75 Comments - Pot calling kettle - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 3:48 pm: More magic beans. I’m weeping as Rep. Bradley speaks. - SAP - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 3:51 pm: I’ll reiterate my earlier comment, PQ is tanking for the developers. - OneMan - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 3:52 pm: Based on the information provided by the developer, the Department is unable to forecast the impact on existing sales tax revenue. Is everyone phoning it in now? - Dr. Reason A. Goodwin - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 3:53 pm: No streaming feed today? - Downstate - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 3:59 pm: Bradley had previously helped Reis on the Southeastern Illinois Industrial Development Authority bill a few years ago, which actually did receive some funds subsequently. - Bill - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:00 pm: C’mon give Johnny a break. Vote AYE. - Downstate - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:04 pm: Look, the bureaucrats can’t predict how much this is going to cost because a final development plan doesn’t exist. That doesn’t exist because the legislation hasn’t passed. - RJW - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:05 pm: Hey Rich! You just got a call out from Rep. Reis. - Rich Miller - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:05 pm: lol - George - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:05 pm: If you build it, they will come. - Bill - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:05 pm: Hey, Miller makes the Trib and a floor debate in the same day. - GullyJamison - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:09 pm: Way to go Bost! Never thought you had it in ya! - Bill - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:11 pm: “This is what we been needed” - Bill - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:11 pm: Rich, You better keep away from Marion for a while. - Vote Quimby! - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:12 pm: ==final development plan doesn’t exist. That doesn’t exist because the legislation hasn’t passed.== Not because it’s a quickie Plan B to capture something from all the lobbying money spent? - Rich Miller - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:13 pm: Bill, my brother lives close by, so I’ll keep my profile low. lol - Pot calling kettle - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:13 pm: Rep. Bost was a sponsor of the original STAR bonds bill, so it would be kind of hypocriticial to oppose this one. We cannot wait because that allow more people to realize what a bad idea this really is. - Vote Quimby! - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:16 pm: I’d be interested in SLC’s opinon of the STAR bond legislation… - Vote Quimby! - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:16 pm: LOL…forgot to add “SNARK” - Obamarama - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:17 pm: ===I’d be interested in SLC’s opinon of the STAR bond legislation…=== Deal sweetener: Rich, I’ll buy you a beer next time I’m in the Patch if you manage to get a comment from SLC. - HW - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:17 pm: If Bost is opposing this, he is very likely depriving his own district of a number of good jobs. I wonder if this is political suicide for him…??? - Rich Miller - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:17 pm: Maybe you could ask SLC at CAPAG. They’re actually hosting him there. - dupage progressive - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:18 pm: Don’t ya love the downstaters & representatives from outside chicago who are opposing this bill - because they didn’t believe the jobs “promise”, yet they totally trust AT&T on their “jobs bill.” Love it - believe what you want to believe folks. - Downstate - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:19 pm: Rich, if Mayor Butler can endorse Andy McKenna after the things he said in regards to the Southern Illinois Miners’ stadium, there’s hope for you yet when it comes to visiting the Hub of the Universe. - Pot calling kettle - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:21 pm: You can’t poach businesses from a 25 mile radius…just their customers. - Vote Quimby! - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:22 pm: == a number of good jobs== Few good jobs are “associates.” In the St. Louis MSA, where there is actually a population to draw workers from, this was a bad idea. I know there are few employers in the Marion area, but those that are there have to use a temp service to drug test everyone and make sure they can stay off the meth/patches/pipe and work before they are hired long-term. And, again, it’s not that people don’t care about jobs for that region–it’s just a Pandora’s Box ready to unleash holy hell on the rest of the state. Then we will end up like Greece… - Bill - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:22 pm: Now they are all invoking Rich! They must be blogging during debate - Good Thinkin' Lincoln - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:23 pm: DP - I was thinking the same thing about this and AT&T. I guess STAR Bonds didn’t “employ” enough lobbyists. - Rich Miller - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:25 pm: Yeah, I get Reis and Gordon. Lucky me. lol - Montrose - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:25 pm: I am getting the vague impression that Careen Gordon does not like the bill. - suspending reality - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:26 pm: Good thinkin’ Linc. - How could any industry (except utilities) possibly employ the same number of high-priced, arm twisting, wine & dining lobbyists as AT&T?? The only way that at&t bill could be considered a jobs bill is that it employed 3/4 of all registered lobbyists. Sick! - Bill - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:29 pm: Lame ducks should not be allowed to speak. - GullyJamison - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:30 pm: Never thought I’d say it, but “Thank you, Bob Biggins!” - Steve-O - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:31 pm: =If Bost is opposing this, he is very likely depriving his own district of a number of good jobs. I wonder if this is political suicide for him…??? = Didn’t Holbrook author the original bill? He later came out an opposed it (under intense pressure from the mayors in his district). Haine, Beiser & Hoffmann also came out and opposed it, even though it would’ve been in their district. - HW - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:32 pm: Pot Calling Kettle: There are no comparable businesses to poach customers from within a 25 mile radius of this project….unfortunately. - Good Thinkin' Lincoln - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:32 pm: SR - that was snark about the lobbyists. And yes, I totally agree that their employment of so many lobbyists was and will be the only way the AT&T bill will ever be considered a jobs bill. Sick indeed. - Obamarama - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:32 pm: Just hearing the words Southern Illinois and wine in the same sentence makes me cringe. Woof. - Bill - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:32 pm: ==Its not very diverse== LOL - Rich Miller - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:33 pm: ===There are no comparable businesses to poach customers from=== Cabelo’s or whatever would only be the anchor. There would be plenty of comparable businesses within 25 miles. - Pot calling kettle - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:33 pm: The area is at it’s max for tourists. If the malls, the national forest, the wildlife refuge, the university, the wine trail, etc. don’t attract more people, why would this? It wouldn’t. That’s why the developers won’t do this on their own, that’s why no one will lend them money. It will create construction jobs. The local businesses won’t be able to move in, so they will close. Their workers will move to the new development. The Illinois Center Mall will be a set for the next Blues Brothers movie. (So, I guess that’s a plus.) - LINK - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:34 pm: Is this the same group (or related) from Glen Carbon that was pushing to do something in Perry County at Pyramid? I have tried to google it but nothing comes up. If it isn’t you have to wonder what’s in the water down there… - Bill - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:36 pm: == If the malls, the national forest, the wildlife refuge, the university, the wine trail, etc. don’t attract more people, why would this?== A converted strip mine? Are you kiddin’? People will flock there in droves. I57 will need four more lanes. - Anonymous - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:37 pm: If this is a destination development, 25 miles isn’t far enough. - Obamarama - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:37 pm: ===A converted strip mine? Are you kiddin’? People will flock there in droves. I57 will need four more lanes.=== What is I57? - suspending reality - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:38 pm: GTL - Yep, got it & was being sarcastic too… lol. If anyone saw the scene in senate executive and sen. pankau’s accurate statements in her email to supporters, it’s the time of year when all the expensive suits come out to peddle their slimy goods. - George - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:38 pm: Hey, if Branson can do it, why can’t Marion. - RJW - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:39 pm: You people can keep your snarky comments and stay in that godforsaken place called Chicago. - George - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:39 pm: stay in that godforsaken place called Chicago Deal. - Bill - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:40 pm: Thanks. I will. - Bill - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:41 pm: Lisa is soooo cool! - George - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:43 pm: Heck, I might even grab a nice bottle of wine from the neighborhood wine shop, walk on down to an authentic Naples-style pizza joint, then top if off with a visit to an old-fashioned Ice Cream parlor, and then ride public transportation home so I don’t have to drive drunk. - dupage progressive - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:43 pm: hey - at least this bill has fines to the developers if there are NO jobs created by the bill. What a concept. Why didn’t/wouldn’t at&t do the same thing???? They certainly promised jobs in their bill, so what the heck? - Obamarama - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:43 pm: ===You people can keep your snarky comments and stay in that godforsaken place called Chicago.=== Then you can keep your silly pieces of legislation. - RJW - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:44 pm: Smarta**!! : ) - HW - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:45 pm: Rich…I live in Saline County and know the subject area like the back of my hand. There are no businesses and no development of any sort comparable to the sort of “destination” businesses that are proposed here. From what I have read on this subject, it would be a rare and unique situation. That said, I am sure that politically, it is an abortion. - Vote Quimby! - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:47 pm: ==godforsaken place called Chicago== which, to southern Illinois, is anything north of I-72… - Obamarama - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:48 pm: Burke asks his colleagues to vote against the legislation out of… spite? - RJW - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:49 pm: Nope, for me it starts north of Grundy county. - Rich Miller - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:49 pm: You’re completely missing the point. There are no “destination” businesses, sure. But the development will only be partly destination businesses. That’s why the developer offered that furniture place $100 million up front. You get the big businesses in and then attract all the others. And there are plenty of “other” businesses in that region which would be impacted. That being said, the surrounding impact would be less in Marion. But that’s never been why I thought this was the worst bill ever. It’s what happens down the road when Daley et al get their little hands on it. - Anon - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:51 pm: Rich, Fiscal Note from ILGA. The Dept of Revenue did provide an estimate. Fiscal Note, House Floor Amendment No. 4 (Dept. of Revenue) The Department of Revenue was not provided with a plan or detailed description of the proposed development, its precise location, or any financial details. This information is critical to provide a comprehensive analysis of the proposed STAR Bonds development. Thus, the estimate below is limited in scope. SB 2093 (H-AM 4) would cost the State $12,500,000 per year over a 23 to 35 year period totaling between $287.5 million and $437.5 million in future sales tax revenue as estimated by the Department of Revenue. These funds would be diverted to the STAR Bond district. Based on the information provided by the developer, the Department is unable to forecast the impact on existing sales tax revenue. - everything is a jobs bill - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:51 pm: go Sista Careen!!! Wish you were as much a profile in courage during at&t bill of empty promises? - UI Chancellor - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:53 pm: The way they are talking about the Southern Illinois economy you would think they were talking about Chechnya. Anyway, do they really think they can turn Marion into a 250 mile radius tourist destination? I don’t see a Wisconsin Dells popping up there. If they really want an economic stimulus for the area, why don’t they just give the area 12.5 million a year in cash rather than trying to prop up a Disney Land in an area that can’t support it. - HW - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 4:56 pm: I agree that the risk of Daley and buddies getting to exploit this to an extreme would be a problem. I did read through the bill, however, and noticed a number of unique qualifiers that would seem to my non-attorney mind to severely limit its use in other situations. One such item was a requirement that post-surface-mined ground would need to make up a certain percentage of the overall tract involved in the STAR bond district. - HW - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 5:03 pm: “—-The way they are talking about the Southern Illinois economy you would think they were talking about Chechnya—-” Actually, UI Chancellor, it reminds me of the former Yugoslavia. Beautiful scenery, beautiful people, difficult economic and social conditions. I have lived in East Central Illinois and I have lived here. They are two vastly different worlds. I can say with all sincerity that aggressive efforts of this sort would offer the potential of a jump start to propel this local economy out of a long-standing condition of recession that has existed down here for over 50 years. - Vote Quimby! - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 5:09 pm: ==severely limit its use in other situations== Nope. They had those in the Glen Carbon version as well, including a close proximity to a university. The horse is out of the barn, now… - Chicago Cynic - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 5:18 pm: I’m struggling to identify anything good/smart/progressive/responsible that came out of this session. Any nominees? - Lester Holt's Mustache - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 5:28 pm: HW- I think Rich has it right. Would you be willing to trade that “potential of a jump start to this local economy” for what will happen when Daley figures out a way to use this? Downstaters who don’t like Chicago now, you just wait… - wordslinger - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 5:36 pm: 79 to 35? I didn’t know the Marion-Carbondale Combine was so powerful, lol. This thing is wired wall to wall through both caucuses. More to come, no doubt. - Anonymous - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 5:51 pm: The Pyramid State Park transformed to Illinois’ Branson group does not seem to be the same. That was the Toney Watkins Co. - Just a Reader - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 6:07 pm: What a disgusting display from our government. Can our esteemed media take just a little of the passion they apply to U of I admissions, or candidates’ tax returns, and use it here? Or would that be too much to ask? - Chicago Cynic - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 7:14 pm: Amen “Just a Reader”! - Downstate - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 7:30 pm: The Southern Illinois tourism economy has not “maxed out” as someone noted. It’s just getting started to be taken seriously. Rich, I know you have concerns not so much with this bill, but what might morph out of this down the road. That’s a legitimate concern. However, for all you SOBs on this list and other newspaper websites that keep using the terms rubes, hillbillies, bumpkins, etc., I’m getting sick of it. Please get you heads out of your rears, come on down and enjoy our hospitality. I think you’d be surprise at what you will fine and exactly how much potential is down here. - DuPage Dave - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 7:34 pm: The opposite of “Profiles in Courage” would be “Profiles in…” what??? Whatever it is, they can use our legislators as role models. - Sueann - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 10:19 pm: Stars is one of the last gasp efforts by the Illinois politicians to try and attract any type of business to the state. No business will locate in the Illinois cesspool without an assortment of incentives and, as always. there are the insiders that are always willing to hand them out. I can’t understand why so many of you are against this situation. After all, you are the ones that voted to make Illinois into the overtaxed entitlement state that it is. - Pot calling kettle - Friday, May 7, 10 @ 10:36 pm: Branson grew because Lake of the Ozarks was already a destination. Some Nashville-types had homes there and decided to set up shop. Over the years it grew. If southern Illinois is to grow (and it has lots of potential), a new mall will not do it. Southern Illinois has suffered through more than one of these grow quick schemes, and they don’t work. If they would invest some money in the Cache River area, perhaps growth will increase, but a new mall next to the old one that couldn’t keep four anchor stores? Please spare them. A Cabela’s is not going to spark the next Branson. This kind of pie-in-the-sky does no one any good because it distracts from opportunities to spur real growth, which would be slow, but steady. The attractions that already exist should be used as a foundation. The Post Creek Cutoff should be filled and the Cache River wetlands allowed to develop. That has the potential to become a unique destination for the area and would attract sport fishers, hikers, canoers, bird watchers, etc. Once that happens, THEN Cabela’s might want to set up shop, and they won’t need a boat-load of money before they do. It would all start with some funds for the DNR and some Federal dollars for the Wildlife refuge and some money for SIUC as well. And it would take time to grow. But, who wants to wait for something that would actually work when we could throw money to a developer now? Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.