Full Text of HJR0048 98th General Assembly
HJ0048 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, In 2009, Governor Pat Quinn signed into law a | 3 | | 6-year, $31 billion construction program that invests in | 4 | | Illinois' infrastructure; the program provides for the | 5 | | building and repairing of roads and bridges, education and | 6 | | higher education facilities, and economic development; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Included in the program was $50 million to | 8 | | renovate the west wing of the State Capitol Building; the | 9 | | renovation prioritized steps to make the building compliant | 10 | | with health/life safety and Americans with Disabilities Act | 11 | | rules and regulations, as well as asbestos removal and upgrades | 12 | | to HVAC systems and structural elements to ensure the integrity | 13 | | of the historic building is not compromised; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, There is no doubt that the Capitol Building, as a | 15 | | National Historic Landmark, should be preserved for future | 16 | | generations; however, unnecessary expensive renovations that | 17 | | go beyond upgrading the building's infrastructure have been | 18 | | revealed; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, The most outrageous expenditure is the | 20 | | replacement of the west outside entrance glass doors to the | 21 | | Capitol, which have been replaced by large wooden doors coated | 22 | | with copper to match historical references to the original |
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| 1 | | doors of the Capitol at a cost of nearly $670,000; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The State simply cannot afford to be spending | 3 | | money on costly ornamental features in the Capitol Building, | 4 | | especially with $5 billion in unpaid bills at the Comptroller's | 5 | | Office and a public pension system with nearly $100 billion in | 6 | | unfunded liabilities; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Our spending priorities must be placed on | 8 | | restoring economic prosperity to the State of Illinois by | 9 | | creating jobs and investing in our public education system; | 10 | | therefore, be it
| 11 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 12 | | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | 13 | | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we urge the Architect of the | 14 | | Capitol to remove the new copper doors from the Capitol | 15 | | Building's west side entrance and to auction them off or sell | 16 | | them to the highest bidder; and be it further
| 17 | | RESOLVED, That we urge the Architect of the Capitol to | 18 | | direct the revenue from the sale of the copper doors towards | 19 | | Illinois' public education system or to pay down unpaid bills; | 20 | | and be it further | 21 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be |
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| 1 | | presented to members of the General Assembly, Governor Pat | 2 | | Quinn, and the Architect of the Capitol.
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