From today's News-Gazette:
The Illinois House on Tuesday passed legislation appropriating $25 million for the design and construction of the school, which would be the first of its kind in the state. The bill now goes to the state Senate.
"We're excited to get to this step," said Greg Wolfe, Oakwood School Board president. "It's what we've been hopeful for and working towards. ... We can't foot this on our own. It's critical that we have state assistance."
State Rep. Bill Black, R-Danville, introduced House Bill 628 in February 2007. It originally appropriated $15 million for the project, but the amount was increased to $25 million.
In 2006, Black laid the groundwork by spearheading the passage of a law that makes cooperative high schools eligible for some of the same incentive funding offered to districts that consolidate.
Didn't I just see a letter to the editor from the Vermilion County Democratic Chairman stating that Bill Black was too old to effectively serve in the legislature?
uh................where is the money coming to pay for this? The State cant pay its bills now, and yet we are going to fund this for 25 million? One man's "pork" is anothers good project.
I'm not arguing about the merits of the program.
My point is that, on Monday, the Vermilion County Democratic Party Chairman published a pretty nasty letter that argued, among other things, that Rep. Black was too old to serve, that his health was too poor to serve, and that he was unable to work with Democrats to get anything done on behalf of his constituents.
That letter looks pretty stupid today, given the legislation discussed in this story.
(Sorry, I don't have a link to the letter - the Danville paper doesn't publish LTTE online.)
Thats understandable, but my point still remains. This state is in a fiscal crises.... where does this money come from? I would rather see it go to pay off existing bills ( such as medicare) so that the county nursing home can pay its bills....