* E=MC^2…

[Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield] also said the measure appeared to give Democratic districts more money than Republican districts. He said everybody pays the same taxes and the infrastructure money should be distributed evenly.

“I would encourage the Democrats to reevaluate that as we roll through this,” Butler said. “This is a six-year plan. We have the opportunity to correct that and I think that’s something that we should do.”

Prtizker dismissed concerns that a disproportionate amount of capital dollars would be distributed to Democratic districts. He said Republican districts are getting billions in infrastructure spending.

First of all, what Rep. Butler is referring to are member initiatives, not the broader capital plan itself. The article doesn’t differentiate. As we’ve discussed before, Democrats did get more money than Republicans for member initiatives, but we’re talking about a difference of a few million bucks each in the context of a $45 billion capital plan.

* And, as noted above, the governor addressed this today when asked by the same reporter.

The fact is that a majority of the money from the infrastructure bill goes to Downstate Illinois. As you know, the many roads, the miles of roads all across the state, the bridges, the significant investment necessary, it’s in mostly Downstate Illinois.

Although there are Democrats in this area and across Downstate Illinois, most of that is represented by Republican Representatives and Senators. And I’m very much in favor of fairness here. I want to make sure we’re making the investments that are necessary.

Universities around the state are mostly, almost entirely in districts represented by Republicans. And that’s where hundreds of millions of dollars, in fact billions when you add it all up, are going. So, the money is getting distributed I think very fairly across the state.

Looking forward to the fact check on that one.