New State Rep. Moore Re-Files Predecessor’s JDC Grounds Remediation Bill

By Benjamin Cox on January 23, 2025 at 6:23am

99th District State Representative Kyle Moore has re-filed a bill introduced by previous representative Randy Frese that would appropriate funds in the state budget to remediate the former Jacksonville Developmental Center grounds.

On Thursday, Moore filed House Bill 1402 that would appropriate $67.6 million from the Build Illinois Bond Fund to the Capital Development Board for the demolition of the buildings on the site and remediation of the property. The same figure and process was in Randy Frese’s House Bill 1609 that was filed in February 2023. Frese’s bill died in the House Rules Committee at the end of the 2023 session.

Moore says that the JDC grounds is the state’s responsibility: “The state owns the property. In the last few years, we’ve seen a drastic increase in the number of break-ins and fires that have occurred [on the grounds]. The residents of Jacksonville have just went through a visioning process and want to see this important piece of their community returned back to them and put to good use. Certainly the State of Illinois owes it to them since they have all but abandoned this site now for the last 13 years.”

Moore says he’s ready to work on both sides of the aisle to get the appropriations across the finish line during the Spring Session. Moore will be hard pressed to find help, as the state is facing a $3.2 billion budget deficit in the next fiscal year, which begins on July 1st.