Full Text of HR0151 101st General Assembly
HR0151 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The original Toll Highway Authority was | 3 | | established in 1941, and after
construction of the first toll | 4 | | highways in Illinois was delayed by World War II, the Illinois
| 5 | | State Toll Highway Commission was established in 1953; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, The first three toll highways in the Chicago area | 7 | | were all planned, constructed,
and finally opened in 1958 under | 8 | | the authority of this Commission; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, The first segment to open was the Jane Addams | 10 | | Memorial Tollway between
Devon Avenue and Elgin on August 20, | 11 | | 1958; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, The Toll Highway Act, in its present form, dates | 13 | | from 1967 but has been
amended since; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, Under this Toll Highway Act which was promulgated | 15 | | April 1, 1968, the Illinois Toll
Highway Authority assumed the | 16 | | assets and obligations of the Illinois State Toll Highway
| 17 | | Commission; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, When the Illinois Tollway was originally created | 19 | | in 1953, lawmakers used the
revenue to pay for the original | 20 | | bonding needed to build highways; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, The original Tollway projections were actually | 2 | | incorrect, as money poured into
the Tollway and the original | 3 | | bonds were paid off in full by the early 1980s, years earlier | 4 | | than
anticipated; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Despite the revenues exceeding expectations and | 6 | | the original bonds being paid
off, the tolls still remain on | 7 | | Illinois roadways, serving as a constant reminder of the broken
| 8 | | promise made to the people of Illinois; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Gov. JB Pritzker's administration issued a plan to | 10 | | address Illinois' chronically
underfunded public pensions that | 11 | | called for injecting more cash from a proposed graduated
income | 12 | | tax, spreading payments out over a longer period, adding $2 | 13 | | billion in debt and selling
State assets that could include the | 14 | | Illinois Tollway; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois Tollway is not an asset to be sold | 16 | | and should become a freeway due the retirement of to
the | 17 | | original bonds that built the system; therefore, be it
| 18 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 19 | | HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 20 | | we oppose any plan to sell the
Illinois Tollway; and be it | 21 | | further
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, That we urge the Illinois Toll Highway Authority | 2 | | be dissolved and operations of the highway
be conveyed to the | 3 | | Illinois Department of Transportation to be operated as a | 4 | | freeway; and be it further | 5 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 6 | | delivered to Governor Pritzker, the Secretary of the Illinois | 7 | | Department of Transportation, and the Chairperson of the | 8 | | Illinois Toll Highway Authority.
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