Leaders turn up heat on state

Local leaders stood on the crumbling steps of Elgin's secretary of state office Monday to urge Illinois officials to pass a capital bill that would provide $25 billion for wider roads, safer bridges and new schools.

Monday's news conference was the latest in a series of efforts to highlight how the state's failure to pass a capital bill for the past seven years has worsened traffic congestion and crowded schools in the Fox Valley.

"In eight years, our schools have continued to age. They've become even more crowded in the classrooms. Our infrastructure has continued to age," Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Milton Sees said.

The state Senate passed the capital bill last month, but the legislation still needs the approval of the state House and Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Some House Democrats, including Speaker Michael Madigan, are reluctant to fund the capital bill with revenue from expanded gambling.

Under the Senate's plan, revenue from new gambling ventures would repay $13.4 billion in construction bonds. Spending the $13.4 billion would allow the state to access $12 billion in federal and local matching funds.

At Monday's news conference, state Sen. Michael Noland joined officials from Elgin, Community Unit District 300, Carpentersville, East Dundee and Hoffman Estates in urging passage of the capital bill.

"We support schools, we support our quality of life," said Noland, an Elgin Democrat. "This capital bill does that."

The capital bill includes $74 million for construction in Elgin Area School District U-46 and $19 million that could be used to build new middle schools in District 300, officials said.

"Our construction is going to stop without the (capital) money for the middle schools," District 300 Superintendent Ken Arndt said.

The bill would provide $2.6 million to resurface Route 31 from Tollgate Road to National Street in Elgin -- a rough, uneven stretch riddled with large potholes.

The capital bill also includes $3.4 million for improvements at Route 20 and Shales Parkway in Elgin, the site of a crash that killed a South Elgin man last week.

The first House hearing on the gambling plan is scheduled for Oct. 17 in Chicago.