Reports: Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Replace Chicago RTA (UPDATED 6/2)

According to a WWTW report, the bill would be charged with “creating a universal fare system and ensuring coordination of service and capital projects.” Under the plan, CTA, Metra, and Pace would “essentially be left to focus on bus and rail service.”

The proposed bill, however, does not address the state’s $770 million budget shortfall next year after COVID-19 relief funding dries up, according to the reports.

If no action is taken to increase state funding for mass transit, the CTA has said it would be “forced to close 50 ‘L’ stations, lose more than 70 miles of rail service, and eliminate more than half its bus routes,” according to a CBS News report. The CTA has not yet said which specific ‘L’ and bus lines and ‘L’ stops would be affected.

Metra, according to the CBS News report, would suffer a 40% reduction in service, and Pace threatens to eliminate all service after 8 p.m. and all weekend rides. However, the bill’s sponsors and Gov. JB Pritzker said “reforms are needed before they deal with the funding issues.”

“What we really need is to uplift the entire system, make it safe for everybody to ride, get to work, go to school, get home safely. Hyper important to me that we’re doing that because you can’t put money into something that doesn’t guarantee that at the start,” he said.

Metra said in a statement, “We are still reviewing the House and Senate versions of the bills.”

A spokesperson for Pace said they’re also reviewing the bill.

RTA also responded to the bill, saying:

“We are reviewing the proposed transit reform legislation. Our intention is to do a complete analysis before making any statements about what is in the bill or how it may impact the region’s transit system.

It is clear from initial review however, that this bill does not contain any new funding. To date riders have sent more than 15,000 letters to their legislators urging them to act this session. Reforms alone cannot close our fiscal cliff, and riders will need to brace for service cuts in 2026 if the State does not provide funding certainty by May 31.”

Meanwhile, according to the CBS News report, transit workers planned to gather at Union Station in Chicago on Thursday to “urge state lawmakers to pass a reform and revenue bill.”

According to the WWTW report, the plan borrows elements from the Metropolitan Mobility Authority Act—a proposal filed last year that would have created a single, regional transit agency—and the United We Move framework pitched by a coalition of labor unions earlier this year.

Throughout more than a year of hearings and negotiations focused on transit, unions had been “staunchly opposed to the idea of a merger,” according to the WWTW report. “Leaving CTA, Metra and Pace in place as operating divisions will preserve existing collective bargaining agreements and prevent the potential headache of merging a pool of employees represented by an array of different unions and contracts.”

Given the “likely complexity of the change,” the plan, WWTW reports, features a runway to put the new governance system into place. A transition working group must be seated by April 30 of next year and comprise members from the NITA, at least one labor group, and CTA, Metra and Pace.

According to a StreetsblogChicago report, if the legislature fails to pass a budget or reform bill before the end of the week, “that doesn’t necessarily mean the end of negotiations. While the regular session ends with a budget deadline on May 31, both chambers typically resume for a fall veto session in October or November. Stalled bills from the regular session may be revived in the veto session with extra time to debate, but any new bills will require a three-fifths majority to reach the governor’s desk. The legislature will likely be working on amendments to legislation that is already introduced, or trying to override any bills Gov. Pritzker vetoed.”

Further details of what the bill includes is available here.

Monday, June 2 Update:

“Just minutes before a crucial midnight deadline Saturday night, Illinois state lawmakers approved a $55.2 billion state budget plan for the next fiscal year. But while the Illinois Senate advanced a measure to overhaul and provide hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for the Chicago area’s mass transit system, the Illinois House didn’t take it up before adjourning its spring session,” according to a CBS News report.

The bill tabled in the House included a unified Northern Illinois Transit Authority that would have overseen Metra, the CTA and Pace, along with a $1.50 tax on food and package deliveries statewide, according to an NBC Chicago report.

“The measure had passed the Senate during the spring to the finish of the legislative session on Saturday, but was not called for a vote in the House, meaning that the measure will now have to achieve a three-fifths vote rather than a simple majority if it’s taken up again,” according to the NBC Chicago report.

It is unclear whether the measure will be taken up as is in later sessions of the legislature, or if lawmakers will come up with a new proposal, according to the CBS News report.

“While the Chicago area’s mass transit systems are funded through the end of the year, and there will likely be a fall veto session that could provide another shot at an 11th-hour rescue, transportation officials said without funding guarantees for 2026 in place by this summer, they’ll have to start laying out the specific cuts next week to prepare for any potential service reductions next year,” CBS News reported.