If you're a frequent Streetsblog Chicago, when it comes to the current public transportation fiscal crisis, this ain't your first bus rodeo. Otherwise, here's our coverage of the issue since last Saturday, May 31, aka "The Night Transit Funding Didn't Go Down In Springfield":
• "About last night: Chicagoland transit funding hits roadblock after House non-vote. RTA says 2026 budgets must reflect $771M deficit."
• "Next stop, fiscal cliff: Advocates respond to Illinois legislators’ failure to fund transit before the deadline"
• "The cutting edge: Transit agencies begin planning 40% service reductions"
• "The Tribune Editorial Board has a come-to-Jesus moment about what they previously called 'the so-called fiscal cliff'"
Here's my elevator speech version of what's going on. It's basically what I've told people this week when they've asked, "What's new in your life?"
"Due to chronic under-funding, and decreased ridership since COVID-19, Chicagoland transit faces a projected $771 million total budget gap in 2026, when federal pandemic funds will run out," I say. "When Illinois' spring legislative session ended last Saturday 'round midnight, the General Assembly had failed to pass a public transportation funding and governance reform bill. If nothing happens soon, such as an emergency summer lawmaking session, the CTA, Metra, and Pace will be required to chop bus and train schedules by about 40 percent, and lay off some 3,000 workers, a total train wreck."
Whew, I guess that would have to be a long elevator ride, like a trip to the dearly departed Signature Lounge on the 96th Floor of Chicago's Hancock Tower.
Allrighty, let's take a closer look at what's been going on lately. Here are a few recent quotes collected from others sources, plus some bakery-fresh statements that folks provided directly to Streetsblog today.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker
From his press conference the morning after the statehouse transit funding fiasco, via CaptiolFax: "The fact is that we need to address transit funding as fast as possible, and no doubt the legislators will be meeting over the course of the summer. Our office will be present in those and be helping in any way that we’re asked of."
State Senator Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago)
Sen. Villivalam is the Senate Transportation Committee chairman, and a leader of the "No Funding Without Reform" posse. He sponsored a transit funding and governance bill that included a last-minute $1.50 tax on food and package delivery that passed the Senate on Saturday. “We’ve got to continue conversations," he told the Sun-times the next day. "We’ve always worked together with the House on the concept of no funding without reform and making sure that we do fund a system that is able to be safe, reliable, accessible and integrated."
Rep. Kam Buckner (D-Chicago)
Rep. Buckner is also a leader of the NFWR crew. Along with Rep. Eva-Dina Delgado (D-Chicago), he sponsored the House transit bill, which didn't come up for a vote on Saturday. Earlier this week, he explained to the Tribune that public transportation boosters in the House chose not to call the vote because they were afraid their legislation wouldn't pass.
He said that was in part because reps were surprised by the new $1.50 delivery tax in the Senate bill. "[That] is why we never talked about it with our folks,” he said, adding that it would have been "irresponsible" to vote on the legislation without knowing more about the funding aspect. "It jeopardizes the integrity of what we’ve built in the House, and we made the right call."
Regional Transportation Authority
The RTA oversees the three transit systems. Streetsblog quoted their immediate post-non-vote statement in our "About last night" post the next morning. The most important, and disheartening, sentence was, "In the coming weeks the RTA will work with the [CTA, Metra, and Pace] on a regional budget that by law must only include funding we are confident the system will receive in 2026."
"We don’t expect to have any additional statements this week," spokesperson Melissa Meyer told SBC today. But she encouraged us to show up for their next public board meeting on Thursday, June 12, 9 a.m. at their HQ at 175 W. Jackson Blvd. in the Loop, in the 16th floor board room. More info here.
CTA
"The Chicago Transit Authority will continue to work with state lawmakers in support of their efforts to fund our region’s public transit service," the agency said in a statement to Streetsblog today. "Because no new funding bill was passed before the end of the legislative session, the 2026 regional budget process requires CTA to begin to plan for a number of scenarios that could occur in 2026."
Metra
"We are hopeful new funding will be identified in time to close our 2026 deficit," Metra spokesperson Michael Gillis told SBC. "We are committed to continuing to work with lawmakers on a solution."
Pace
"While this process is not yet complete, we remain committed to working with our legislative and regional partners to secure the resources needed for a robust, reliable, and accessible transit system," spokesperson Maggie Daly Skogsbakken told Streetsblog this morning. "In the meantime, we will begin planning our 2026 budget and service levels based on the funding currently available, with hope and determination that additional support will be secured later this year."
Mayor Brandon Johnson
The mayor is known for progressive politics, so it wasn't surprising when, at a Tuesday press conference, he voiced opposition to the $1.50 delivery fee that opponents have dubbed a "pizza tax." Instead, he argued that we should tax (not eat) the rich.
"You all know my position," the mayor said, according to a Sun-Times report. "The ultra rich continue to get away with not having to put more skin in the game. So we do have to have substantive conversations around revenue streams that challenges the rich in this state to step up in a way that does not continue to place the burden on working people."
Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th)
Ald. Vasquez, a former Democratic Socialist himself, is the City Council's most vocal critic of poor CTA service and management. He wasn't impressed with the mayor's comments.
Jinx, buy us a Coke, Ald. Vasquez! That same day Streetsblog published Harju Sandhu's article critiquing Mayor Johnson's decisions to keep CTA chief Dorval Carter Jr. on the job way past his prime, and to appoint unqualified "patronage pastors" to transit boards.
Joe Schwieterman
Schwieterman, a DePaul University professor and director of the Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development, offered an outsider's educated opinion about what's been going on lately. "The mayor's message may be compelling, but the devil is in the details," he said. "City-suburb tension is pretty high right now, so a solution will require deal-making leaving everyone feeling that the burden is being shared in a fair and carefully crafted way."
"The mayor should also use his bully pulpit to stress that he's ready to push for reforms that improve the governance and efficiency of our [transit] system," he added. "He is in a strong position to deliver that message."
The prof said that longstanding wariness about which elected officials will have the power to shape transit decision lurks behind governance negotiations. "We need to somehow alleviate those concerns," he said. "If a coalition of mayors could come to together with a unified plan, it would be big help."
"The next few weeks will become stressful as transit users grow fearful of enormity of the likely cuts and begin to make lots of noise," Schwieterman concluded. "Fairly or not, they will blame City Hall rather than Springfield for their problems."
Active Transportation Alliance
Let's end this article on a positive note with a pep talk from ATA, telling transit advocates about plans to get back in the ring to take another swing. Executive Director Amy Rynell, who spent about a dozen days lobbying in Springfield before the vote, yesterday published the blog post "Delayed but not deterred: Continued call to legislature to fix and fund transit."
"There’s a path forward – just not on the timeline we wanted," Rynell wrote. "The sticking point is the sources of revenue. Be it $770 million or $1.5 billion [the amount the agencies wanted to upgrade service] or something in between, the state needs to raise new revenues to help cover it."
"Once the federal budget is settled, the Illinois legislature and governor may hold a special session this summer or fall," she added. "This is when we hope transit funding will get addressed along with other budget gaps. We are at the ready."
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