Rockford Sun

 State Rep. Jeff Keicher (R-Sycamore) is elated to see the Rebuild Illinois plan doing the job he vowed it would when he sponsored the measure in Springfield.

“The Rebuild Illinois capital plan I supported is continuing to invest in projects here in our region,” Keicher recently posted on Facebook of the $45 billion plan. “It was announced over the weekend that DeKalb Taylor Municipal Airport is among the airports set to receive funding for critical needs.”

DeKalb Taylor is just one of roughly 100 airports positioned across the state that are set to soon cash in on state funding tied to the program, with the perks ranging from new runways and road relocations to the purchase of mowers and snow removal equipment, according to Capitol News Illinois.

With funding requests being overseen by the Illinois Department of Transportation Division of Aeronautics, state grants range from $36,000 for the Illinois Valley Regional Airport in LaSalle County to acquire a tractor with a flex wing mower to nearly $11.8 million for the Morris Municipal Airport in Grundy County for a crosswinds runway.

With Rebuild Illinois representing the state’s first capital plan in nearly a decade, the plan stands as a multimodal infrastructure package that also extends to roads, bridges, waterways, air travel and rail.

Data shows of the $45 billion invested in the plan, the vast majority of it ($33.2 billion) is earmarked for transportation work in keeping with the state’s 2016 “lock box” amendment that requires the state to use transportation related funds for their stated purpose.

Supporters of the plan insist over the next six years it is expected to create and support an estimated 540,000 jobs across the state.