Chamber travels to Springfield to advocate for site-readiness funding, QC passenger rail
The Quad Cities Chamber, and more than twenty community leaders, traveled to Springfield to advocate for regional priorities in our 2025 Legislative Agenda. Discussions focused on securing site-readiness funding, advancing development incentives to align Iowa and Illinois and reinforcing the ongoing push for passenger rail service between Moline and Chicago.
Business leaders met with our local Illinois delegation and leadership from both parties in the House and Senate.
We had meetings with the following legislators and departments:
- Andy Manar, Deputy Governor for Economy and Budget
- Don Harmon, Senate President; Senator Mike Halpin
- Chris Welch, Speaker of the House; Rep. Gregg Johnson
- Jeremy LaMarche, Deputy Secretary for Legislative Affairs
- Aly Grady, Deputy Director for Regional Economic Development
- Senator Villavalam, Chair Senate Transportation
- Toni McCombie, House Minority Leader; Ryan Spain, House Assistant Minority Leader, Rep. Dan Swanson
- Andrew Cunningham, Illinois Chamber of Commerce
- John Curran, Senate Minority Leader; Sen. Neil Anderson, Caucus Chair
Incentives
The Illinois Quad Cities currently lack the incentives necessary to drive investment on a level playing field with Iowa. The Chamber is working on a comprehensive set of incentives to drive investment to Illinois, including a developer-focused housing incentive, additional support for brownfield sites and vacant commercial spaces, and backing the Governor’s call for $500 million for site-readiness funding.
The passenger rail connection between Chicago and Moline is at a crossroads with Federal funding set to expire next summer. We are working diligently to advance rail conversations with the State to drive investment to bring the project to fruition. With Chicago's transit operations facing a fiscal cliff, legislators have an opportunity to take a statewide approach and invest across Illinois—including in Quad Cities rail. Now is the time.
Regulation
The Chamber continually monitors regulatory proposals in the legislature and is actively working to stop changes to the Illinois Tipped Wage Credit, and pushing for adjustments to the Illinois Paid Leave for All Act to better align with the realities of businesses. Business leaders shared their stories about the impact of these proposals on their day-to-day operations when we met with legislators.
Workforce
Throughout our conversations, business leaders also highlighted the need for additional resources to support the future of Western Illinois University’s Quad Cities campus as an engine for workforce development and retention in the QC region. The University faces a shortfall that the legislature has the power to address this year.