The Illinois General Assembly has a May 31 deadline to pass a budget, and there are still a ton of issues up in the air.
The jam-packed docket includes the future of mass transit in the Chicago area, and whether the Chicago Bears will get help from Springfield to build a new stadium.
Lawmakers tasked with budget negotiations worked through the holiday weekend and said there is progress but no public plan with just four days left to go before the deadline. They are divided along political lines as to how to pay for the many budget demands, with uncertainty in the air as the federal government cuts its outreach to sanctuary states like Illinois.
One of the biggest questions remains is how will lawmakers will find the money to fund mass transit. Federal COVID-19 grant money is set to run out for transit agencies in the Chicago area, including the CTA, Metra and Pace, leaving a $770 million budget hole.
“I want to be very clear: Transit in northeast Illinois is in peril,” said State Rep. Kam Buckner.
A report from the Regional Transit Authority, which oversees the agencies, showed worst-case scenarios could include suspension of CTA lines, cuts to more than 70 bus routes and reduced Metra service during the early morning and late night hours. Four of the eight CTA train lines could close, with as many as 74 of CTA’s 127 bus routes facing elimination.
If lawmakers don’t bail out local transit agencies before May 31, they will need more than a simple majority to pass any funding bill, with the threshold increasing to a three-fifths vote.
Any budget bill must be signed into law by June 30 ahead of the new fiscal year, which starts in July.
Republicans have raised concerns that Democrats will implement a sales tax on consumer services, including haircuts, plumbing and haircuts, or even rideshare services like Uber and Lyft and streaming services like Netflix.
The Civic Federation released a report in February saying Illinois should modernize its sales tax to include services.
“Despite having one of the nation’s highest average sales tax rates, Illinois’ sales tax base is much narrower than those in other states as it only levies this tax on goods. Most services, such as plumbing, dry cleaning, or haircuts, go entirely untaxed. As one of the three largest sources of revenue for Illinois, it is important to update the sales tax to reflect the modern consumer economy,” the report stated.
When asked about the potential for a service tax, Buckner didn’t dismiss the idea, but said many options are on the table.
“People have talked about a lot of different ways to pay for this,” he said. “We have been looking at a range of sustainable options that fit today’s economy, not the one that we built the system on 50 years ago, which is part of the problem that we have today. I think that when you look at what our goals are, our goal is to find some shared responsibility, not regressive pain. And so, the folks who rely on transit the most cannot be the ones paying the most to keep it running.”
State Rep. Brad Stephens, a Republican whose district includes Rosemont, is a former Pace board member. He believes the agencies have the funds to continue running through the end of the year. As for the future, he said the current plan on the table is to reorganize how the transit agencies are governed with a new overseeing board of 20 members.
“Currently, I believe there’s 47 board members that are involved in RTA, CTA, Metra and Pace. I think that’s a little much. I’d like to even see less than the 20,” Stephens said.
As many Chicagoans rely on public transportation, the transit funding crisis has Mayor Brandon Johnson concerned.
“There’s no secret that we have to move with some expediency to ensure that the funding is there. Again, the timing of it all: probably some room there. Not very much though,” Johnson said Tuesday.
Another big topic being discussed this week in Springfield is whether the state will provide any financial help to the Chicago Bears. Last week, the team confirmed its shifting its focus away from a lakefront stadium and back to Arlington Heights, where they own the site of the former Arlington International Racecourse.
The desire for public assistance with the project has been met with intense skepticism in Springfield. Even venturing into those headwinds, the team is hoping the lawmakers will tweak development laws to help with infrastructure needs.
Johnson said he’s done all he can to convince the Bears to remain in Chicago, and it’s now up to the team and state lawmakers to decide what happens next.
“Just like the Bears had to come to me about how the city could wrap itself around an agreement and we were able to respond to the organization, the Bears also have the responsibility to speak to the leadership in Springfield in order to secure a stadium. Look, that is out of my control at this point,” Johnson said.
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