The South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association presented this year’s Legislative Priorities to lawmakers, followed by a question & answer session, at a Feb. 7 breakfast at the Idlewild Country Club in Flossmoor. About 150 participants attended the event, including members of SSMMA, legislators and regional business leaders. It was sponsored by Comcast and ComEd.
“We’ve developed this year’s policy agenda on the priorities of the Southland, following input and listening to the needs of our communities,” said Richton Park Mayor Richard Reinbold, the association’s Legislative Committee chairman. “We’ve developed a consensus agenda that is simple and we can all buy into: One vision for the southern suburbs: a stronger, more economically vibrant and competitive Southland.”
Reinbold presented SSMMA’s three overarching priority goals for the south suburban region, which are:
Expand the Economic Development Tools of the Southland
Stabilize and Reinvest in Local Communities
Rebuild Our Critical Infrastructure
Passing the Southland Reactivation Act (House Bill 43) was one tool to expand economic development. See related story: We need near-term solutions while also tackling tax reform, and press release. Additional tools included adequate funding for the Southland Development Authority (SDA), rebuilding our critical infrastructure and more.
The association also asked legislators to help stabilize and reinvest in our local communities by protecting all state-collected revenue, updating the Fiscally Distressed Cities Law and reforming and consolidating Local Public Safety Pension Funds. See the 2020 Legislative Priorities for more details.
A related story by Ted Slowik, South suburban officials stress regional unity to advance legislative agenda, is in the Tribune/Daily Southtown.
More photos are here.
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