Serving the 71st District with Mike Boland

One of the more gratifying aspects of working for a legislator is the ability to help find financial assistance for worthwhile local projects. From Mike Boland's office, we've been able to find a number of grants to assist a number of local governments and non-profit agencies.

Just yesterday I was speaking with a local elected official who was requesting assistance in purchasing land and developing a boat ramp and park on the Mississippi River. I explained to him that in Illinois state government, there are a couple of usual avenues to funding. Most of the grant funding in Illinois is distributed through competitive grants from Executive Branch Agencies like the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity or Department of Natural Resources. In cases where a non-profit or local government unit applies for state grants of this sort, our office can assist by providing letters of support for grant applications. We also can phone the agency once the application has arrived in Springfield, to check the progress of the application in the grant making process, and to highlight the Representative's support for critical projects.

There are also times when there can be a small amount of funding available through the direct intervention of the State Representative. This program, called "Individual Legislative Initiative" grants by some, isn't always available. In years where this grant money can be found, it gives Representative Boland the ability to directly obtain and deliver grants to local governments. Representative Boland secured $1 million in individual legislative initiative funding for the 71st district this year, and we are going to be busy the next week handing out a number of large ceremonial checks to local officials who's grant requests were approved.

Outside of State of Illinois grant programs, there are also often private and corporate funds or endowments that can be helpful. These are usually more likely to be available to non-profit groups, and they are usually competitive. Our office can provide letters of support to non-profit groups to help assist grant applications of this sort.

Pictured above is Representative Mike Boland with Savanna Mayor Bill Lease. Bill is a great guy and I believe the citizens of Savanna are quite lucky to have a Mayor with his energy and abilities. Mayor Lease and his City Council helped to identify three projects of local importance, and Mike Boland was able to find $100,000 to assist. Through the combined efforts of Mayor Lease, the Savanna City Council, and Representative Mike Boland, we were able to find $25,000 to assist with the building of a new Mississippi River boat ramp in Savanna, $25,000 for a new Fire Truck for Savanna Fire Protection District, and $50,000 to help improve community infrastructure with much needed sidewalk repair and replacement.