Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin
EAST PEORIA – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with members of the East Peoria Chamber of Commerce to discuss local economic priorities, workforce development, and how federal investments will help the Peoria region achieve long-term economic growth. Durbin heard from local leaders in business, health care, education, and government.
“I thank the East Peoria Chamber of Commerce for sitting down with me today to discuss both the challenges they face and the opportunities for growth presented by federal funding investments,” Durbin said. “A once in a century pandemic upended the American economy, and our local leaders have been diligently working over the last two years to help their communities through an unprecedented public health crisis. Today, we focused on how best to rebuild our communities and make historic, much-needed investments in our workforce and infrastructure. I’ll continue to be a strong federal partner for East Peoria and the region.”
The Peoria region has received federal funding from the COVID-19 relief bills and the recently passed Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) Omnibus appropriations bill, including:
- $450,000 to the City of Peoria for its Spring Street Water Infrastructure Project to address combined sewer overflow issues, which Durbin secured in the FY22 Omnibus appropriations bill.
- $850,000 to Bradley University to support state-of-the-art training and education to nursing students and local workforce development, which Durbin also secured in the FY22 Omnibus appropriations bill.
- In November, Distillery Labs in Peoria received a $2 million CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant from the Economic Development Administration (EDA). This grant will renovate a facility that will be home to an innovation/business incubation community that will help foster local entrepreneurship.
- Last week, Illinois Central College (ICC) in East Peoria received a $900,000 award from the CARES Act through EDA to support upgrades and expansions to ICC’s workforce training facilities and equipment. ICC’s workforce training will help increase professionals in welding, truck driving, and emergency services industries.
In addition to these investments, the Peoria region will receive increased federal funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for infrastructure projects. Illinois will receive the following guaranteed funding from the IIJA:
- $9.8 billion in highway formula funding;
- $4 billion in transit formula funding;
- $1.7 billion in water infrastructure formula funding;
- $1.4 billion in bridge replace/repair formula funding;
- $616 million to fund improvements to Illinois airports;
- $149 million for expansion of EV charging; and
- $100 million for expansion of broadband.
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