Durbin told reporters Monday at Loyola University that Barack Obama should locate his presidential library in Chicago and that there is good reason for the state to help pay for it:
"It's going to have a long term positive economic impact and this is where it ought to be," Durbin told reporers. "I believe an investment in this library by the state of Illinois will pay back in terms of visitors to our state, more business, more jobs and people paying taxes."
But the senator broke ranks with fellow Democrats, including Illinois House speaker Mike Madigan and Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, who want Illinois to offer $100 million in seed money for the project.
"Whether $100 million is the right dollar amount, I don't know," he said.
House Speaker Madigan has not called the library bill for a vote, amid speculation that he still doesn't have the votes to pass it. A Capitol Fax poll last week suggested two-thirds of voters oppose the fiscally troubled Illinois becoming the first state to bid for a presidential library with public money.
Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka notes the state's deficit and its $5 billion bill backlog.
"I think we should try privately raising money before we start thinking of public money," Topinka said.
Obama's presidential library foundation also is considering sites in Honolulu, where the president was born, and New York City, where he went to college.
Senator Durbin, for years considered one of Obama's closest confidants, was asked what he thought of the president putting Chicago in a competition.
"I don't know if he's made up his mind," he said. "He's never told me, one way or the other."
