What’s next after transit rescue dies in Illinois House, and what caused the meltdown? Lawmakers explain

Legislation to save public transit from a $771 million budget shortfall passed the Illinois Senate Saturday but fizzled in the House, leaving concerns about massive cuts to Metra, Pace and the CTA.

House Bill 3438 would have raised more than $1 billion by adding a $1.50 fee to online deliveries, such as Amazon and Grubhub. It also replaced the Regional Transportation Authority with a stronger entity to be called the Northern Illinois Transit Authority.

So, what’s next?

“Talks and planning on large budget cuts now will have to begin at CTA, Metra and Pace, and RTA hearings as required by federal law,” RTA Chair Kirk Dillard said Sunday.

That includes a possible 40% cut in service on trains and buses, and elimination of some nighttime and weekend service. ADA paratransit also will be heavily affected, Dillard said.

However, “talks will hopefully continue in a bipartisan bicameral way this summer by legislator.”

How did the meltdown happen?

The ‘pizza tax’

At the 11th hour, Senate Democrats nixed a controversial 50-cent surcharge on tolls in the bill, and killed a plan to claw back millions of dollars in RTA sales tax allocated to the Collar Counties for transportation and public safety and put it toward public transit.

They added a $1.50 statewide fee on online retail and food deliveries, with exceptions for groceries and medication.

The “pizza tax,” Republican Sen. Seth Lewis of Bartlett said, was a heavy lift for everyone, including downstate Democrats, even though the bill proposed dispensing $220 million to counties outside the metro region.

“The economics did not make sense,” he said. With 102 counties in Illinois “six counties were getting the bulk and 96 had to split up $220 million.”

Out of 40 Democrats in the Senate just 32 supported the bill. Three were “no” votes and five did not vote. The three included Democratic senators from downstate Springfield, Essex, and Swansea.

Republican Sen. Don DeWitte of St. Charles noted the transit vote came on the heels of a tough state budget vote that added millions in taxes.

“I’m sure a number of (senators) who represent moderate districts saw that as the kiss of death in their districts,” DeWitte said.

Other revenue ideas included extending Chicago’s real estate transfer tax and the city’s 10% fee on rideshares into the Cook County suburbs and Collar Counties. In Chicago, buyers and sellers pay $3 in taxes for every $1,000 of a real estate transaction.

“In my opinion, it seems like they were spitballing — throwing things on the wall to see what would stick,” Democratic Rep. Fred Crespo of Hoffman Estates said.

The real estate transfer tax alone, “most homes out here by me are probably worth over $300,000. That would be really significant especially for first-time homebuyers.”

Clout drought

Concerns about a lack of suburban representation on the Northern Illinois Transit Authority raised bipartisan pushback, lawmakers said.

County chairs from DuPage, Kane and Will contend the bill would quash suburban voices. The legislation called for the governor, Chicago mayor and Cook County Board president each appoint five NITA board members, and the DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will chairs appoint five combined.

“The governance was the major problem for me. I did not like the revenue enhancements, but the governance diluted representation from the Collars to the point where the Collar Counties did not have to be included in any decisions,” Lewis said.

“Why would we give (Chicago Mayor) Brandon Johnson $1.5 billion to bail out CTA and not be able to influence how that money is spent?” Lewis said.

Time crunch

Lawmakers said the House received the legislation shortly before a midnight deadline after a grueling vote on the state budget.

“There were so many things coming at us and the most pressing one was the budget,” Crespo said.

With the rushed transit legislation, “there’s no way any responsible legislator in the House could take a vote responsibly.”

DeWitte thinks Democratic House leaders “took a pragmatic approach” in parking the volatile issue.

“I would anticipate we will be back in Springfield at some point this summer prior to veto session,” DeWitte said.