Selling tollway idea drives GOP skirmish

Former Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan said Monday he would consider selling the tollway system to a private company, making him the second Republican candidate for governor to open that door.

"It is worth looking at," said the Elmhurst Republican. "How you structure it will determine whether it is a good deal or a bad deal."

Selling the tollway was one of Ryan's plans for "fiscal discipline" released Monday.

State Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington quickly attempted to attack Ryan on the idea, saying it was "opening the door to a very dangerous practice." He raised the specter of the controversial lease of parking meters in Chicago.

Yet, just a few weeks ago Brady talked highly about selling the tollway system, saying, "You have to make sure that when you sell it you are selling it in a way that works."

Contacted about the change of tone, Brady said he thought Ryan planned to use billions of dollars from a sale to fill the state's massive budget shortfall. But Ryan told the Daily Herald he would use the windfall to fund public works projects, which Brady supports.

"Given the budget crisis and my desire to not raise taxes ... we have to look at all our options," Ryan said.

The state already has a $31 billion public works package on the books, but Ryan said financing for it is shaky because towns are pulling out of a key funding component: legalized video gambling in bars.

Still, the legislature's economic forecasting agency has determined the total funding plan is not at risk - yet.

Ryan's support for a tollway sale also drew fire from primary opponent state Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale. But then Dillard also seemed open to the idea himself despite ardently opposing a similar idea in 2006.

Dillard said "the only way I would even consider" selling the tollway is to fund public works projects and after talking with experts and local officials.

A 2006 state study found Illinois could get as much as $23.8 billion with tolls rising to 64 cents for I-PASS users and $1.27 for cash payers within the first few years. The study assumed a 50 percent toll hike every 20 years and a 3 percent hike every other year under a 75-year lease.

Other candidates for governor in the GOP primary include Hinsdale businessman Adam Andrzejewski, Chicago conservative commentator Dan Proft, DuPage County Board Chairman Bob Schillerstrom of Naperville and former Illinois Republican Party Chairman Andy McKenna of Chicago.