Jobs and Growth

Jobs and Growth

Jobs and Growth for Illinois is Governor Quinn’s comprehensive five-point economic plan to create jobs and expand the state economy.

Like President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Governor Quinn believes that the best social policy ever devised is a good job. It’s the best way to fight poverty. It’s the best way to fight crime. It’s the best way to keep families together.

 “This is a choice between pay stubs and unemployment checks,” Governor Quinn says. “Under my plan, Jobs and Growth for Illinois, we will create jobs today and set the stage for longterm, sustainable growth over the years to come.”

 

Jobs and Growth for Illinois focuses on five key points:

1.)  Rebuilding the state’s foundations by investing in public works.

Governor Quinn believes that investment in public works today creates good jobs both now and into the future. To create new jobs throughout the state of Illinois, Governor Quinn passed and signed Illinois Jobs Now!, the state’s first comprehensive capital program in more than a decade. Under the plan,  Illinois is joining forces with the federal government and local municipalities to make long-overlooked investments in Illinois’ roads, bridges, transportation systems, water projects, schools, community colleges, public buildings, and other high-priority projects. The result will be sturdier, more prosperous communities in the Land of Lincoln.

Rebuilding our outdated, neglected roadways

This summer alone, the State of Illinois has invested more than $350 million in 240 road and bridge projects statewide.  Those projects have created thousands of jobs, and 858 miles of Illinois roadways are being made smoother and safer. Over the next six years, Illinois Jobs Now! will create or sustain more than 400,000 jobs.

Making Illinois the center of a 21st century transportation network

As part of his vision of Illinois as an “inland port,” Governor Quinn believes we must create a 21st century transportation network in Illinois, which includes high-speed rail. Working with other Midwestern states to make high-speed rail a reality, Governor Quinn hopes to create 24,000 rail-related jobs in Illinois, as projected by the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative. High-speed rail offers an unprecedented opportunity to help create jobs, expand tourism, and support the rail freight and passenger industries.

Expanding Illinois position as the nation’s intermodal hub

By investing in rail systems, Governor Quinn will extend Illinois’ position as a leader in intermodal transportation.  Not long ago, Governor Quinn presided at a ceremony marking Union Pacific's $370 million investment in the Joliet Intermodal Terminal now under construction. Combined with the state-of-the-art CenterPoint Intermodal Center, that investment will position Will County as the hub of America’s intermodal transportation network. The Union Pacific project, which already is creating hundreds of construction jobs, eventually will employ thousands – proof that capital investment today yields jobs through the future.

Making high-speed internet service affordable and accessible

Governor Quinn also is setting a high priority on expanding and improving broadband internet services statewide, especially in rural and impoverished communities. It is unacceptable that, in the 21st century, lower-income people living in Champaign – where much of the Internet was invented ­– are still unable to access high-speed Internet today.

 Expanding Illinois’ partnership with President Obama’s stimulus plans

Additionally, Governor Quinn is positioning Illinois to partner with President Barack Obama through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which will invest more than $8.3 billion in stimulus funds in Illinois through the end of FY 2010. Thus far, Illinois has received and disbursed nearly $4.5 billion in federal stimulus funds, including $303 million in transportation – over and above Illinois’ own investment in transportation projects under Illinois Jobs Now.

 2) Investing in clean energy to create jobs today and sustainable energy resources for our future.

The Pentagon has declared that America’s dependence on fossil fuels is a risk to our national security as well as our environment.  Governor Quinn believes that we must make a swift, substantial investment in sustainable energy projects, which preserve the environment and reduce energy costs for consumers and business while creating new jobs for Illinois workers.

Making Illinois a leader in wind energy

To make Illinois a national leader in creating clean, sustainable energy, Governor Quinn’s economic plan includes a focus on wind energy, which provides new investment in rural communities and creates new manufacturing jobs. For example, Winergy Drive Systems Corp. and Siemens Drive Technologies just opened a second plant in Elgin to manufacture components for wind turbine gear drives. The new plant – which received a Wind Energy Development Grant and other incentives from the State of Illinois – is one of the first in the state to receive LEED certification.  Worldwide, the market for wind turbines is estimated at more than $2 trillion over the next two decades, so it is important to position Illinois now as an industry leader.

Weatherizing to create jobs, save consumer dollars

To create jobs while helping utility customers save money, Governor Quinn has expanded eligibility for Illinois households to receive federal funding for home weatherization project.  In October, Illinois was awarded an additional $242 million in federal funds to assist with low-income home weatherization efforts over the next two years.  Under Illinois Jobs Now!, the state is investing an additional $425 million in weatherization, creating green jobs today and saving consumers money for years to come.  “This year alone, the state of Illinois will grant more than $237 million in assistance to help lower-income households pay their heating bills, and that assistance covers only a portion of the need,” Quinn said. “It only makes sense to invest today to help those families make their homes weather-tight, so they can stay safe and warm – and save money.”

Building on White House investment in clean, efficient, independent energy sources

Jobs and Growth for Illinois builds on the federal ARRA investment in green energy. Under President Obama’s stimulus plan, the federal government is investing $80 billion nationwide in making homes and businesses more energy efficient, generating renewable energy from wind, water and sun, and building new green energy facilities across America.

 

3) Protecting and increasing  the state’s investment in our human capital through education.

In announcing his candidacy, Governor Quinn quoted Illinois poet Carl Sandburg, who once said: “A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on.”  Jobs and Growth for Illinois focuses on our most important resource – the men, women and children of our state – and  on the educational investments we must make to meet the current and future need for a well-educated, well-trained workforce that will enable Illinois to compete and thrive.

Committing to quality preschool for every child

Governor Quinn believes there is no better investment in the future than making sure that every child comes to kindergarten ready to learn and excel. So his plan seeks an absolute commitment to young children who are just beginning their educations. Over the past year, despite plummeting state revenues, Governor Quinn fought to protect early childhood education programs – considered the single most valuable investment in a child’s mind and future.

Making a college education more accessible and affordable

This year, the crisis in funding MAP grants brought attention to the need to strengthen Illinois colleges and universities and make the dream of a college education a reality for Illinois’ bright young students. Through Jobs and Growth for Illinois, Governor Quinn will expand Illinois’ commitment to enable our qualified students to attend college regardless of their financial circumstances.

Investing in community colleges – the gateway to the middle class

Governor Quinn is expanding opportunities for Illinois workers by investing $1.5 billion in higher education through Illinois Jobs Now! That investment includes $400 million for community colleges, which provide the technical training for young people and adult workers to find good jobs in the new economy. 

4) Encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation by leveraging state investment to provide start-up capital.

Governor Quinn knows that a strong middle class is the foundation for a strong state, and that small, entrepreneurial businesses are at the heart of our state economy. So at a time when many banks have substantially reduced or even halted lending to small businesses and entrepreneurial start-ups, Jobs and Growth for Illinois will use the state’s assets to help provide access to the capital that new businesses need. 

Making targeted, linked investments that protect taxpayers’ dollars

Governor Quinn has many years of experience in finding creative, effective ways to make targeted investments that expand opportunity statewide while protecting taxpayer dollars. As State Treasurer, his office used deposits of state funds as a lever to encourage banks to offer loans to make housing more affordable for Illinois families and give women and minorities access to capital for their small businesses. These linked-deposits served to create Illinois jobs and economic opportunity at virtually no cost to taxpayers and brought then-Treasurer Quinn accolades for his sophistication, aggressiveness and innovation. 

  • As Treasurer, Quinn invested in Illinois banks that provide loans to developers of affordable housing, helping to construct single-family homes, apartment buildings for senior citizens, and a Single Room Occupancy hotel for low-income adults. Those investments also helped fund loans to community centers, shelters for women and children, housing for the mentally ill, and child care and job counseling centers.
  • To help credit-worthy people overcome barriers to home ownership, Treasurer Quinn’s designed HomeStart as a way to help working families obtain affordable mortgages. Thanks to his efforts I partnership with hundreds of Illinois financial institutions, more than 8,000 people in Illinois were able to buy their own homes and achieve an important part of the American Dream.
  • Quinn succeeded in keeping Tootsie Roll Industries in Illinois – and creating 200 jobs – by working with Northern Trust Bank to provide a low-interest loan to the company, enabling it to buy a 2 million-square-foot plant on Chicago’s southwest side.

5.)  Bringing Illinois to the World 

Governor Quinn is committed to making sure that Illinois maintains and expands its rightful place in the global economy. To that end, Governor Quinn plans to broaden our state’s outreach to international markets, strengthening our bond with existing partners and finding new ways to target untapped opportunities worldwide. 

Expanding Exports

Since 2002, exports have represented the greatest growth segment in the Illinois economy, increasing from $25 billion to nearly $54 billion last year, making Illinois the sixth-leading exporter in the United States. Governor Quinn’s plan to invest in expansion of Illinois’ overseas markets for agricultural products, manufactured goods and services will create new jobs here at home and generate new revenues to fund vital state programs.

Linking international transportation hubs and worldwide electronic networks

By investing in Illinois’ transportation networks and broadband internet access, Governor Quinn can give the world to Illinois business.  Statewide broadband access will allow entrepreneurs and small businesses in every corner of the Land of Lincoln to take full advantage of Illinois’ position as a logistics leader and bring their goods to any market, anywhere.

Expanding foreign trade offices

Governor Quinn’s Jobs and Growth for Illinois program calls for expansion of the State of Illinois’ foreign trade offices, which provide valuable outreach to potential new markets. Jobs and Growth for Illinois also stresses the value of investment in tourism, which supports more than 300,000 jobs in Illinois, according to the U.S. Travel Association.

“These five points represent the fundamental principles on which I intend to rebuild the Illinois economy,” Quinn said.  “Jobs and Growth for Illinois will help us to reach our goal of creating new jobs while making the Land of Lincoln a greener, stronger, more prosperous place to live, work and raise a family.”