PEORIA, Ill. — Legislation designed to level the economic playing field between Illinois and Iowa was introduced in the Illinois Senate last week, in an effort to lure a proposed fertilizer plant – and some 200 permanent jobs – to Peoria County.

State Sen. David Koehler (D-Peoria) introduced Senate Bill 184 in the legislature on May 31 to help make the state more attractive to Orascom Construction Industries, which will most likely build a plant in either Iowa or Illinois.

“This legislation is sending Orascom, an agricultural fertilizer company, a clear sign that we want them to come to Peoria County,” Koehler said. “Our state is open for business, and we want to work with companies like Orascom to create good manufacturing jobs here in Illinois.”

The plant, which will cost approximately $1.6 billion to build and provide up to 1,000 construction jobs, will produce ammonia, urea and other nitrogen fertilizers for use by farmers. According to a Koehler news release, the presence of the Orascom facility will save Illinois farmers “significant money” on fertilizer because of lower transportation costs.

Koehler had been working with Gov. Patrick Quinn, legislators from both sides of the aisle and Peoria County officials to craft legislation that would provide greater incentives for Orascom to locate its plant in the area. According to Gatehouse News Media, a special legislative session could be called as soon as this week to endorse the proposal, which provides a state credit for businesses willing to invest more than $1 billion in Illinois until Dec. 31, 2012.

“We are on the fast track here, that’s why we thought we had to do something,” Koehler told Peoria media. ‘This could go nowhere, or it could come together. You have to try.”

State Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth (D-Peoria) will sponsor a House bill that caps at no more than 1 percent the taxable liability on a company’s total investment per year, according to the Peoria Journal Star.

Gordon-Booth indicated her bill, however, will likely not be “fast-tracked” as was Koehler’s Senate legislation – which was filed last Thursday, approved by the Senate’s Executive Committee that afternoon and endorsed by the full chamber early Friday morning.

Koehler learned of Orascom’s potential availability in the area from fellow Sen. Chris Lauzen (R-Aurora), leading to a meeting with an Orascom consultant. Of three potential sites for the plant, an 1,800-acre tract south of Illinois Route 9 across the Illinois River from Pekin is considered to offer the most potential.

Though the Iowa Development of Economic Authority Board has $31.5 million or more in incentives to offer Orascom if the company chooses to locate there, Koehler said Illinois could be more appealing to the company due to greater access to rail and barge. However, Illinois must pass a tax bill to remain on Orascom’s radar.

“If we do nothing, we get nothing,” Koehler said. “We’ll do whatever we can to get this into Peoria County.”

Orascom is an international leader in fertilizer production and construction based in Cairo, Egypt. Its projects and investments are located across Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and North America. Orascom’s fertilizer group operates nitrogen fertilizer plants in Egypt, the Netherlands, the United States and Algeria.

Peoria County Board Chair Thomas O’Neill III called the plant’s potential location in Peoria County “a historic private investment in Downstate Illinois.”