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RCGAction
The Monthly Newsletter
and Planning Calendar of the St. Louis RCGA
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McKinley
Bridge Funding, Brownfields, Ethanol Research Facility are Key Milestones
in Illinois Legislative Session
Above:
Breaking ground for the new National Corn-To-Ethanol Research
Pilot Plant (inset) are (left to right): State Senator James Clayborne,
Jr.; State Senator Vince Demuzio; US Representative John Shimkus;
US Senator Richard Durbin; Governor George H. Ryan; James Walke,
President, SIU; David Werner, Chancellor, SIUE; Molly D'Esposito,
SIU Board of Trustees; Joe Hampton, Director, Illinois Dept. of
Agriculture; Don Erbach, USDA; Ron Fitchhorn, Illinois Corn Growers.
On the heels of an overall productive legislative session for the
region and the business community in Jefferson City, we’re pleased
that several important RCGA-supported legislative successes have
occurred in Springfield:
- Ethanol
Research - SB 1999 formally assigns responsibility for
corn-to-ethanol research to Southern Illinois University
at Edwardsville. Last summer, SIUE Chancellor and RCGA
Board member Dr. David Werner did a groundbreaking for
the new National Corn-To-Ethanol Research Pilot Plant,
which is a major step forward in the region’s positioning
as the BioBelt - the Center of Plant and Life Sciences.
The plant
will open in Spring, 2003. SIUE recently recruited renowned
scientist Dr. Rodney Bothast to head the
facility. Groundbreaking for the new plant is pictured
above.
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McKinley Bridge - Closed since last Fall due to the
need for repairs, HB 4956 commits a critical $2.1
million to the McKinley Bridge Fund to pay off all outstanding
bonds. After undergoing renovation by IDOT, the bridge
will re-open in Fall, 2003, alleviating significant traffic
congestion. Madison County Board Chairman Rudy Papa spearheaded
this legislation.
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Brownfields - This legislation (SB 1803) provides funds
to clean up industrial brownfields sites throughout the
State. An important beneficiary of this measure is McCormack
Baron’s Parsons Place residential development in
East St. Louis, the first market rate residential development
project there in 50 years.
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Cahokia Mounds - HB 4066 creates a funding mechanism to
preserve and expand the Cahokia Mounds Historic Site,
including additional land purchases, expanding educational
programs, and cataloging and retrieving artifacts. Cahokia
Mounds, which dates to 700 A.D., is a major historical
site, containing the remains of the most sophisticated
prehistoric native civilization north of Mexico, and is
a national tourism attraction.
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As the Illinois
legislative session concludes, thanks to RCGA Director of Illinois
Government Affairs John Valenti, RCGA Senior Vice President for
Public Policy Tom Irwin, RCGA Senior Vice President for Government
Affairs Jim Farrell, RCGA Illinois Public Affairs Committee Chair
Ralph Korte and the entire committee, Board Public Policy Vice Chair
Scott Schnuck, RCGA Public Policy Council Chair Mark Johnston, and
members of the 90-person RCGA Public Policy Council. |
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