Illinois is going to see a boom in construction now that Rebuild Illinois, a $45 billion capital plan, has become law. The House and Senate have both passed a comprehensive capital bill, which includes both vertical and horizontal, on a bipartisan roll call in the two-day overtime session. Rebuild Illinois will span the next 6 years. It includes $33.2 billion for transportation; $3.5 billion for community colleges, state universities and local schools; $4.3 billion for state facilities; and $420 million for expansion of broadband Internet to underserved areas.
The Governor’s Office released the following summary of the key components of the projects:
Transportation: $33.2 billion
- Over $14 billion for new roads in bridges:
- $10.4 billion for state roads and bridges
- $3.9 billion for local governments to rebuild their roads and bridges
- Nearly $11 billion for IDOT’s Multi-Year Plan for roads and bridges
- $4.7 billion for mass transit, including the RTA (CTA, Metra and Pace)
- $1 billion for passenger rail, including Amtrak and other inter-city rail projects
- $558 million for aeronautics
- $492 million for the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency Program (CREATE)
- $312 million for grade crossing protection
- $150 million for ports
- $679 million for other transportation projects
Education: $3.5 billion
- $2.9 billion for higher education, including deferred maintenance and new projects at public universities, private universities and community colleges
- $415 million for preK-12 school maintenance
- $111 million for early childhood education
State Facilities: $4.4 billion
- $4 billion for deferred maintenance and new projects at state facilities, such as the decrepit state crime lab
- $350 million for the State Capitol
Environment/Conservation: $1 billion
- $867 million for environmental, conservation and recreation projects, including:
- $290 million for hazardous waste
- $110 million for water revolving fund
- $100 million for unsewered communities
- $92 million for ecosystem restoration
- $75 million for park and recreational facility construction
- $40 million for well plugging
- $35 million for land acquisition
- $31 million for flood mitigation
- $29 million for Illinois green infrastructure grants
- $23 million for Open Space Land Acquisition and Development
- $22 million for dam and waterway projects
- $20 million for conservation reserve enhancement
- $140 million for renewable energy projects, including solar and energy efficiency upgrades at state facilities and transportation electrification in low-income communities
Broadband Deployment: $420 million
- $400 million for statewide broadband expansion
- $20 million for Illinois Century Network
Healthcare and Human Services: $465 million
- $200 million for affordable housing
- $200 million for hospital and healthcare transformation
- $50 million for community health centers
- $15 million for human services grant program
Economic and Community Development: $1.8 billion
- $594 million for community development
- $425 million for economic development
- $401 million for public infrastructure
- $112 million for education and scientific facilities
- $75 million for economically depressed areas
- $51 million for museums
- $50 million for libraries
- $50 million for emerging technology enterprises
- $50 million for the arts
- $25 million for an apprenticeship program
- $15 million for Minority Owned Business Program
The revenue to fund Rebuild Illinois comes from various sources, including:
- Increase in the gas tax from 19 cents per gallon to 38 cents and indexes it to the Consumer Price Index
- Increasing vehicle fees from the current $101 per year to $151
- Electric vehicles would have a registration fee of $248 per year, instead of $34 every other year.
- Rates for daily and hourly parking garages would see a 6 percent tax add-on and rates for monthly parking would incur a 9% tax
- $23 billion in new bonding authority
- Expand land-based gaming by adding six casinos in Illinois in Chicago, Rockford, Waukegan, South Suburbs, Danville, and Williamson County
- Legalizes sports betting online, at casinos, and at sports stadiums
- Allows gaming at racetracks
- Increases the number of gaming machines at locations with video gaming from 5 to 6, increases the maximum bet, and allows for progressive jackpots up to $10,000.
The Governor signed Rebuild Illinois into law on Friday, June 28th surrounded by lawmakers from both parties. The full capital plan is contained in four pieces of legislation: HB 62, SB 1939, HB 142, and SB 690.
