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| NewsWednesday, October 17, 2007 5:52 PM CDT |
Officials in limbo over statewide construction program funding
SPRINGFIELD — Anthony Spates has a lot riding on the passage of a controversial statewide construction program. Like many of his counterparts who work as laborers in the construction field, the 42-year-old father of three from Decatur has been working fewer and fewer hours in recent years — not because he doesn’t want to, but because there are fewer jobs available. The situation has left him occasionally without health insurance to cover his young family. “That does not make me proud,” Spates said Tuesday as he and a handful of rank-and-file union laborers from throughout the state gathered in the Capitol to lobby for the passage of the controversial road and bridge building proposal. Spates’ said he’s averaging less than 900 hours of work as a laborer over the past six years as state-funded construction projects have dried up because lawmakers and Gov. Rod Blagojevich can’t agree on how to pay for the program. “I want to work hard,” Spates said. While most lawmakers and the governor agree that the state needs to pump more money into road, school and bridge building, there are deep divisions over how to pay for the program. Massive expasion The debate this year has centered on the passage of a massive expansion of gambling, in which Chicago and two of its suburbs would get new casinos and existing casinos would have the chance to add more gambling positions, such as slot machines. The money generated by the new casinos would finance billions of dollars in construction projects, resulting in the creation of thousands of good-paying construction jobs. That plan has been approved in the Senate, but has stalled in the House, where leaders say the expansion may not pass muster. The impasse has resulted in a record-setting overtime session, as well as bitter feelings between Blagojevich and House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago. Hearing scheduled On Wednesday, however, Madigan has scheduled a hearing to discuss the gambling package. The union workers said Tuesday that they don’t care how the proposal is financed. They just want steady paychecks. Brenda Taylor of Rock Island, a second generation member of the Laborer’s International union, said she’s found little work this year, despite undergoing large amounts of training aimed at qualifying her for numerous jobs. She said the situation in Illinois makes it tempting for her to cross the Mississippi River into Iowa to make ends meet. “Why would you stay in a state when you can’t make a dime?” Taylor said. |
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