This year’s veto session for Illinois state lawmakers in Springfield is missing one ingredient. No vetoed legislation to consider.
However, there is unfinished business from the Spring session. One proposal important to the Quad Cities is the Transit bill. It includes $380 million for Amtrak from Moline to Chicago.
Members of the Rock Island County Passenger Rail Committee pushed it in the Capitol this week. You’ll be hard pressed to find very many people who don’t want to see that Amtrak passenger service from Moline to Chicago become a reality.
Two people who are trying to make it a reality are Moline Mayor Sangeetha Rayapati and Rock Island County Board Chair Richard Brunk.
Both of them are here as members of the new Rock Island County Passenger Rail Committee. Both of them have spent years fighting for this service. It hasn’t happened.
“The revenue concerns are primarily related to other aspects of the transit bill, not our actual project,” Brunk said.
“It’s a complicated process and I’ve been reflecting this week about how frustrating it can be when people don’t see progress on particular projects,” Rayapati said.
That brings us to our question of the week. What do you think about the chances the Moline to Chicago passenger rail service will finally happen?
You can send your answer by email to 4therecord@whbf.com or respond to this post on Facebook at the Local 4 News WHBF TV page or Jim Niedelman’s professional page on Facebook.
Local 4 News, your local election headquarters, is proud to present 4 the Record, a weekly news and public affairs program focused on the issues important to you. It’s a program unlike any other here in the Quad Cities. Tune in each Sunday at 10:30 a.m. as Jim Niedelman brings you up to speed on what’s happening in the political arena, from Springfield, Des Moines, Washington, D.C. and right here at home.