A weekly update on issues from Illinois State Senator Gary Forby

The somber attitudes of the people of Illinois seem to be shifting as we head into the spring session, putting last year behind us and looking ahead toward the future of our state. As we continue to recover from the economic downturn and the state’s historic budget crisis, lawmakers are committed to remain focused on keeping and creating jobs in our state. To accomplish this we must invest in the people of Illinois and build upon our economic strengths. As we work to grow our economy, we must protect the pocketbooks of taxpayers and give them back their sense of economic security.

This past week, President Obama presented his first State of the Union Address. The president spoke about the challenges we currently face, but also expressed the great faith he has in each of us to overcome these difficult obstacles. His main concern, job creation, is certainly a priority that rings true here in Southern Illinois. As unemployment rates rise and job losses continue, we must remain committed to job creation. This is the best solution to turn around our economy and most directly benefit the hardworking people in our district. President Obama spoke about the importance of investing in our infrastructure and repairing our roads, bridges and other forms of transit. Last year, we passed a statewide $31 billion capital construction plan to stimulate our economy. The project, Illinois Job Now, will create hundreds of thousands of Illinois jobs and repair our collapsing school buildings, deteriorating hospitals, and crumbling roadways. Although we have only started, Illinois had one of the most productive construction seasons in recent memory. Hundreds of millions of dollars will be invested right here in Southern Illinois, boosting our local economy. The money will be used to expand and improve our some of our major roadways and also includes tens of thousands of dollars for improvements to our universities and other smaller local community projects. This is beneficial because when more people work, more people can spend money. When more spend money at local businesses, then local stores can hire more employees. This is a positive economic cycle that has seemed to slow over the past year and we are looking to get it back in motion by investing in job creation throughout Southern Illinois.

The capital construction plan is a step in the right direction. However, our state still faces the serious problem of being unable to pay our bills on time. Our schools and social service organizations are feeling the impact of the late payments. The state is months behind on its payments and our local universities, elementary schools, and community colleges are being faced with the dilemma of drastically cutting services or shutting their doors to students, faculty and staff. President Obama reinforced the importance of funding our children’s education during his address last week and I will also take the time to reinforce the issue during the upcoming spring session by making it a top priority. I am sponsoring a bill that allows schools to keep their doors open. This measure allows community colleges to borrow money until the state makes its overdue payments. Once the state makes its payments, the community colleges will use that money to pay back to borrowed money. As a business owner, I know you cannot be successful by relying on borrowing. I do not like to borrow, but these schools have to stay open in order to prepare our children for the future. These are historic economic times in Illinois and I will continue to promote job creation and support other innovative solutions to alleviate the financial burden our schools, small businesses and Southern Illinois families are feeling, or just as the President said at the end of his address: "We don’t quit, I don’t quit."