Illinois 8 and Illinois 29 Work to Create Jobs and Reduce Congestion

PEORIA - April 3, 2012. As part of his commitment to ensuring Illinois has a 21st century transportation system, Governor Pat Quinn today announced two major road projects in the Peoria area. The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) will complete the final phase of its widening of Illinois Route 8 in Washington this summer and begin finalizing plans for the replacement of the BNSF Railroad viaduct over Illinois Route 29 in Chillicothe. The two projects will create jobs, reduce congestion and improve the flow of goods and services throughout the greater Peoria area.

"In order to compete in the global economy, we must ensure that Illinois has a 21st century transportation system," Governor Quinn said. "We are committed to modernizing our roads and bridges in the Peoria area, which will create jobs and support economic growth throughout Illinois."

Governor Quinn announced the two projects, which are estimated to cost more than $12.4 million, while addressing the Innovation Conference on Asphalt & Transportation (ICAT), which provides opportunities to develop public-private partnerships, and address transportation industry challenges. Keynote speakers at the conference included Sam Pitroda, Infrastructure Minister and Advisor to the Prime Minister of India, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, and business and government leaders from around the world. ICAT, hosted by Bradley University, also presented Illinois State Senate President John Cullerton with its Heartland Sustainability Award.

The improvements on Illinois Route 8 include reconstructing 1.2 miles of roadway and adding a second lane in each direction, with a middle turn lane and sidewalks, between Summit Drive and Legion Road. Construction will begin later this spring. The project, estimated to cost $10.2 million, is funded through Governor Quinn's historic Illinois Jobs Now! capital program. The improvements represent the last segment of a long-term, $43.7 million expansion of nearly six miles of Illinois 8 from Rosedale Road in East Peoria to Legion Road in Washington, a stretch that accommodates almost 19,000 cars and trucks a day.

Governor Quinn is also pleased to announce that IDOT is committing $2.2 million to complete the engineering and design plans for replacing the BNSF viaduct over Illinois Route 29 in Chillicothe. The project will replace the two existing viaducts with a single structure carrying three mainline tracks, a yard track, a service road and a pedestrian walkway. Illinois 29 will be widened to two lanes in each direction, with a middle turn lane, sidewalks and a bike path, between Truitt Avenue and the Senachwine Creek Bridge. The engineering and design plans will cost about $2.2 million and require approximately three years to complete. Construction is estimated to cost $22 million.

"These improvements will add much-needed road and rail capacity in the Peoria area," said Illinois Transportation Secretary Ann Schneider. "I am eager to work with our local partners to see both projects completed as soon as possible."

The six-year, $31 billion Illinois Jobs Now! is the largest capital program in the state's history. Since Governor Quinn helped pass  Illinois Jobs Now! in 2009, the program has created an estimated 1,500 jobs in the Peoria area.

DES MOINES – AARP leaders are taking on MidAmerican Energy false portrayal of the Association's position on nuclear power and attempts to shift away the focus from what HF 561 really does in their ads.  AARP doesn't oppose nuclear power, but does oppose changing Iowa law to favor utility company and shareholder interests over Iowa's ratepaying consumers.

"MidAmerican's ironically titled 'Straight Talk' ads misrepresented AARP's position on HF 561 and hid the truth about what HF 561 actually does", said Anthony Carroll, AARP Iowa Associate State Director for Advocacy.  "The ads stated that AARP is an opponent of nuclear power.  That is an outright lie, just the beginning a new campaign by MidAmerican to fool Iowans into favoring HF 561.  Iowans deserve better than to be fooled."

Carroll explained that AARP has consistently stated in testimony before House and Senate Commerce Committees, in AARP mail and e-mail correspondence with lawmakers, AARP members and Iowans, and in AARP editorials and paid ads, AARP is NOT opposed to nuclear power.

"The question of whether to build a new nuclear power plant is in MidAmerican's hands," said Carroll.  "It is critical to note, they can build a plant without HF 561.  The question for lawmakers is whether to shift nearly all the one-billion to several billions in costs and risks associated with new plants from the company to its customers.  That is what AARP opposes. That is what HF 561 does, according to the Iowa Utility Board staff memo. "

AARP Iowa Executive Council Member Sharon Treinen of Ackley and a shareholder of MidAmerican's parent company Berkshire Hathaway said, "I take no comfort in knowing HF 561 guarantees a profit for me as shareholder.  As a utility customer in Iowa, I oppose HF 561.  I'd rather not pay on the front end as a ratepayer, just so I can benefit as a shareholder.  I feel very fortunate that my husband and I were able to save so that we have some stock investments, but, I'm even more concerned about the many elderly and other Iowans on fixed incomes.

According to recent reports, Treinen said nearly a quarter million Iowa households, about 224,000, are behind on their utility bills and therefore face potential shut offs as of April 1, the day Iowa's winter utility shut-off moratorium ends.

State President Tony Vola, also a Berkshire Hathaway shareholder, said HF 561 violates the common sense rule.  "I live by the common sense rule.  HF 561 shifts the billon-plus costs and profit-making aspects of building a new power plant from the company and shareholders to customers.  I choose to spend my money to be a shareholder in Berkshire Hathaway, but under HF 561, I and other Iowa utility customers would have no choice but to pay advance costs - which have always ballooned in other states - and a profit, for a long, expensive investment, even if this project goes bust."

"AARP is fighting for a better deal for Iowa utility customers who bear the upfront costs and risk, and MidAmerican is fighting for their shareholders, for the great deal that HF 561 provides to them," said Carroll. "We hope lawmakers side with customers, not with big business and company shareholders."

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About AARP
AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with a membership that helps people 50+ have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole. AARP does not endorse candidates for public office or make contributions to either political campaigns or candidates. We produce AARP The Magazine, the definitive voice for 50+ Americans and the world's largest-circulation magazine with over 35.1 million readers; AARP Bulletin, the go-to news source for AARP's millions of members and Americans 50+; AARP VIVA, the only bilingual U.S. publication dedicated exclusively to the 50+ Hispanic community; and our website, AARP.org. AARP Foundation is an affiliated charity that provides security, protection, and empowerment to older persons in need with support from thousands of volunteers, donors, and sponsors. We have staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Assistant Labor Secretary Kathy Martinez to host April 2 press teleconference on new employment program for individuals with significant disabilities

WASHINGTON ? Kathy Martinez, assistant secretary of labor for disability employment policy, will host a media teleconference on April 2 to discuss the Employment First State Leadership Mentor Program, a Labor Department grants initiative designed to facilitate the full inclusion of people with significant disabilities in employment and community life.

Three states ? Iowa, Oregon and Tennessee ? will receive the first round of grants through the program to assist with planning, policy development and capacity building. "Employment First" aims to promote the development of state policies so that integrated employment is the first option of service for individuals with significant disabilities. Integrated employment refers to jobs held by people with disabilities in typical workplace settings in which the majority of individuals employed do not have disabilities, those with disabilities earn at least the minimum wage and they are paid directly by the employer.

Grassley shines light on egregious spending by Navy on energy-efficiency projects

WASHINGTON - Making the case that important findings of independent audits ought to result in accountability, Senator Chuck Grassley is asking a top Navy official about her rejection of recommendations in an audit regarding a contract which failed to meet cost-effectiveness standards.

"The truth is, these projects have been a license to waste the taxpayers' money." Grassley said.  "They need to be stopped, and decision makers need to be held accountable."

Grassley said contracts like this one show why people at the grass roots are so legitimately frustrated with wasteful government spending.  In a letter to Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy, Installations and Environment, Jackalyne Pfannenstiel, who is responsible for the decisions that led to the contract awards, Grassley said that by the government's own standards that carry the force of law, these $90 million photovoltaic projects were not cost effective.  "In fact, they were a gross waste of the taxpayers' money," he wrote.

Recognizing the obligations of the Assistant Secretary's position to abide by the law and responsibly manage taxpayer money, Grassley said, "For reasons I do not yet understand, you appear to have willingly abandoned those responsibilities to further the energy 'goals' advocated by the Secretary of the Navy."

The subject of the Naval Audit Service Report (N2011-0060) driving Grassley's questions is a $90 million contract awarded for photovoltaic projects in Florida, Mississippi, Texas and Virginia using money appropriated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.  Based on a careful review of all relevant facts, the audit concluded that these projects were a waste of money and recommended that they be cancelled.

Following the September 2011 release of a separate but related audit conducted by the Inspector General for the Department of Defense, Grassley raised questions directly with the Navy last November.  The Navy response said, "There is no absolute requirement on Federal agencies that renewable energy projects be cost-effective in order to be executed."  In his letter today, Grassley asked for the law and regulation that exempt such projects from cost-effectiveness standards.

Grassley said the Naval Audit Service Report spells out the dramatic degree to which these projects fail on cost-effectiveness.  With an average payback of 124 years, ranging from a low of 70 all the way up to 324 years and a savings-to-investment ratio in the 0.04-0.20 range, these projects were not even close to meeting energy efficiency standards established in law and regulation.  And because the photovoltaic panels have an expected useful life of 25 years, the audit report states, "recovery of investment is impossible ... .  The panels will never pay for themselves."

Grassley said he has notified both Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Acting Inspector General Lynne M. Halbrooks about his questions regarding the Navy's response to this audit.

During a recent Senate Budget Committee hearing in on defense spending, Grassley urged Panetta to examine audit recommendations and pursue reforms.  He said the Defense Secretary could prevent the problems identified by auditors from being buried in the bureaucracy and never addressed.

For several years, Grassley has been calling on auditors for the Defense Department's Inspector General to issue stronger recommendations and said their work is a mission of the highest importance.