $1.1 billion in Build America bonds.
Local 150 actively lobbied for these funds, which will pay for several large-scale projects at Northern and Western Illinois Universities, among many other infrastructure projects.
Our friends from both the Republican and Democratic sides of the aisle supported this initiative, with the legislation passing nearly unanimously.
With so little residential and commercial construction employment available, public projects are more important than ever to keep Illinois’ working men and women employed, and we thank our state lawmakers for recognizing this.
The first Department of Transportation letting of 2011 is scheduled for tomorrow, January 21, and a breakdown of jobs will be posted on Local150.org as soon as the information is available.