Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Both Republicans and Democrats drive on roads and bridges, so the head of the Illinois chapter of the American Council of Engineering Companies praised bipartisanship when U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski (D-Springfield) (pictured, center, yellow dress) convened an infrastructure roundtable Wednesday afternoon at Hanson Professional Services in Springfield.
“We had a surface transportation authorization bill advance bipartisan in the House,” said Kevin Artl (pictured, to Budzinski’s right). “And I think, as we talk about these conversations now, a bipartisan bill moving through Congress to fund roads and bridges would be excellent.”
Artl said, thanks in no small part to Gov. Pritzker’s Rebuild Illinois program, the state is less dependent on the federal government than it could be. Budzinski, though, reminded us there would be more for Illinois, were it not for the Trump administration. “We won in central and southern Illinois some very large infrastructure grants that came out of the bipartisan infrastructure law that passed under President Biden. We are still working to advocate to bring those dollars home. Twenty million-plus dollar federal grants that were promised these communities that this administration has put a freeze on.”
