On March 6th-8th, 28 community, labor, education and business leaders participated in the Economic Development Council's first annual “One Voice” Washington, D.C. fly-in. The purpose of the trip was to show our local Congressional delegation that we stand united in advocating for the funding of our priority projects, which include the Normal Multi-Modal Transportation Center, the Heartland Community College Workforce Development Center, the Bloomington Cultural District and the McLean County Business Incubator.
While in D.C., the One Voice group had the opportunity to meet with Senator Dick Durbin and Congressmen LaHood, Johnson and Weller and lobbyists for the Town of Normal and Illinois State University. Each of the legislators were very familiar with our projects and offered their continued support. They also informed the group of recent reforms in the federal earmark process that may cause delays in funding for some projects. Each Congressional member told the group they were impressed by the wide-spread community support and that this will reflect well in their decision of which projects to fund.
