U.S. Senator Dick Durbin made a stop Tuesday in Mount Vernon to talk to city leaders about federal transportation funding for state infrastructure projects.  He says it’s been more than a month since the Senate passed a two-month stop-gap measure to keep the country’s major transportation and infrastructure programs running through the end of July, when the Highway Trust Fund is expected to become insolvent.  And, without Congressional action, transportation funding will stop flowing to states infrastructure projects in Illinois and across the country.  Durbin says trying to fix the problem with short term answers is not the way to run the federal highway and transit program.  He says federal funding is particularly important to Illinois transportation.  More than 80 percent of Illinois’ transportation spending for its six-year plan comes from the Highway Trust Fund.  Each year, nearly $1.4 billion is dedicated for highways, roads, and bridges and $600 million goes to Illinois’ transit systems.  U.S. Census Bureau data shows the transportation infrastructure supports 138,701 full-time jobs in Illinois.  These employees contribute an estimated $500 million in state and federal payroll tax revenue.