Illinois RealEstateRama

U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today called on President Trump to fully fund the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) fiscal year 2017 FASTLANE grants after the Administration announced that DOT will hold funding for large project awardees and call for new and separate applications with “updated” criteria. This latest delay of much needed transportation grant funding by the Trump Administration will directly impact transportation infrastructure projects across Illinois, including CREATE’s 75th Street Corridor Improvement Project in Chicago and Merchants Railroad Bridge Project in the St. Louis region.

U.S. Representative Mike Bost issued the following statement after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it would withdraw the controversial Obama-era Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule

Yesterday, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee agreed by voice vote to include an amendment that would require the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) to establish a minimum seat size on commercial airlines as well as a minimum distance between rows of seats. This amendment is based on the bipartisan, bicameral Seat Egress in Air Travel (SEAT) Act and will be included in the broader FAA Reauthorization bill.

U.S. Representative Mike Bost (IL-12) led a push in Congress Friday for answers regarding alleged corruption at the Alexander County Housing Authority, the same day as the House approved an amendment Bost introduced to help ease the transition of Cairo residents and other Americans who have been displaced from a public housing authority to a new location.

Community residents joined Mercy Housing Lakefront and Alderman Michael Scott, Jr., (24^th Ward) along with development partners today to celebrate the grand opening of the Lofts on Arthington, the former Sears, Roebuck and Company catalog printing building that has been adapted into 181 affordable homes for working families in the Homan Square community on Chicago’s West Side.

U.S Representatives Randy Hultgren (R-IL-14) and Gwen Moore (D-WI-04) have introduced bipartisan legislation to strengthen the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) System by preserving access to mortgage credit and affordable housing assistance for millions of Americans.

The CHOICE Act is a perfect example of the kind of legislation that caused the Great Recession, when millions of hard-working families lost their homes, jobs, and their hopes for economic security and well-being. In the emergency response to the financial crisis, I worked with Barney Frank and my other colleagues to make sure it would never happen again.

U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05), who serves on the Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations Subcommittee, released the following statement after he questioned HUD Secretary Ben Carson during today’s hearing

U.S. Representative Randy Hultgren (IL-14) urged reforms to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to ensure taxpayers are shielded from unnecessary risk at a hearing today on “Flood Insurance Reform: A Taxpayer’s Perspective.” Many Illinois homeowners and businesses rely on NFIP to protect themselves from disaster after a flood, so the program must be changed so it benefits those who need it most. Reliable data and accurate mapping are essential to reflect the risks to communities located on flood plains.

During a hearing of the Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD), U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today pressed U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson to commit to ensuring that the 183 affected households living at Elmwood and McBride housing complexes in Cairo, Illinois, will have the full support of HUD as they transition to new housing

U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05), who serves as Vice Chair of the Sustainably Energy & Environment Coalition (SEEC), released the following statement recapping the remainder of his #RepInTheRockies visit, a three-day climate change tour in Rocky Mountain National Park

Representatives Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY), Ann Kuster (D-NH), Niki Tsongas (D-MA) and Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA) reintroduced legislation to create an Office of Public Participation and Consumer Advocacy at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). As one of the lead agencies responsible for developing energy infrastructure and ensuring reliability of the electric grid, FERC has sweeping authority over the wholesale power markets and ultimate jurisdiction in the federal siting and permitting process for natural gas pipelines.

U.S. Representative Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.), who serves as Ranking Member on the Energy Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee, helped draft infrastructure legislation to bring federal funding to Illinois’ roads,bridges and much more. The Leading Infrastructure for Tomorrow’s America Act, or LIFT America Act, (H.R. 2479) includes key areas within the Committee’s jurisdiction that address broadband, drinking water, healthcare, the electric grid, brownfields and renewable energy infrastructure

U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05), who serves as Vice Chair of the Sustainable Energy & Environment Coalition (SEEC), released the following statement on the Senate’s vote against proceeding with Congressional Review Act repeal of the Bureau of Land Management Methane Waste rule

U.S. Reps. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) and Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.), members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, today announced their bill, H.R. 1665, Disaster Declaration Improvement Act,