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Illinois congressional delegation concerned about EJ & E

Yesterday the topic in DC was transportation, and in particular, the Canadian bid to buy the EJ & E Railroad, a topic heating up in the western suburbs.  The cost of increased use of train lines would affect towns like Aurora and Naperville in stopping traffic, forcing the construction of costly viaducts, and heightening public concerns about potential dangers.   

As reported in the Daily Herald, the Illinois delegation spoke out:

State's government, like its roads, needs repair

In today's Southtown Star, the topic is Illinois' rough roads . . .

Perhaps if a few more stipulations following the example set by the WPA were added, the needed capital bill could move. Why not budget only 15 percent or less to the program's administration, leaving 85 percent or more to labor and materials?

Like the WPA, the state should pay construction workers fair wages, but Blagojevich's Executive Order 13 disqualifying any nonunion construction company from bidding on a state-funded building program should be repealed. Currently, only union-affiliated companies need inquire, preventing most downstate construction companies and their employees from putting in for state-funded projects, driving the costs dramatically upward.

Instead, the rule should be that any company official who's made a donation to Blagojevich's election campaign in the past eight years should be disqualified from bidding.

Link: State's government, like its roads, need repair :: The SouthtownStar :: Fran Eaton.

Ozinga talks cash and conservation at the pumps

MOKENA -- Two days after returning from a trip to Moscow where he attended the graduation ceremony of a Russian university on whose board of trustees he serves, 11th CD candidate Marty Ozinga will be pumping gas for four hours in southwest suburban Mokena today.  The owner of Ozinga Concrete, with 30 locations and a fleet of cement trucks, plans to discuss the high price of gasoline with those drivers whose tanks he'll be filling.

“I know what people are going through when it comes to paying for fuel,” Ozinga said. “Our business uses 4 million gallons of diesel fuel each year. If the price of fuel goes up just 50 cents, that’s $2 million that we have to eat. And of course, it has gone up by much more than just 50 cents.

RTA Must Lead

by Chris Robling

Last year we were threatened with many CTA doomsdays.  Finally, in January, the General Assembly passed a bill designed to help transit.

But the bill ignores the core infrastructure that allows us to move people, goods and service through the region.  It provides nothing to maintain and improve vehicles and bridges, tunnels and structures, buildings and electronic systems.

Instead, Springfield raised taxes on us to give cash to CTA, METRA AND PACE for operations.

Then, Governor Blagojevich threw in free rides for seniors – and stuck us with the tab.

The Unfunded Bridge to St. Louis

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch says Governor Blagojevich and MO Governor Matt Blunt will announce the building of a new bridge over the Mississippi River.  How will we do it?  Well, if you're wondering why we're over a billion dollars behind in making Mediciad payments to hospitals, doctors and pharmacies, it's evidently because $262 million of our tax dollars have been tucked away for this project, or so the SLPD reported.

Has the governor no shame?  He panders to pipefitters, promises new projects and new jobs in Illinois, while leaving unpaid a billion dollars in previous obligations. . .

IR Focus: Tim Baldermann, GOP candidate in 11th CD

NEW LENOX -- When asked why he’s running in Illinois’ 11th CD Republican primary to fill the seat Congressman Jerry Weller’s is vacating, New Lenox mayor Tim Baldermann answered, “I believe in duty and answering the call when you’re needed.” 

Baldermann’s answer was expected from a guy whose last twenty years he's spent in law enforcement, on a local school board and as of eight months ago, as mayor of New Lenox, a town located in one of America’s fastest-growing communities. 

When the Will County GOP asked him to run for Congress, Baldermann, 41, says he saw it as another chance to serve and bring along an array of life experiences that he believes have prepared him to serve in Congress.

As a law enforcement officer and now police chief in southwest suburban Chicago Ridge, Baldermann's had first hand experience implementing federal Homeland Security regulations and working within federal immigration parameters.  His current jurisdiction was a center of controversy in the days immediately following 9-11, as angry protests erupted outside one of the Chicago area’s largest mosques, located in Chicago Ridge.

Thrown under the CTA

You gotta love the Trib's Dick Lochner today . . .

Transit to waste

by Chris Robling

This transit bill is a very regrettable and yet completely foreseeable result. It has been brewing for years. Like coffee left too long on the burner, it will have a deeply acidic taste.

It will not solve operational waste and inefficiency at CTA, Metra or Pace. It will not provide a long-term funding solution. It fails to address our capital problem. It keeps our federal earmarks precariously at risk, willfully gambling with literally billions of federal dollars approved for the region.

It is said to strengthen RTA. In some ways, it does -- it gives RTA a bit more role in regional planning. However, by (a) leaving bonding authority at CTA and (b) giving Metra $10 billion of new bonding authority, the regionalists’ siren call of "co-ordination" fell, an early victim to the pinstripers’ hunger for new troughs in which to root for fees.

Rod owes the GOP

Today the Governor is basking in his glorious victory once again over a now-emasculated General Assembly who backed down to his demands rather than be blamed for a possible CTA shutdown next week. 

From Friday's press release found here:

"Finally, the long struggle to find a long-term transit funding solution is over. Crippling service cuts, fare hikes, and lay-offs were averted and Illinois seniors will be able to travel for free on public transportation," Governor Blagojevich said. "A good compromise never makes everyone happy, but I thank the General Assembly for coming together and approving my change."

A simple majority in each legislative chamber was needed to pass the Governor's CTA legislation's amendatory veto.  In the Senate, a simple majority is 30 votes.  From a Republican point of view, that makes HB 656's 32 to 19 Senate vote especially demoralizing.