House Republicans Host Rockford Economic Roundtable

Rockford, IL… Illinois House Republicans hosted an economic development roundtable in Rockford today to discuss their economic stimulus package and the need for a new capital jobs program.  The legislators met with local business and labor leaders during the roundtable at Dial Machine, where they discussed efforts to create new jobs and revive the local economy.

Illinois desperately needs a new capital improvement program to create jobs and rebuild Illinois’ infrastructure.  That was the message delivered by House Republican Leader Tom Cross (R-Oswego) and State Representatives Ron Wait (R-Belvidere) and David Winters (R-Shirland).  They support a statewide capital program of at least $10 billion that could create as many as 725,000 new Illinois jobs. 

House Republicans have worked for over a year now to pass a jobs and capital infrastructure proposal to meet the ever-growing needs of Illinois.  The capital jobs program would inject billions of dollars into the state’s economy to create good-paying jobs for working families, to fix Illinois’ crumbling roads and bridges and build new schools.

House Republican Leader Tom Cross has been at the forefront of the capital push.

“We’ve gone far too long without a new capital program,” Cross said.  “The State cannot continue to ignore its infrastructure needs.  If we don’t act soon, Illinois could lose more than $9.3 billion in federal transportation funds because we haven’t provided the state match.  Our caucus is ready to work with the Governor and legislative leaders to pass a program that will meet the needs of the state and put Illinoisans back to work.”

Representative Ron Wait believes the economic stimulus package will provide a significant shot in the arm to the state’s economy and help Illinois families struggling to make ends meet.

“This region has lost a lot of manufacturing jobs that were the backbone of our local economy.  Our unemployment rate continues to be higher than the national average and families are seeing their budgets stretched thin.  This stimulus package will go a long way to help get our economy back on track,” said Wait.

The economic stimulus package will provide tax relief for working families and seniors, as well as economic incentives to spur job growth.  Representatives Wait and Winters worked with Leader Cross to develop the package, which includes:

• A statewide program of at least $10 billion of capital investment in Illinois’ infrastructure, including schools, roads, higher education, mass transit, and public safety.
• A one-time sales tax holiday for Illinois families and consumers, targeted to coincide with distribution of federal stimulus checks in May 2008.
• Tax relief for working families – increase the Illinois standard exemption from $2,000 to $3,000.  This exemption hasn’t been increased or adjusted for inflation since 2000.
• Tax relief for seniors – several initiatives to expand existing state programs, including the Senior Assessment Freeze and the Senior Homestead Exemption.
• Job training expense credit to help defray the costs of training and re-training displaced workers. 

“The Governor and Democrat-controlled General Assembly have proposed billions of dollars in new taxes at a time when our economy is really struggling,” Representative Winters said.  “The House Republican economic stimulus package stands in stark contrast to their anti-jobs agenda.  We need to pass this package to help turn our economy around and make Illinois a leader in job growth.”