Illinois lawmakers hope to name I-55 from East St. Louis to Chicago after Barack Obama.
The Regulation, Roads and Bridges Committee have reportedly approved a joint resolution to change the name of the highway to the "Barack Obama Presidential Expressway."
Now that the bill won by a vote of 6-5, the piece of legislation is now headed to the calendar order of resolutions.
Prior to this Illinois had tried to make Obama's birthday a holiday, but the bill did not end up getting the votes necessary to move forward. If it had the date would have been turned into a "legal holiday," meaning that all state government offices would shut down, while schools and businesses would have the option of closing.
Obama has been enjoying his time as a private citizen. The former 44th President of the United States will be traveling to the South Pacific island of Tetiaroa, where he will begin writing about his time as POTUS.
Although initial reports had stated that Obama would receive $20 million for his next memoir, it turns out that he and Michelle have a joint deal with Penguin Random House, with the two books rumored to be worth $60 million.
"We are absolutely thrilled to continue our publishing partnership with President and Mrs. Obama," Markus Dohle, the chief executive of Penguin Random House, said in a statement. "With their words and their leadership, they changed the world, and every day, with the books we publish at Penguin Random House, we strive to do the same. Now, we are very much looking forward to working together with President and Mrs. Obama to make each of their books global publishing events of unprecedented scope and significance."
Penguin has published Obama's previous two bestselling books: Dreams from My Father and The Audacity of Hope.
