SPRINGFIELD – Illinois road construction projects will get a $675 million boost this spring under a package of short-term spending projects Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law Thursday. Republicans complained it was rushed through with little input from taxpayers.

The supplemental spending bill, which the Senate approved just hours before Quinn signed it, also includes $9 million to keep East St. Louis public schools open through the end of the term and restores $12 million for community mental health program grants, which had been cut from the previous budget.

Senate Republicans complained that the $1.5 billion spending package was too much, too soon – although some of it simply was redirected from other purposes or federal money that just needed legislative authorization.