Chicago Tribune: Gov. Pat Quinn signs $31 billion statewide public-works package

From Chicago Tribune: 

Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law Monday a $31 billion statewide construction program for crumbling roads, mass transit and schools that will be paid for by legalizing video poker, raising fees on motorists and boosting taxes on candy, beauty products and booze.  The rookie Democratic governor said he is "betting on the future of Illinois" by launching the state's first major public-works package in a decade, predicting it would create or keep in place more than 400,000 jobs over six years. The legislation also provides more than $3 billion for hundreds of local pork-barrel projects doled out by Quinn and state lawmakers.

"We know our economy needs a boost," Quinn said at a bill-signing ceremony at a high school on the West Side, where he was flanked by union members and politicians cheering at the prospect of new jobs and election-year ribbon cuttings. "We have unemployment that's way too high, and we're not standing by the side of the road waiting for things to happen, we're going to make things happen."