When we learned that Glenn Poshard was called upon to negotiate the capital bill, we could not have been more pleased. Glenn is a great friend to Southern Illinois, always standing tall and fighting hard on both a state and federal level to ensure that we get our fair share of money.

Anyone who has lived in Southern Illinois for any length of time should know that Glenn is not going to fail us, and that he will always find a way to bring good things to our region. This is reflective of the overwhelming number of both Republicans and Democrats who voted for Glenn when he ran for governor and the great respect he continues to have throughout Southern Illinois today.

Glenn's commitment to Southern Illinois recently shone brightly again in his negotiation of the capital bill, a bill which failed in the House, stunning a number of us in Springfield. It stunned us, in part, because not every House member in Southern Illinois supported it. It also stunned us because Southern Illinois loses $200 million immediately and tens of millions of dollars more over the next six years.

Could it be that Glenn had not negotiated a bill that would allow Southern Illinois to have its fair share? You decide. The capital bill would have yielded $1,763 per person to Southern Illinois and only $645 per person for Chicago. Did Glenn let us down? We think not.

As far as expanded gambling to finance the capital bill, that was never a question in Southern Illinois.

Under this bill, gambling would only be expanded in Chicago, and we believe it eventually will be anyway, with these new revenues now only benefitting Chicago, leaving Southern Illinois with nothing.

Glenn clearly had working men and women in Southern Illinois in mind when he negotiated this bill, which would have created tens of thousands of jobs for union workers. He clearly had education in mind when he created this bill. It would have benefitted projects at 14 schools in the 59th Senate District, with eight included in the 118th House District.

Folks, Glenn Poshard didn't let us down. Glenn has Southern Illinois at heart through and through. But the failure of the capital bill was a letdown to all of us.

It will be felt for generations to come as the deterioration of schools, roads, bridges and more only continue to grow worse with each passing day. So we ask, seriously, how could anyone from Southern Illinois not support the capital bill?

State Sen. Gary Forby is a Democrat from Benton.

State Rep. Brandon Phelps is a Democrat from Harrisburg.