Cook County Commissioner Gregg Goslin is meeting with lawmakers in Washington, D.C., today, discussing a number of issues affecting the county. Goslin, a board member of the National Association of County Officials says he and other NACO leaders are working to secure more federal funding for local projects.
"It's always good to hear form the local communities. It's a good use of time," says Goslin, a former state lawmaker. "There's a lot of federal money coming in to the county. A lot of people don't know that."
He's hoping meetings with Illinois delegates, including U.S. Reps. Bobby Rush, Jan Schakowsky, John Shimkos, Peter Roskam and Mark Kirk, result in more support for the county.
Goslin says he's lobbying on behalf of a House of Representatives resolution called the Local Jobs for America Act, which would provide a cash injection to create more jobs.
"It's federal funding that would go to jobs in local communities, mostly first responders," he expalins. "This would provide some funding to get us through this recession."
Also on the docket is a proposed law that would require counties to essentially make them an extension of the Internal Revenue Service
"Let's say we're having a new courthouse built. We would have to withhold 3 percent of the cost of the contractor to make sure they pay all their taxes," he says, calling the bill "ridiculous."