Metro East Sun

Rep. Charlie Meier (R-Okawville) is co-sponsoring a resolution opposing the use of $100 million in state funds to build the Barack Obama Presidential Library in Chicago because the state cannot afford it, according to a recent announcement.

HR627 was introduced by Rep. David Reis (R-Olney) and is co-sponsored by Reps. Bill Mitchell (R-Forsyth), C.D. Davidsmeyer (R-Jacksonville), Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro) and Meier. Meier said he won’t support a bill that uses capital spending dollars to fund the 44th president’s library and museum amid the state’s worsening budget conditions. 

“Obama should be able to raise enough private funds without having to rely on state tax dollars to fund a library touting his eight years in office,” Meier said in a news release. 

Rep. Charlie Meier (R-Okawville)

Presidential libraries are funded privately or with money from other non-federal sources, including from state or local governments, according to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The Obama Presidential Center is one of 14 presidential libraries but will not be a part of the presidential library network operated by the NARA, saving the Obama Foundation from amassing an endowment equal to 60 percent of construction costs, the Chicago Tribune reported. 

The Obama Presidential Center will be built in Jackson Park on Chicago’s South Side and will be the first completely digital presidential library.