Like many Prairie State politicians and transit officials, workers, riders, and advocates, I was overjoyed after state public transportation legislation surprisingly passed in the wee hours of October 31, aka The Halloween Miracle.
But I won't lie to you. In the six weeks that followed, I was a little nervous that something might go wrong before Governor JB Pritzker actually put pen to paper to sign SB 2111 into law. As the old saying goes, there's many a slip between cup and lip, er, 'L' train and CTA station.
Pritzker previously indicated the bill had his blessing, but he's also currently considering a run for president. And I was worried he might get cold feet about the bold governance and funding law, which allocates $1.5 billion annually to rescue Chicagoland transit from the fiscal cliff, and also beef up downstate service.
After all, a month and a half after the legislation passed in Springfield, detractors are still complaining about it. For example, just last week the right-leaning, tax-phobic think tank Illinois Policy groused, "Transit sales tax hike makes suburbs pay for Chicago problems." It's as if they think paying an extra quarter on a $100 purchase to help fund buses and train service is a major hardship, or suburbanites don't rely on Metra and Pace, so it's an absurd argument. But it was a reminder that the governor still hadn't inked the bill into law.
So I felt much more relaxed after today's joyful signing ceremony at Chicago Union Station. Ringed by dozens of jubilant lawmakers (at least 11 of whom SBC interviewed at length about this issue), union leaders, transit workers, and advocacy leaders, JB finally put some ink on it.
There were a ton of notable speeches at this event, so to save time and digital ink, here are quotes from some of the key folks who helped make this happen. I'll follow with a quick response from the governor to a question SBC cofounder Steven Vance's suggested I ask during the Q & A, plus a bit of post-event commentary from a couple of the major players.
Governor JB Pritzker
"[Due to the] fiscal pain leftover from the pandemic, we were staring at a fiscal cliff for our transit systems. Our hubs of economic strength were facing the potential of deep transit service cuts and steep fare increases, that would have disrupted the lives of millions of riders across the state, damaged our economy, and added traffic congestion to our states and our highways. Doomsayers were already writing obituaries for Illinois transit." [Looking at you Illinois Policy, which recommended 'cutting costs to serve fewer riders,' i.e. initiating a transit death spiral.]
"Yet here we stand at Union Station, a shining symbol of the beauty and greatness of our transit system, and that includes a modern, statewide transit bill. It demonstrates to the people of Illinois, as well as the nattering nabobs of negativity [a Spiro Agnew reference] that our state is tough and resilient and forward-looking. Far from from heading towards the abyss, as some predicted, we are on the verge of delivering a world-class transportation network. This new law not only averts the cliff, but preserves affordability, and makes transit safer and more reliable. Thank you all for making that happened." [The room applauded.]
"With this law, we are delivering the world-class transit system the people of our great state deserve... What I'd like is for people to be able to walk out their front door, get on a bus, transfer to a train, transfer to another bus, and get to their work, to their doctor, to their school, without waiting too long, without feeling unsafe, without even knowing whether they've been riding on a bus operated by the CTA, a train by Metra, or a van by Pace. They should have one app on their phone, one card in their pocket, and one schedule. Transit should be easy, safe, clean, and timely."
House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch
"We're gathered today at Union Station, where trains unite upstate and downstate, where just outside, the 'L' brings hundreds of thousands of commuters every single day, and brings them home safe every single day, and where buses run across the city and the suburbs. [So I want to thank the people who helped bring about] the best transit bill in America."
"We have have been honored to deliver the most transformative change to our public transit system in five decades. [Research made us] realize that every major public transportation system in the nation is facing a fiscal cliff because of the decline in ridership that was expedited due to the COVID-19 pandemic... We introduced bold legislation that had never been talked about before, and some that had been talked about and dismissed... [But] transit supports our economy... it's crucial to public health, and it mitigates public health."
House Majority Leader Eva-Dina Delgado
"This is kind of like my Oscar moment, so please bear with me. [She joked as she lowered the podium.] ...This legislation replaces outdated bureaucracy with the unified Northern Illinois Transit Authority... It invests $1.5 billion to ensure that buses and trains are safe, clean, fequent, and dependable... [And] for the disability community this is a tremendous step forward."
[We'll have a comment from Delgado's co-leader of the House Public Transit Working Group Rep. Kam Buckner later in this article.]
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle
"[Leaders] understood that they status quo was no longer sustainable. We all came together to pass a transformative package of transit reforms and funding that would place our region's transit funding on a stronger and more sustainable foundation. For too long, our transit system has operated as a collection of separate parts and silos, rather that a unified regional transit network. The creation of NITA marks a critical step forward towards changing that reality."
Local Union 241 Amalgamated Transit Union President Keith Hill
"From the very beginning [the leaders who got the bill passed] recognized the duty they owned to the citizens of the state. They never lost sight of their responsibilities as elected officials. This stands in stark contrast to the current Trump administration, which acts only when personal gain is involved."
The Q & A
Question from Steven Vance: "Has your team started vetting board members for NITA yet?"
Pritzker: No we have not. We've had people volunteer themselves [the crowd laughed], but nothing has been determined yet.
Comments after the event from key players to Streetsblog
Rep. Kam Buckner
"Looking at the people in this room is a reminder of how important this issue is. Way too often people view transit and mobility as a niche issue, but in reality it's something that affects all of us. To to see all of these public servants; all of these folks that drive buses and trains; and advocates all appear in one place is really a reminder that we really worked together to get this stuff done. There were challenges, but we found a way to pull it all together. So this is a huge step in the right direction. I haven't overstated how important this is nationally. I talked to my friends and colleagues around the country. We are a model of how you can actually get this stuff done. So I'm going to take a couple of days to let this sink in, and then get back to work."
Jacky Grimshaw, Center for Neighborhood Technology Senior Director, Transportation and Policy
[This year Ms. Grimshaw, a legend in local sustainable transportation advocacy, was honored by Climate Action Museum with its 2025 Tom Skilling Lifetime Achievement Award. She also happens to be SBC reporter Cameron Bolton's grandmother. She spent long periods of time in Springfield this year, lobbying lawmakers.]
John Greenfield: Ms. Grimshaw, you're someone who's been around in the transportation advocacy and governance scene for a long time, and this seems like a really monumental thing to happen this far in your career...
A bystander: Hopefully a lot longer than that!
John Greenfield: What is your takeaway from this moment?
Jacky Grimshaw: This moment shows that you can prevail, and that's the way I feel. More than 40 years ago, I was working to see the implementation of the [Regional Transportation Authority] Act. [With NITA], I got something even better than RTA, so I'm very, very happy. And I think it's a nice end to my career.
John Greenfield: All right. Thanks for all you've done.
Jacky Grimshaw: My pleasure.
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