Illinois Announces $25 Million in Fast-Track Grants for Planned Infrastructure Projects

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Illinois Announces $25 Million in Fast-Track Grants for Planned Infrastructure Projects

May 18, 2020

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Written by Katie Zumalt-Rogers and Matthew J. Gardner

On May 12, 2020, Governor Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) announced that Illinois would expedite $25 million of existing Rebuild Illinois funding for public infrastructure projects to help offset the local impacts of COVID-19.

These grants are available to school districts, park districts, municipalities, and other local governments. Grants between $500,000 and $5,000,000 will be awarded on a rolling basis for projects that are ready to begin work within 90 days of the grant and priority will be given to underserved areas. These expedited grants are meant to help stimulate local public infrastructure projects for the summer construction season and to finance projects that may have been impacted by lost revenues in the wake of COVID-19.

Local governments with shovel-ready projects will need to meet certain compliance standards to be awarded a Fast-Track Grant. As public bodies evaluate options for funding summer projects, we will continue to monitor these compliance standards and legislative developments related to available infrastructure aid.

The deadline for applications is Monday, June 15. For more information, the DCEO is hosting a webinar on Tuesday, May 19 at 12:30 p.m. to detail eligibility requirements, how to apply, use of funds, the evaluation and scoring process, and compliance requirements. Interested participants can register on the Illinois WebEx Portal.

Please direct any questions regarding this Law Alert to your Robbins Schwartz attorney.