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SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
3stated in its 2021 report card that the United States received
4a grade of C- regarding the current state of infrastructure
5and that more than six trillion dollars is needed to restore
6the nation's infrastructure to a state of good repair; over
7two trillion dollars is currently not funded, and the
8remainder is inadequately funded; new, 21st Century projects
9are also unfunded; and
 
10    WHEREAS, The Illinois ASCE 2022 Report Card assigned the
11State's systems a cumulative grade of "C-"; the report
12analyzes 11 categories of infrastructure pertinent to
13Illinois, including aviation (C+), bridges (C), dams (C+),
14drinking water (D+), inland waterways (D), ports (C-), rail
15(C+), roads (D+), storm water (D+), transit (D+), and
16wastewater (C-); and
 
17    WHEREAS, Out of four million total water service lines,
18over 675,000 have been identified as lead and almost 380,000
19as copper with lead solder services; and
 
20    WHEREAS, Illinois' aging drinking water infrastructure is
21leading to leaking pipelines, costing taxpayers money and
22critical resources; in 2017, a total of 106 million gallons

 

 

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1per day (MGD) were lost among Lake Michigan allocation
2permittees, or 13% of total water supplied; additional funding
3is needed for aging storm water infrastructure that must keep
4up with increasing rainfall trends from climate change; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Illinois needs at least 300,000 new units of
6affordable housing for the most housing insecure; and
 
7    WHEREAS, There are 2,405 bridges in poor condition, or 9%
8of all bridges in the State that are crossed by motorists every
9day; approximately 70% of Illinois bridges in poor condition
10are owned by counties, towns, or cities, suggesting the local
11maintenance backlog is a significant challenge; and
 
12    WHEREAS, U.S. Reps. Danny Davis and Jesus "Chuy" Garcia
13introduced H.R. 4052 (The National Infrastructure Bank Act) on
14June 13, 2023 in the 118th U.S. Congress; this would create a
15$5 trillion bank to finance all infrastructure requirements to
16bring the system to a state of good repair and build new
17projects; and
 
18    WHEREAS, The new national infrastructure bank is modeled
19on previous banks that helped build much of the country's
20infrastructure under Presidents George Washington, James
21Madison, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt; the last
22such bank helped bring us out of the Great Depression and win

 

 

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1World War II; and
 
2    WHEREAS, The new national infrastructure bank will create
325 million new jobs, pay Davis-Bacon wages, and enforce Buy
4America provisions; Disadvantaged Business Enterprises will
5receive significant disbursements, and the bill mandates
6large-scale minority hiring; the bank will require no new
7federal spending or federal taxes; according to experts, the
8bank will grow the economy by 5% per year as did its
9predecessors; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Many organizations are in support of a new
11national infrastructure bank, including the National Black
12Caucus of State Legislators, the National Hispanic Caucus of
13State Legislators, the National Asian-Pacific American Caucus
14of State Legislators, the Council of State Governments-East,
15the National Association of Counties, the National Association
16of Development Organizations, the US High Speed Rail
17Association, the National Latino Farmers and Ranchers Trade
18Association, the American Sustainable Business Council, the
19National Association of Minority Contractors, and the United
20Association of Plumbers and Steamfitters International Union;
21in addition, 26 state legislatures have introduced or passed
22resolutions of support, as have county and city councils,
23including the Chicago City Council; therefore, be it
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL
2ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF
3REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING HEREIN, that we urge the United
4States Congress to pass H.R. 4052 to create a new national
5infrastructure bank to finance urgently needed infrastructure
6projects; and be it further
 
7    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
8delivered to the President of the United States, the U.S.
9Senate Majority Leader, the U.S. Senate Minority Leader, the
10U.S. Speaker of the House, the U.S. House of Representatives
11Minority Leader, all members of the Illinois Congressional
12Delegation, and the Governor.