Full Text of HR1370 99th General Assembly
HR1370 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The first total solar eclipse to occur along a | 3 | | path across the entire continental United States since 1918 | 4 | | will
occur on August 21, 2017; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, The point of greatest duration for the eclipse on | 6 | | August 21, 2017 will occur along a line of totality
stretching | 7 | | northwest to southeast across Southern Illinois; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, A second total solar eclipse will occur seven | 9 | | years later on April 8, 2024, with a line of totality | 10 | | stretching
southwest to northeast across Southern Illinois; | 11 | | and | 12 | | WHEREAS, The centerline of totality for both eclipses will | 13 | | intersect over Cedar Lake, just a few miles south of
| 14 | | Carbondale; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, which is | 16 | | ranked among the top 5% percent of all United States higher
| 17 | | education institutions for research, will host educational | 18 | | events and activities for NASA and other top scientists from
| 19 | | around the world, as well as the general public; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, Roughly 250,000 visitors are estimated to travel |
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| 1 | | to within a 100 mile radius of the intersection of eclipse
| 2 | | totality in Southern Illinois on or about August 21, 2017 and | 3 | | April 8, 2024 to experience the total solar eclipses; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, The sudden influx of visitors to Southern Illinois | 5 | | on or about August 21, 2017 and April 8, 2024 will
provide | 6 | | much-needed, long-term economic opportunity for the southern | 7 | | 16 counties of Illinois; and | 8 | | WHEREAS, The 16 southernmost counties of Illinois | 9 | | historically suffer from high rates of poverty, low economic
| 10 | | opportunity and related socio-economic problems, and | 11 | | accordingly, are part of the Delta region; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, Congress established efforts in 2000 to improve | 13 | | regional economic opportunity in the Delta region
through | 14 | | strategic investments that create jobs, build communities, and | 15 | | improve the lives of the 10 million people who
reside in the | 16 | | 252 counties and parishes of the eight-state Delta Region; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, It has been found that: | 18 | | (1) The overall population in the Southern Illinois | 19 | | Delta region has fallen by 4.5% since 1980; the population | 20 | | grew in
only four counties between the 2000 and 2010 | 21 | | census, and only two counties (Johnson and Williamson) grew
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| 1 | | since the 2010 census based on 2015 estimates; | 2 | |
(2) Between 2010 and 2015, Illinois Delta counties saw | 3 | | a net population change of -6,038; Illinois was the
only | 4 | | state in the Delta region to experience a negative natural | 5 | | increase and negative net migration in its
Delta counties; | 6 | | the natural increase in Illinois was -730 (12%) and net | 7 | | migration -5,308 (88%); | 8 | |
(3) Economic data shows that the Southern Illinois | 9 | | economy lags behind the nation in its recovery from the
| 10 | | effects of the "Great Recession" that officially began in | 11 | | December of 2007 and ended in June of 2009; while the | 12 | | United States had recovered all jobs lost in the Great | 13 | | Recession by April of 2014, Illinois remains over 18% short | 14 | | of regaining its lost jobs as of April of 2015; | 15 | |
(4) Illinois is only one of two Delta states that saw | 16 | | a decline in job growth between 2010 and 2015; annual
| 17 | | growth rate for jobs in Illinois was -0.1%, surpassed only | 18 | | by Alabama with -0.5%; | 19 | |
(5) The poverty rate in Southern Illinois has | 20 | | consistently surpassed that of the State rate of 14.3%; six
| 21 | | counties, Alexander, Hardin, Jackson, Massac, Pulaski, and | 22 | | Saline, have poverty exceeding 20%, and
Alexander and the |
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| 1 | | Jackson county poverty rate exceeds 30%; | 2 | | (6) The poverty rate for those under age 18 is equal | 3 | | to or exceeds 30% in seven counties, Alexander, Hardin,
| 4 | | Jackson, Massac, Pope, Pulaski, and Saline; | 5 | |
(7) Strengths of the Southern Illinois region include | 6 | | strategic location with proximity to major Midwest urban
| 7 | | centers, multi-modal transportation systems, and natural | 8 | | resources including oil, coal timber, and agriculture, and
| 9 | | scenic, natural, recreational, historic, cultural, and | 10 | | archeological resources; | 11 | | (8) Opportunities in the Southern Illinois region | 12 | | include tourism potential, especially "heritage tourism",
| 13 | | broadband expansion, improved support for entrepreneurs, | 14 | | development of specialty and value-added
agriculture | 15 | | products, and marketing the region as a whole; and | 16 | |
(9) Threats to the Southern Illinois region include | 17 | | aging infrastructure and lack of sewer capacity in some
| 18 | | areas, continued population decline, and low tax base; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, The sudden influx of visitors to the region will | 20 | | stress existing infrastructure and services, including roads,
| 21 | | broadband, housing and accommodations, health care, public |
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| 1 | | safety, and potential disaster response; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The total solar eclipses on August 21, 2017 and | 3 | | April 8, 2024 will provide a unique opportunity to
showcase the | 4 | | scenic, natural, historic, recreational, archeological, and | 5 | | cultural resources of Southern Illinois; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Due to the anticipated 250,000 visitors to | 7 | | Southern Illinois on or about August 21, 2017, there is an | 8 | | urgent
need to direct resources to the region that supports | 9 | | entrepreneurship, job creation, hospitality training, heritage | 10 | | tourism,
workforce development, infrastructure, and disaster | 11 | | response; therefore, be it
| 12 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 13 | | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 14 | | declare the month of August of 2016 as "Southern Illinois | 15 | | Eclipse Crossroads Awareness Month"; and be it further | 16 | | RESOLVED, That we support development of a regional | 17 | | organization to ensure sustainable, long-term economic | 18 | | development that
balances meeting immediate needs while | 19 | | dedicating resources to strategic and long-term goals; and be | 20 | | it further | 21 | | RESOLVED, That we encourage development of a marketing plan |
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| 1 | | for regional branding around the solar eclipse and general | 2 | | regional
tourism and economic development in Southern Illinois | 3 | | that coordinates and leverages investment by federal, State
and | 4 | | local government entities, private business, non-profit, and | 5 | | non-governmental organizations; and
| 6 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 7 | | delivered to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture,
the U.S. | 8 | | Secretary of Commerce, the U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for | 9 | | Oceans, Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator,
the U.S. Secretary | 10 | | of Transportation, the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, and | 11 | | the Chairman of the Delta Regional Authority.
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