Letter to Hon. J B Prizker, Governor of Illinois - Rush, Illinois Dems Urge Governor Pritzker, IDOT, to Prioritize Funding from Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill for Member Directed Projects

Letter

Dear Governor Pritzker,

Thank you to you and your staff for your assistance to our offices this year in helping identify outstanding Illinois Member Designated Projects (MDPs) through the House surface transportation reauthorization process. We are grateful for your leadership on infrastructure in Illinois through the Rebuild Illinois Capital Plan. Illinois is already investing in its infrastructure at historic levels and is now well-positioned to expand those investments with new federal funding. As we celebrate the enactment of the historic Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), we urge you to prioritize our MDPs for IIJA funding to the maximum extent possible. 

The MDPs we selected represent the best of Illinois and meet many of our communities' most urgent transportation needs, from Galena to Naperville. Completion of these projects will make our state safer, stronger, greener, and more accessible. Local leaders have gone above and beyond to demonstrate deep and wide-ranging community support for these projects, and to ensure they are technically sound and integrated with long-term state and regional planning. Our MDPs have also secured the backing of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the full House of Representatives, which voted to approve them on July 1, 2021. 

As you know, decades of state and federal underinvestment have left Illinois's infrastructure in disrepair, undermining our ability to compete economically on the world stage. Your administration has tackled this issue straight on with the Rebuild Illinois Capital Plan, establishing Illinois as a leader on infrastructure revitalization. Now, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will bring nearly $17 billion to Illinois to improve our roads, bridges, highways, public transit, airports, broadband, and more. With the passage of IIJA, we can fast-track the priorities of the Rebuild Illinois Plan by directing this generational federal investment to best meet our state's infrastructure needs. 

We believe that goal is best achieved by swift completion of our MDPs, and respectfully urge your prioritization of projects eligible for federal funding from IIJA to the maximum extent possible. Please let us know if your Administration needs any additional federal resources or authorities to help advance this goal. Thank you for your continued partnership as we work together on behalf of Illinois families.