* At a press availability this morning, Mayor Brandon Johnson was asked about the General Assembly’s failure to pass transit legislation…

Reporter: Are you concerned that this could lead to widespread shutdowns of the CTA bus and rail lines? And are you concerned about what this will mean to Chicagoans who rely on the CTA to get to work and school?

Johnson: This has been an effort that has been going on for some time, and our position in Chicago—the position that I’ve stated—is very clear. With ridership continuing to go up—300 million riders just last year alone, between our buses and trains. To your question, there is absolute need for reliable, affordable, expansive services to our public transportation system.

Here, the Red Line expansion is something that we’ve been working to secure for decades now. We have that extending well out 130th. Look, I know that this is a complex issue. I have expressed, with a tremendous amount of urgency, that we have to continue to make sure that all of our stakeholders are at the table.

This is obviously a statewide effort, initiative, to make sure that public transportation works for the entire state. Our region comprises of 87 percent of the overall economic infusion for the state. So what happens in this next phase—and I’m encouraged by some of the work that has gone forward—but what happens in this next phase, you have to ensure that the resources are there to give more confidence that as we continue to build a safe, affordable city, that the public way can be moved with expediency, with a properly funded transportation system.

So again, I know it got through the Senate. There’ve been some hang-ups in some particular areas, but I’m going to always remain hopeful and confident that we can get a deal done that works for the people of Chicago.

Reporter: Do you favor that deal, including a surcharge on Uber rides or deliveries? That seemed to be sort of where things fell apart this weekend.

Johnson: I think the conversation around revenue and how we pay for it is something that has to be a broader conversation outside of the one that’s being discussed. The real big issue that we have in this country, that’s happening right here in the state of Illinois as well, is that… You all know my position: the ultra-rich continue to get away with not having to put more skin in the game. So we do have to have substantive conversations around revenue streams that challenge the rich in this state to step up in a way that does not continue to place the burden on working people.

Reporter: What urgency would you like to send to CTA riders and lawmakers alike about the transit cliff? Like, do you want to reassure people the sky isn’t falling just yet? Or turn up the heat and say people need to take this more seriously?

Johnson: First of all, let me just say that there are a number of legislators that we’ve been in conversations with for several months. I do know that they take this seriously. What has happened is that you just have had a long-standing system that took too long, quite frankly, to put a more sustainable funding source in place to secure all of our public accommodations, right?

This is not something that’s exclusive to CTA. This is a conversation we can have about our Chicago Public Schools, about our public health. It’s all of the public accommodations that, quite frankly, have been coming—have been coming increasingly more relied upon across the board. And these services are critical. So obviously, urgency is still the position that I have.

And this budget was austere. There are budgetary challenges all over the country, and we’re faced with that because we do have a great deal of uncertainty—quite frankly, animosity—that’s coming from the federal government. Those are all complicated matters that have made this effort a bit more challenging. And yes, we have to get this right, and we have to do it with some expediency.

Please pardon any transcription errors.

* Later, Johnson was asked again about revenue ideas for transit…

Reporter: And on the budget, where do you stand on some of the ideas that were proposed but kind of failed to fund mass transit—being the surcharge on tolls coming in, the delivery tax, the ride share tax. Are you in support of all those?

Johnson: Here’s what I’m most supportive of: I know that there are more people in the state of Illinois that can do more to contribute to the overall economic growth of our state. And these are individuals that have done exceptionally well. And I know there’s been some conversations about a millionaire’s tax and other forms of progressive taxation that challenge the ultra-rich to pay their fair share.

As far as some of these other ideas that don’t get at what I want us to get at, which is to challenge the ultra-wealthy in this state to pay more, I have not taken a firm position. And I just think that it’s important that, you know, we come up with solutions that are sustainable and that they don’t overwhelm the pocketbooks of working people.

* On the grocery tax…

Reporter: Where do you stand on Chicago enacting its own grocery tax when it goes away from the state?

Johnson: Well, the city of Chicago will not enact its own grocery tax. The grocery tax already exists. There is a process in which the collection of the grocery tax is now being placed in the responsibility of municipalities, right? So it was a function that the state of Illinois decided to relinquish and leave it to the cities to collect the tax.

So we’re not creating a grocery tax—we’re just creating a process by which we can collect it. There’s like 202 municipalities that are already doing it.

So, the grocery tax stays.