Illinois House blocks tax to aid mass transit
SPRINGFIELD _ A plan to prop up the Chicago area's struggling mass transit systems failed Tuesday in the Illinois House, despite warnings of impending fee increases and service cuts that would affect hundreds of thousands of people.
The Chicago Transit Authority plans to suspend 39 bus routes and raise fares by up to $1 on Sept. 16. The Metra rail service will cut maintenance funds, and the Pace suburban bus company will reduce service to Chicago and raise fares.
Some lawmakers opposed the bill because they want to link the transit crisis to discussions of a statewide construction program that would provide new roads, bridges and schools. Others joined Gov. Rod Blagojevich in objecting to the plan's local tax increases.
House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, said he would try to find more support for the measure and would call the House into session for another vote when he thinks it can pass. He objected to mixing mass transit with the complicated issue of a statewide capital program.
"This a bill that ought to have the support of a governor of the state of Illinois who lives in the city of Chicago and within blocks of one of the most popular rapid transit lines in the city," Madigan said at a news conference. "This should have the support of Republicans in the House because there is capital in the bill."
The House vote was 61-48 before the sponsor halted the roll call. The bill needed 71 votes to pass.
The aid package would have generated about $434 million, with $280 million of that from raising sales taxes one-quarter of 1 percentage point in Cook County and the five surrounding "collar" counties. Chicago would generate about $100 million increasing a real estate transfer tax.
"I believe a tax on working families for transportation is a backdoor fare hike, and I believe the legislature was correct in rejecting that approach," Blagojevich said in a statement.
The Democratic governor advocates helping the transit systems by ending several tax breaks for business or by expanding casino gambling.
In addition to giving more money to the transit systems, the legislation would have required management changes.
The Regional Transportation Authority would have gained more power to coordinate the various transit systems. CTA retirement and health systems would have been overhauled, and board membership for the RTA and Metra would have been changed to increase geographical balance.
Downstate transit systems would have gotten more money, too, and state government would have been required to kick in a larger amount of money for mass transit across Illinois.
CTA President Ron Huberman called the House vote "a disappointment. ... Without the much needed state funding, the CTA will be forced to move ahead with the proposed fare increases and service cuts in less than two weeks."
House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego, said he opposed the transit legislation because he hopes to pass a massive program to support construction projects across the state. Transit should be part of that program, he said, and withholding support for the bailout is one way to pressure other state leaders to cooperate on a construction plan.
"This is one part of a two-part process," Cross said.
The construction plan has been held up by some of the same disagreements and rivalries that delayed the state budget for months. At the moment, state leaders have no plans to return to Springfield and work on a solution to their differences.
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The bill is SB572.
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On the Net: www.ilga.gov