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91_HR0870
LRB9114786KBkbA
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The State of Illinois has offered grant
3 assistance to local school districts for construction
4 projects under P.A. 90-548 since 1998; and
5 WHEREAS, The School Construction grant program allows
6 local districts to receive grants ranging from 35% to 75% of
7 eligible project costs; and
8 WHEREAS, This State grant incentive has resulted in a
9 major increase in the success rate of local district building
10 referenda; and
11 WHEREAS, Despite a $2 billion multi-year commitment from
12 the State for matching grants, there is a considerable
13 backlog in eligible construction projects; and
14 WHEREAS, For example, due to carryover projects from FY
15 2000 which had to be funded first, only 4 of 146 FY 2001
16 projects were funded when the most recent grants were awarded
17 in July; and
18 WHEREAS, The project backlog is a concern of school
19 districts; and
20 WHEREAS, The State ended FY 2000 with a cash balance of
21 $1.5 billion and will have a surplus of $700 million after
22 all lapse period spending; and
23 WHEREAS, The State's financial condition allows for some
24 flexibility on budget matters; therefore, be it
25 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
26 NINETY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
27 we urge Governor Ryan to support additional FY 2001 financial
28 assistance for the School Construction grant program during
29 the fall veto session to address the project backlog and
30 develop a policy to dedicate 25% of all surplus funding to
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1 the School Construction grant program when the end-of-year
2 surplus exceeds $500 million; and be it further
3 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
4 presented to Governor Ryan.