An unabashed supporter of Chicago interests, Rostenkowski paid attention to the needs of Chicago-based institutions –especially when they promised more jobs for Chicago area workers."I make no apology for my efforts to build a stronger Chicago." In the early 1980s Rostenkowski successfully fought off repeated attempts to impose a transaction tax on commodity traders at the Chicago Board of Trade, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Options Exchange. Such a tax would have been fatal to the exchanges, driving business out of Chicago to overseas markets. Rostenkowski helped secure for the city of Chicago the right to tax passengers flying in and out of its airports. The tax, originally intended to raise money for the construction of a third airport, now yields $90 million annually for improvements at O'Hare and Midway Airport. But its passage was in big trouble before Rostenkowski stepped in to salvage it. According to Ways and Means lore, he threatened to hold up the entire federal budget at one point until he was sure the tax was in place.