Quinn for Illinois

By Jeniece Pettitt

Governor Pat Quinn signed a bill on Wednesday that allows Illinois to issue federal stimulus-supported bonds to pay for capital projects such as bridges, schools and roads.

The bill empowers the state and local governments to issue Build America Bonds, used to finance capital expenditures, and Qualified School Construction Bonds, used for the construction or rehabilitation of public school facilities. 

Both bonds are authorized by the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The federal government will reimburse Illinois for 35 percent of the bonds' total interest paid to investors.

The state expects to issue up to $488 million in Qualified School Bonds by the end of the first quarter of 2010, according to a press release.

“The only way to have a strong economy is to have a strong infrastructure,” Gov. Quinn said at a signing ceremony at a West Side elementary school. “For years our state was not doing enough for its infrastructure so we have a lot of pent-up demand for building and I expect us to unleash that now and for years to come.”

This funding is part of Gov. Quinn’s Illinois Jobs Now! construction bill, enacted last summer, that aims to spawn 420,000 jobs in the state over the next six years. 

“This gives us more firepower to invest in job creation,” Quinn added. “We want this coming year to be the biggest building year in Illinois history.”

He signed and explained the bill at Bethune Elementary School on Chicago’s West Side in front of the school’s eighth grade class. The principal, Zipporah Hightower, also spoke at the event, thanking the governor for his support of better school facilities.

“Aesthetics means everything to instruction because if you are not being instructed in a proper location, students are not going to feel that people care for them and take care of them,” Hightower said. “So this bill is very important.”

James Sweeney, president and business manager of Local 150 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, AFL-CIO, also addressed the students, explaining that the construction industry has been in a depression, with  unemployment reaching as high as 40 percent in some areas.

“We have members that are using food kitchens for the first time, proud tradesmen who are in dire straights,” Sweeney said. “This bill is going to go a long way to enhance the opportunities for jobs in the construction industry.”

The bonds are tax-exempt and will be paid off over time “like a mortgage,” Quinn said, not necessarily dependent on the state's income tax. “With respect of the Build America Bonds...we would have revenue that we would use to pay the bond payments on an annual basis that may or may not be the income tax,” the governor stated.