The Chamber, in collaboration with the Illinois Chamber, as well as other neighboring chambers of commerce, will monitor legislation that directly impacts employment in Illinois. It is paramount that one of the overall goals be to improve Illinois' business climate and make it a more competitive environment for businesses.

The Chamber will advocate for statutory provisions that help control workers' compensation costs, including costs associated with the need for the streamlining of claims and workers' compensation fraud; and provisions that control medical costs. The Chamber also will encourage lawmakers to revisit all topics related to business in Illinois to maximize savings that allow Illinois businesses to successfully compete with other states and nations.

Overall, the Chamber should be a proud partner and active participant in the Illinois Chamber's Employment Council. The Chamber also will support the Illinois Chamber's work on behalf of employers in such areas as: workers' compensation; unemployment insurance; health care; employment training; workplace mandates; the affairs of the Illinois Department of Employment Security; Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission; Illinois Department of Labor; and the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity.

Enhancing access to health care for all Illinoisans should be a focus for all businesses. However, many small businesses cannot afford to run their businesses, keep people employed, and provide health benefits to their employees. The Chamber supports the Employer Group Health Insurance Coverage Choice Act that will give employers health insurance options at better prices. The Chamber also supports the enactment of legislation stating that Government should not pass new health care mandates that add costs on top of escalating health care inflation.

The Chamber supports a cap on the current sales tax in Oak Brook and Oakbrook Terrace to allow local providers to maintain a competitive advantage over their competitors in Cook County and to encourage greater fiscal responsibility in community government.

The Chamber strongly opposes the imposition of a tax on parking spaces and other necessary structural customer accommodations,  which would have a disproportionate impact on local malls, hotels, and the many corporations and office complexes located in our community.

The Chamber believes that the Illinois business tax burden should be made more competitive as compared to competing Midwestern States. Illinois relies too much on local property tax revenues to fund public education.

Government fees should be commensurate with the actual cost of providing services, not as a revenue enhancement. Funds collected from state motor fuel taxes and other sources that were to be dedicated to road and transit improvements, but were diverted to other uses, should be restored to the State's Road Construction and Transit Funds.

State borrowing by the issuance or refinancing of general obligation bonds should be done for new capital improvements or to obtain more favorable interest rates, not to balance the State's General Revenue Fund budget.

The Federal government should be encouraged to make sure that the sales taxes paid through local businesses are equivalent to the taxes collected by vendors who sell over the internet (i.e., the level playing field). We must protect and encourage our local retailers who support public services and charitable organizations within our local communities;

In addition, the State should adopt measures that will make it easier for local government consolidation, especially school districts, with the intent to lower overhead and administrative costs.

The Chamber will advocate for tax laws, regulations and policies that benefit greater Oak Brook area based businesses.

Local Initiatives
The Chamber supports the widening of 22nd Street to three travel lanes in each direction and other improvements from just west of its intersection with Illinois Rt. 83 to just west of its intersection with Butterfield Road (Illinois Rt. 56) within the corporate limits of the City of Oakbrook Terrace and the Village of Oak Brook.

The purpose of this legislative position is to endorse the completion of the Phase II Engineering, followed by the actual widening and reconstruction of 22nd Street, including various intersection improvements within the above described limits. This improvement includes roadway reconstruction to accommodate additional through and turn lanes, traffic signal modernization, barrier median and curb and gutter. This improvement will match the six lane configuration of 22nd Street on either end of the project limits. In addition to endorsing the immediate completion of this project by the Illinois Department of Transportation, the Chamber further pledges to give its support to efforts by any local, state or federal office or agency that can provide funding to assist in the completion of this project. In addition to giving support to funding agencies, the Chamber further pledges to utilize all the resources that it can reasonably muster to encourage state, county or federal legislators to fund the improvements to 22nd Street, including encouraging contacts by individual Chamber members.

Overall, the goal of the project is to effectively improve safety as well as mobility and enhance the operation of 22nd Street within the City and the Village as specified by IDOT in the approved Project Report prepared by Patrick Engineering in October 2002.

Description Of Improvements Sought:

• Road Widening (provide three (3) through lanes in each direction)
• Intersection Improvements at eight intersections within the project limits including Illinois Route 56
• Sidewalk Installation (both sides of 22nd Street)
• Traffic Signal Modernization and Coordination
• Lighting Improvements in Project Limits
• Landscape Improvements in Median and on Parkways
• Transit Improvements (dedicated bus lanes or turnouts, incentives for local businesses)

Estimated Cost of Improvements:
Roadway, Intersection & Sidewalk Improvements: $12,111,000 in 2002 dollars. Adjusted for inflation, $13,631,000 in 2006 dollars; cost estimate does not include the addition of lighting (except in limited locations), landscaping and transit improvements.

State and Federal Initiatives
The Chamber supports the transportation goals and initiatives of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce and the Transportation for Illinois Coalition (TFIC) as presented by TFIC. TFIC, the Illinois Chamber and the Greater Oak Brook Chamber support:

• Increased funding levels for our National Transportation System.
• Increasing Illinois' share of transportation funding significantly above the 3.38 percent guarantee in TEA-21. Supporting the Illinois Congressional delegation in proposals they recommend that will bring the additional required resources to Illinois, including options that would bring new resources into the Highway Trust Fund.
• Firewalls' contained in TEA-21 to ensure funds that are generated by highway users and other transportation-related revenues are spent only on transportation needs.
• Maintaining the current Highway/Transit Funding Ration of 80-20.
• The distribution of all transit formulas funds according to needs-based formulas.
• Crediting the Highway Trust Fund with the 'earned interest' on its unexpended balances.

The Chamber also supports its Economic Development Committee, the City of Oakbrook Terrace and the Village of Oak Brook in their joint efforts to pursue transportation funding through the next Federal Transportation Bill. These funds would be used to support the continued work and completion of needed 22nd Street and related area road and traffic improvements, and possible tollway and tollway access improvements, as determined by the committee and municipalities. Issues to be addressed include the I88 underpass bottleneck, traffic congestion on 22nd Street between Butterfield and Illinois Route 83, limited North/South access in Oak Brook Terrace, and informational signing along the tollways.