Learn more about the bills MPC supports and take action
It’s springtime and Springfield is abuzz, as the Illinois General Assembly kicks into high
gear. A few big-ticket items, including utilities regulation, universal
healthcare, pension obligations, and school funding reform, have dominated the
headlines, even as hundreds of other bills make their way out of committee to
their respective floors. The Metropolitan Planning Council is supporting five
bills this session, all of which would advance our mission of improving quality
of life, equity of opportunity, and economic development in metropolitanChicago. For more
information, contact Peter Skosey, MPC vice
president of external relations. To contact your legislators in support of these
bills, visit MPC's
e-advocacy center.
Green Neighborhood Award Act (SB 135)
The future is here. Illinois is on the threshold of
creating a new national model for supporting whole neighborhoods that save
energy, reduce pollution and road congestion, and raise the bar on community
livability standards. The Green
Neighborhood Award Act would allow the Ill. Dept. of Commerce and Economic
Opportunity to issue grants to developments that are consistent with the LEED for Neighborhood Development
(LEED-ND) standards of the U.S. Green Building Council, Congress for the New
Urbanism, and Natural Resources Defense Council. LEED-ND certification
guarantees neighborhoods adhere to the core principles of sensible growth: a
range of housing types near jobs and services, walkable and bike-friendly
communities, access to open space and transit, appreciating property values and
economic viability for a markedly improved quality of life.
- LEED-ND supports economic development. Developers
benefit from building “green” neighborhoods and would receive state funding.
- LEED-ND is economical. Illinois families save big
through energy-efficient construction, expanded housing choice, and
convenient, accessible communities.
- LEED-ND is clean. The environment is protected from status-quo development
that eats up green space and burdens natural resources.
Good Housing Good Schools (SB 220)
As municipal leaders and housing developers work to renovate or build
affordable and workforce housing, it is essential to look beyond bricks and
mortar: quality schools and quality housing go hand-in-hand. Good Housing Good Schools would create a school funding bonus
for school districts in communities that approve multifamily housing
developments to advance the housing goals of
Illinois
’ Comprehensive Housing Plan. The
annual amount of the school funding bonus for eligible developments would be
$1,120 for each two-bedroom unit, with $560 awarded for each additional bedroom.
Based on this formula, the state's annual estimated cost for the bonus is less
than $5 million per year.
Path to Prosperity: 1 Percent for Planning (HB 2473)
Much like an
entrepreneur uses a business plan to chart success, local municipalities benefit
from a comprehensive plan that outlines strategies to achieve both short- and
long-term goals. The problem is that the towns most in need of planning often
don’t have the resources to develop a comprehensive plan. Path to Prosperity offers a viable
solution to this dilemma. By providing a revenue source for the Local Planning
Fund (created by the Illinois General Assembly through the Local Planning
Technical Assistance Act in 2002, but as-yet unfunded) municipalities could
apply to the state for grants to conduct comprehensive plans. Path to Prosperity
would use 1 percent of the Hotel Operators Tax that waspreviously diverted to
the General Revenue Fund to expand the Local Planning Fund, enabling Illinois to
provide more municipalities with planning technical assistance.
Public-Private Partnerships for Transportation Act (SB 378)
As statewide growth pressures
increase demand for new transportation investments, Illinois’ fiscal well is
running dry – and with it, the ability to support new, carefully planned
projects. To preserve the Chicago-area’s competitiveness by maintaining and
expanding its roads, rails and airways, Public-Private Partnerships would
provide an alternative funding stream that could free up limited resources for
other priorities. Public-Private Partnerships could help deliver quality
multi-modal transportation infrastructure statewide, while minimizing the
state’s need to raise additional public revenue or take on hefty new debt. Public-Private
Partnerships for Transportation Act would give the state the authority to
create such partnerships and enable
Illinois
’ transportation agencies to tap the
abundant private resources currently available for these investments.
Illinois
Capital Investment Accountability Act (HB
801)
Since 2004,
Illinois
has been
operating without a state capital investment program, and our ability to compete
with other states vying for limited federal dollars from SAFETEA-LU (the 2005
federal surface transportation package) is in jeopardy. However, to maximize the
state’s investments, it is essential the Illinois General Assembly develop a
major capital package that:
- uses an accountable and transparent planning process;
- invests in transit, roads and freight;
-
is supported with dedicated revenue; and
- emphasizes innovation, strengthening the tie between land use and
transportation decisions.
The Illinois
Capital Investment Accountability Act
addresses several of these points by requiring the establishment of statewide
criteria and processes for reviewing, prioritizing and selecting surface
transportation projects.