The U.S. Department of Transportation recently launched two National On-line Dialogues to facilitate the implementation of Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21 st Century (MAP-21), the recently passed two-year transportation reauthorization bill.  The dialogues focus on the use of performance measures in MAP-21 and freight policy .  Both allow stakeholders and the public to... Read More

Newly passed fuel economy standards that will help reduce oil consumption will negatively affect the amount of motor fuel tax (MFT) revenues available to fund transportation projects in the future, highlighting the need for better ways to fund improvements. On August 28, 2012, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a rule finalizing higher fuel economy... Read More

NOTE:  This is the first in an on-going series of Housing Policy Updates. The regional housing market has experienced some significant changes since the beginning of 2012.  Total housing permits and starts have ticked back up, and the for-sale market appears to be slowly recovering.  However, much of this growth has been driven by single-family starts concentrated... Read More

In the spring 2012 session, the General Assembly considered legislation to increase the transparency of several state and local tax incentive programs.  Although incentive programs utilize taxpayer dollars, their use is not always publicly disclosed.  This Policy Update reviews two new transparency laws recently signed by Governor Quinn regarding tax incentives. On August 17,... Read More

On August 23, 2012, the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) announced  formation of the Freight Policy Council to develop a National Freight Strategic Plan as called for by the two-year Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21 st Century (MAP-21) transportation reauthorization bill.  That plan will identify some 27,000 miles of Primary Freight Network, as well as other roads... Read More