There\u2019s a wide chasm between $1.5 million and whatever ridiculous sum the Chicago Bears eventually muster up the courage to request from state lawmakers specifically, but a seven-figure allotment for one pro golf tournament isn\u2019t necessarily better business for Illinois.<\/p>\n
In a Capitol News Insider piece<\/a> Tuesday, Ben Szalinski detailed the findings of a recent Freedom of Information Act request. The fiscal 2027 budget that took effect yesterday sends $1 million to the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to fund a $1 million grant to offset the PGA Tour\u2019s expenses in staging the Presidents Cup at Medinah Country Club near the end of September. There also is a $500,000 \u201creappropriation\u201d from a different PGA grant directed to \u201cunspecified infrastructure improvements.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Szalinski, the PGA must submit quarterly reports on the $1 million grant, and it will be important to track those documents in an attempt to validate DCEO\u2019s belief that the tournament will generate at least that much local economic activity. It may be more important for independent thinkers to demand proof that any million spent is attributed specifically to the tournament, something often overlooked when experts stump for sports subsidies.<\/p>\n In other words, it\u2019s not just \u201ccan we find $1 million in gross receipts\u201d but insisting on evidence that each dollar was possible only because of the golf. That\u2019s a higher bar to clear, but that\u2019s precisely the point when using taxpayer funding to lure private business activity. (And don\u2019t start my engines on giving NASCAR money; at least having a golf tournament at a golf course makes much more sense than shutting down Chicago streets for professional racing to look cool on TV.<\/p>\n WE HAVE A WINNER: Every winter, I spotlight possible holiday gift items with a Prairie State flavor. The spirit returns in midwinter, when the Illinois Manufacturers\u2019 Association begins its annual tournament<\/a> to crown \u201cThe Coolest Thing Made in Illinois.\u201d My apologies for being so late in sharing this year\u2019s winner, the NASA Standard Initiator, a product from Cheering Energetic Devices of Downers Grove.<\/p>\n According to Capitol News Illinois, the \u201cNSI is a small electrically activated pyrotechnic device that initiates propulsion by sparking a chain reaction of heat and pressure in space flight.\u201d Read more at tinyurl.com\/CoolestThing26<\/a>, and start thinking about what to nominate for 2027.<\/p>\n DELICIOUS DOUGHNUTS: I asked readers to share their favorite hometown bakeries, specifically where I can find the best doughnuts on future road trips. AC emailed to recommend Morkes Chocolates<\/a> in downtown Huntley. \u201cThey make great craft donuts, my favorite is the bacon maple. Their primary business is chocolate (also very good). Check them out, they are off the downtown square, parking in back.\u201d It\u2019s on the list!<\/p>\n