A key legislative leader says he’s open to the idea of a special session in Springfield to work out a fix on mass transit.
“I’d be open to it,” said Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, one of the legislative leaders in the Illinois House of Representatives. “We’ve got to first come to an agreement. . . .There is nothing right now that we can pass in summer session because we haven’t worked out those hanging chads.”
Buckner and Sen. Don DeWitte, R-St. Charles, said legislators are continuing to talk daily about legislation to solve the “transit cliff,” when federal pandemic-era funding dries up next year and the Chicago Transit Authority, Metra and Pace face a $771 million shortfall. If legislators don’t come up with more funding, transit agencies say they’ll have to make steep cuts in staffing and service.
“This is a special situation where a special session may be warranted,” Buckner said during a City Club of Chicago luncheon today. “But I want to remind folks we still have some work to do. If we called a special session next week, nothing would happen because we’re not ready.”
Buckner and DeWitte said that legislators are close to agreement on overhauling the governance structure of the three transit agencies, giving the Regional Transit Authority the power to set service schedules, fares and approve capital spending.
Voting structure is still a sticking point on the proposed 20-member board to which the governor, mayor of Chicago and Cook County board president would each make five appointments. The remaining five members would be selected by the county board presidents of DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties.
Twelve votes, including two members of each group, would be required to take action. DeWitte says, however, that suburban officials oppose a provision in Senate legislation that also would allow action to be taken if 15 members approve it, regardless of which groups the votes come from.
“That created significant issues for the collars because we believed it gave the city, the county and the governor’s appointments, again, with no parameters,” DeWitte said. “All five of his appointments could have been city of Chicago residents for those three groups to get together and virtually steamroll any issue that they wanted to take from the suburbs. My county board chairmen, my mayors out in the suburbs are not interested in Cook County or the city of Chicago or the governor’s office establishing our service levels in the suburbs.”
Buckner said the voting structure is “not as big an issue as it might seem.”
Once governance issues are decided, the conversation will turn to revenue. Buckner says he wants legislators to consider a tollway surcharge that was shot down in the Senate bill, in part by organized labor and suburban legislators.
“There is no revenue option I’ve heard where 25% of the people paying it don’t live in the state,” he said. “For that reason alone, I think it merits a conversation."
Other revenue options that were discussed included extending a rideshare surcharge on rides in the suburbs, as well as a $1.50 tax on deliveries of food and other products ordered online.
“We know what the options are,” Buckner said. “We’ve got to figure out what people can stomach. I think there are still some options we haven’t talked about.”
