McHenry County Blog

Arriving in McHenry County Blog’s email inbox is the following missive from Republican State Senator Pam Althoff, which I am pleased to share with you:

As the spring session (wait a minute, isn’t it November?) wanes closer to an end, it’s important to take a moment to examine the Administration and General Assembly’s accomplishments in the area of open space, green energy and environmental protection.

While the General Assembly successfully passed numerous green bills, including: the Illinois Cool Cities Act (P.A. 95-0453), legislation permitting township recycling programs (P.A. 95-0119) and legislation encouraging municipal governments to go green (P.A. 95-0657), funding for Illinois’ open spaces still remains a question.

Historically, Illinois has funded open space land acquisition through its capital spending plans. Illinois FIRST and Build Illinois both provided substantial resources for conservation, but those dollars are long gone, and without them there is no reliable funding for additions to our state park system, providing new hunting opportunities or helping local governments protect open space beyond the limited scope of the OSLAD program. There is an estimated need of $7.53 billion today for lands that the IDNR and local governments hope to acquire to protect our natural heritage and provide recreational opportunities for our communities.

Unfortunately, the capital budget approved by the Senate does not include a land acquisition component. If passed as currently drafted, this plan would be the first capital program in recent decades to ignore conservation. If there is a capital budget approved this year without open space funding, it may be years before our next opportunity.

Both the House and Senate this year have adopted resolutions (House Resolution 55 and Senate Joint Resolution 52, which I was a chief sponsor of) endorsing the iSPACE (Illinois Special Places Acquisition, Conservation and Enhancement) proposal for $100 million annually. While this would not come close to meeting the entire need, it would represent a solid down payment for open spaces that can be built upon in future years. iSPACE is supported by a broad base of hunting, local government and environmental organizations.

Over the past several years, Illinois has been making great strides in green energy, open space and recycling; however, this year may represent our largest challenge yet … ensuring that money for iSPACE is in the capital budget. I implore you to remain involved with this issue. Without your support it may be years before additional money for green projects is available. If you have any questions regarding this issue or any other, please do not hesitate to contact me at palthoff@mc.net or 815/455-6330.

Warmest regards,
Pamela J. Althoff
State Senator

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