Bivins plans Oregon hearing on recent state park closures
From the Sauk Valley News
(http://www.saukvalley.com/articles/2008/09/09/news/local/7bf325d009f2b1ebdcdfcbe97e0de7b1.txt)
OREGON - State Sen. Tim Bivins, R-Dixon, is inviting those who want to learn more about budget cuts that will close state parks and historic sites to attend a public hearing Wednesday.
Bivins and State Sen. Brad Burzynski, R-Clare, are co-hosting the hearing to brief the public about the budget cuts and circulate petitions against them, Bivins said in a news release.
Participants will be able to comment on the cuts, which will close 11 state parks, most of them in northern Illinois, and 14 state historic sites.
“I am not sure what the governor was hoping to accomplish with these cuts, but he has succeeded in ticking off a lot of people,” Bivins said in the release. “Our parks and our communities are being affected by the closings. Our towns will lose tourism dollars when the historic sites are shuttered. We have had enough.”
Bivins also plans to detail other areas of the budget - including “funding for questionable Chicago-area pork barrel projects” - that Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich spared, the release said.
The hearing will begin at 6 p.m. at the Oregon Coliseum, 124 N. 4th St.
