Good Jobs First-Illinois' 2003 report, A Better Deal for Illinois, recommended that all projects proposed for urban locations be accessible by mass transit in order to receive state business incentives. This requirement would create more opportunity for low-income workers without cars, better integrate economic development and transit spending, improve air quality, and expand commuter choice. However, the comprehensive Illinois subsidy reform bill signed into law later that year (PA 0552-093) did not include such a requirement.

Consequently, and with technical and research assistance from Good Jobs First-Illinois, three organizations formed an unusual coalition to promote an amendment to the law that would mandate "location efficient" site selection. They were the progressive, anti-sprawl business organization Chicago Metropolis 2020; Citizen Action/Illinois, a leader in promoting affordable and accessible public transit; and the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT), which promotes sustainable urban development.

The informal coalition found a legislative sponsor, who introduced bills in both the 2004 and 2005 sessions. (The Metropolitan Planning Council, a mainstream business-civic partnership that advocates sensible growth and affordable housing, also lobbied hard for the 2005 version of the bill.)

The 2004 bill, perhaps the first attempt to make location efficiency a goal of state economic subsidy policy, had these provisions:

• Companies seeking state business incentives must submit location efficiency plans for proposed sites, including the availability of nearby affordable housing for median-income workers, and/or their proximity to public transit or its equivalent.
  
  
• Companies locating at sites that lack affordable housing or convenient mass transit access can submit a remediation plan including measures like an employer assisted housing plan, shuttle services, pre-tax transit cards, or carpooling assistance.
  
  
• Location efficient projects, or those with an approved location-efficiency plan, will have preference or precedence for receiving state economic development subsidies.
  
  
• Verification of site location-efficiency, and implementation of site remediation plans, are linked to application and reporting requirements of the new Illinois corporate accountability law.

Although both both bills failed to pass, work to promote location efficiency is continuing.