Illinois Business Journal Illinois Business Journal October 2008 issue - Vol.9, No.1
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Illinois voters to face question of rewriting state constitution on Nov. ballot
By ALAN J. ORTBALS

   When Illinois voters step to the voting booths on November 4th, they may be surprised to find a referendum on a constitutional convention. According to the Illinois Constitution, this referendum question must be placed on the ballot every 20 years, giving the electorate the option to call a convention to come up with a new constitution for the state.
   State Rep. Jay Hoffman, a Democrat from Collinsville, opposes the idea and says voters should vote “no” on Election Day.
   “I don’t think anyone would entertain throwing out the U.S. Constitution,” Hoffman said. “That’s what ours is based on. Our constitution, like the United States Constitution, has methods of amending it through referendum. From my standpoint,

. Illinois Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn is among those who support holding a convention to give voters the option of revamping the Illinois Constitution. Quinn says it’s the only way issues such as a recall and income tax restructuring will have a chance. Photo courtesy of The Associated Press.
instead of throwing out the entire constitution, if there are specific articles or sections that people have problems with, they ought to look at the amendment process as opposed to a constitutional convention.”
   According to Hoffman, 10 amendments have been passed specific to the constitutional provisions since 1970.
   A broad coalition of varied interests called The Alliance to Protect the Illinois Constitution has combined together to try to defeat [continue]

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Refinery settlement means green light for ConocoPhillips’ mega-expansion

. Environmentalists are hailing the Sept. 11 landmark air permit settlement that allows ConocoPhillips’ Roxana, Ill. expansion to move forward. The expansion will enable the refiner to increase its crude operations with Canadian gas producer EnCana Corp. (above), but with state-of-the-art emissions controls. Photo courtesy of EnCana Corp. . By KERRY L. SMITH

   A landmark air permit settlement announced Sept. 11 between ConocoPhillips’ Wood River Refinery and environmental groups means the $4 billion coker and refinery expansion project is back on track.
   ConocoPhillips spokesman Bill Graham says the company is still looking at completing construction by the end of 2010. The settlement and new air permit took effect immediately.
   “We’re pleased that the [Illinois EPA air quality] permit is now final, but we’re disappointed that the permitting process, particularly for a project of this magnitude, took 27 months,” said Graham.
   In June, the US EPA sided with

environmentalists and rejected an air permit granted by the IEPA on the grounds that the pollution control requirements in the permit were insufficient. Specifically, the legal challenge from the American Bottom Conservancy, represented [continue]

Illinois slipping in key economic competiveness indicators, study finds
By ALAN J. ORTBALS

   The state of Illinois has received low to middling grades in a new report on its economic health.
   The report by Growth Economics was commissioned by the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce and released at the end of August.
   According to chamber president Doug Whitley, the premise for the report was to establish a benchmark to measure against for future reports.
   “This report is intended to be as much of a wake-up call as anything, simply to say, ‘Take a look at where we stand and if you don’t like where it is, what are we going to do about it?’” Whitley said.
   While the report gives Illinois a pretty good grade in workforce preparedness, it hits hard in certain key indicators. The state slipped from 6th to 16th in per-capita disposable income; from 10th to 13th in per-capita state Gross Domestic Income; and ranked 49th out [continue]


 

 

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