Pritzker plans to visit East St. Louis Friday as part of his capital bill tour around Illinois
East St. Louis is slated to be the start of a tour for the governor on Friday when he touts a massive state infrastructure program.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker plans to sign the state’s $45 billion Rebuild Illinois Capital plan, a six-year program aimed at fixing roads and state facilities, among other things, according to sources with knowledge of the governor’s tentative schedule.
The governor’s office has yet to confirm the East St. Louis stop, but said it is planning events across the state.
An event is tentatively planned to take place in East St. Louis, which is to receive millions of dollars from the capital bill. Among the appropriations are $1 million for capital improvements in the East Side Health District for urban farming and clinic services, and $2 million for demolition of derelict buildings and abandoned properties.
The capital bill also includes $96 million for extending MetroLink from the Shiloh-Scott station to the MidAmerica Airport.
Pritzker plans to sign the full capital bill package on Friday during a stop in Springfield, after visiting East St. Louis. He’ll then continue on to another stop in the state.
Overall, the spending in the Rebuild Illinois capital bill includes:
- $33.2 billion for transportation projects.
- $4.3 billion for state facilities including deferred maintenance, among other things.
- $3.5 billion for education projects.
- $1.9 billion for economic and community development.
- $1.2 billion for environment and conservation projects.
- $465 million for health care and human services.
- $420 million for broadband deployment.
In order to pay for the statewide capital and infrastructure investment, the General Assembly passed an increase in gas taxes, vehicle registration, the cigarette tax, and a gaming expansion, which includes sports betting.
The doubling of the gas tax from 19 cents to 38 cents, and the increase in cigarette tax from $1.98 a pack to $2.98 a pack are both scheduled to go into effect July 1, pending the governor’s signature.
A capital bill was one of Pritzker’s legislative priorities in his first year as governor. The General Assembly passed it during the last week of the session.
Illinois’ last capital plan was the 2009 Illinois Jobs Now! program, which included $31 billion worth of projects.
This story was originally published June 27, 2019 at 12:55 PM.
