CHICAGO - A proposal for $100 million in state capital funding assistance to help lure the Obama Presidential Library to Chicago is advancing through the Illinois General Assembly.
The House Executive Committee
Republicans say the state can't afford it with massive unfunded pension obligations, a $5 billion bill backlog and warnings that deep cuts will be needed if a temporary income tax hike is allowed to expire next year.
The bill "appropriates $100 million from the Capital Development Fund to the Capital Development Board for the construction of a presidential library and museum dedicated to the legacy of President Barack Obama," according to a description.
Gov. Pat Quinn said earlier this week he supports some public aid to lure the project as part of a package that relies heavily on private funding. It could go in a future capital budget.
"They are economic magnets .they create jobs and economic growth with visitors who come to see and stay and to spend money. So, we should not overlook in anyway the possibility that properly done, a presidential library in Chicago will create thousands of jobs," Quinn said.
While President Obama calls Chicago home and his wife is a Chicago native, the Obama Foundation is expected to consider other locations, including Hawaii where the president grew up, and New York where he attended school. The foundation is expected to make a recommendation on a location to the president next year, according to published reports.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who served as Obama's first chief of staff, believes the funding assistance is a good investment if it helps the city win the library. "That money will come back and create a huge amount of tourism, visitors, and economic development, and you will make that money and more back as a city," he said recently.
Private funding is typically used to fund president libraries. The Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock carried a price tag of $165 million while President George W. Bush's library in Dallas cost $250 million.
