Prairie Cycle Club – Bicycle Club for Champaign County, Illinois

http://www.bikelib.org for more information.

The intent of the HB 4757 &
SB 2311 (identical wording) is transparency and accountability. Bills will
force IDOT and the Gov. to make the award cycle of Federal dollars regular
and transparent. Enhancement dollars come in annually. Most states have a
regular grant cycle, usually annual. This allows local govts. to plan
trails projects and have them in queue-i.e the Sangamon valley trail which
require several projects over years.

The Gov's office held the dollars from 2001 till 2005. Then the fanfare,
public hearings solicit proposals etc. IDOT made their recommendations but
the Gov's office held them another 9 months before awards were made. Many
of the awards were less than proposed, with no rationale. LIB requested
disclosure of the criteria under Freedom of Information act, to no avail.
Safe Routes to School funds, another Federal program. Awards?? -IL is only
state not to award these funds. Both funds are subject to recission --back
to the Feds. So please call by Tues AM Mar 4th, and show our support for
accountability.