IL HR0267

Designates Southern Illinois as the "Eclipse Crossroads of America" and August 21, 2017 as "Great American Eclipse Day 2017"

Acknowledges that the first total solar eclipse crossing the entire continental United States since 1918 will occur on August 21, 2017, with a second eclipse on April 8, 2024, both with lines of totality intersecting near Carbondale in Jackson County, Southern Illinois

Recognizes Southern Illinois University Carbondale's role in hosting public educational events in cooperation with NASA, the Adler Planetarium, and other institutions to provide outreach, research, and citizen science activities aligned with federal STEM strategic priorities

Encourages development of a regional marketing and economic development plan coordinating federal, state, local, private, and non-profit investment to support entrepreneurship, job creation, hospitality training, workforce development, and infrastructure in anticipation of approximately 250,000 visitors to the region

Emphasizes the need to balance immediate needs with long-term sustainable economic development for the southern 16 counties of Illinois