FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – January 4, 2008

Contact: Joe Calomino, (847) 204-8514

SPRINGFIELD – The grassroots free-market group Americans for Prosperity will hold a “Day at the Capitol” on January 9th with its local county chapter leaders, as well as new media activists. Prior to visiting the Capitol, attendees will participate in a morning event at the Sangamo Club at 9 AM, at which time AFP’s national policy director, Phil Kerpen, will rollout its 2008 legislative agenda, and unveil Keeping Illinois Competitive: Prosperity in the Prairie State. All media are invited to attend.

“Our state is a fiscal mess, but with grassroots activists on our side we can bring sanity back to state and local government here in Illinois,” said AFP Illinois Director Joe Calomino. “In the new year we intend to focus on market-driven solutions for the challenges our state faces as well as a strong emphasis on bringing transparency and accountability to government budgets.”

AFP’s 2008 legislative agenda will focus on implementing free-market solutions to health care and education challenges in our state’s healthcare and education systems, thwarting tax hikes, and bringing transparency and accountability to state and local government spending.

Information in Keeping Illinois Competitive dovetails with the legislative agenda by shedding light on the dire state of taxing, spending, education, and debt in Illinois. The book includes a straightforward analysis of data from official federal sources as well as an assessment of the state’s challenges and free-market solutions. One conclusion is clear: Illinois is spending at an unsustainable pace with little to show for it.

A few highlights:

In Illinois, nearly one out of four students fails to complete high school. Of students that earn a high school degree, 40 percent don’t have a basic understanding of mathematics. The Illinois public school system spends roughly $9,900 for every child. Illinois state and local governments owe $8,330 for every man, woman, and child in the state. Illinoisans have the seventh-highest property tax burden as a percentage of home values in the country.

After being briefed at the Sangamo Club, grassroots leaders will visit the Capitol and distribute Keeping Illinois Competitive and a copy of AFP’s legislative agenda to lawmakers. Americans for Prosperity (AFP), the nation’s premiere free-market grassroots organization, launched its Illinois chapter in August 2006. Since then, AFP has opened twelve local chapters and has developed a statewide citizen network that is 14,000 taxpayers strong. AFP has also formed partnerships with groups like the Heartland Institute, the Illinois Policy Institute, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, and the Illinois Coalition for Jobs, Growth and Prosperity to name a few.

Date: 1/9/08

Time: 9 AM to 10:30 AM

Location: Sangamo Club

227 East Adams,

Springfield, Illinois 62701

Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is a nationwide organization of citizen leaders committed to advancing every individual’s economic freedom and opportunity. AFP believes reducing the size and scope of government is the best safeguard to ensuring individual productivity and prosperity for all Americans. AFP educates and engages citizens in support of restraining state and federal government growth, and returning government to its constitutional limits. For more information, visit www.americansforprosperity.org.

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