While both remained optimistic a compromise will materialize, lingering frustration over how the overhaul broke down in the final hours of the spring session will have to be smoothed over.
While Welch said “we’re not quite there yet” on an agreement over the governance reforms, including the voting majorities required for the new NITA board to approve budgets and other major decisions, Villivalam said those issues have been settled.
"That portion of the legislation has been significantly negotiated and is represented in the product that passed the Senate,” Villivalam said.
The structure
Villivalam’s bill would require either a 15-vote supermajority of the 20-member board, or 12 votes as long as at least two board members from each of the four appointing bodies sign on.
The governor, mayor of Chicago, Cook County board president would each have five appointments with the remaining five being appointed by the board presidents of DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties.
“I don’t know what the final number will be,” Welch said when asked if he agreed at least two board members from each appointee bucket should be required for major decisions.
“I want to make sure the collar counties have some input on that, because it seems like that’s where the discomfort is at,” he said. “They need to be at the table in the room and feel comfortable where we land.”
As the clock ticked towards midnight on May 31, it became clear the votes were there in the Senate but there were troubles in the House, even if Welch had planned to call the bill for a vote.
Since both chambers didn’t approve a bill by the end of the spring session, a 60% supermajority will be required to pass the legislation later this year.
Despite that new obstacle and the pressure everyone felt to provide funding for the transit systems, Rep. Kam Buckner, D–Chicago, told Crain’s it would have been “foolhardy” to vote on the Senate bill.
"It would have been reckless and irresponsible and really go against what the Speaker has adhered to if we would have pulled this last minute stunt out of our hat,” Buckner said.
Who’s really in charge?
Gov. JB Pritzker has stayed clear of taking a public position on the revenue package approved in the Senate, telling reporters the morning after the vote he only became aware of the taxes as the bill was unveiled.
Pritkzer’s reluctance to lead on the revenue piece frustrated some lawmakers and those in the labor and environmental coalitions who pushed for the transit overhaul after a year of hearings and negotiations.
Villivalam was diplomatic when asked if Pritzker should be more involved.
"The governor’s office has helped lead over a dozen meetings on public transit amongst both coalitions and the House and Senate, and we would always welcome his and their suggestions,” he said.
Mayor Brandon Johnson wouldn’t speak to the specific revenue proposals floated in Springfield, only saying the “ultra wealthy” need to pay their fair share.
Beyond the $1.50 fee on deliveries, with some exceptions for groceries and medicine, the package included a 10% tax on all rideshare trips hailed from or arriving in Chicago, Cook County and the collar counties, anticipated to bring in $150 million, and a fee on eclectic vehicle charging stations.
Other transit revenue would be found in efficiencies, fare increases and using the interest earned on deposits in the state’s so-called Road Fund that provides funding for highway projects and transit under a 80 to 20 split.
The mayor’s move
Johnson also wouldn’t say if he would hold off on nominating a full-time president to lead the CTA. The agency has been led on an interim basis by Nora Leerhsen, who served as the agency’s chief of staff until taking the top job.
Johnson previously planned to appoint the city’s chief operating officer, John Roberson, to lead the agency, but backed off amid the uncertainty in Springfield and opposition from the current CTA board, led by his own appointee who was advocating for a broader national search.
Under the governance reforms, Johnson would lose a controlling majority of the CTA board and leadership positions would have to be approved by the new NITA board.
Welch said he was “not going to get involved in telling (Johnson) how to do his job,” but stressed that those negotiating the transit legislation are “comfortable” with Leerhsen.
"She made some positive strides down in Springfield this past session," he said "Certainly, having someone of her ilk in the room is helping move us closer to resolution.”
What happens now
The CTA, Metra and Pace will hold hearings this fall leading up to their budget cycles outlining how they’ll come up with 40% service cuts and layoff notices to their largely unionized workforce will go out long before their termination dates.
When voters see hypothetical cuts become real eliminations of bus lines and train stops and longer intervals for the lines that remain, the political fallout for the Senate Democrats voting to approve taxes derided by Republicans as a ‘bailout’ of Chicago and tax on working people, could shift to anger at those in the House responsible for not providing adequate funding to the system.
"People will take heat, that’s part of this job,” Buckner said. "We have a little bit of time, not a whole lot, but we have to be able to provide (the agencies) with what they need to avoid those doomsday cuts.”
