Today’s quotable
Monday, Jul 14, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Block Club Chicago…
Demonstrators took over Downtown streets Saturday to urge Gov. JB Pritzker and state lawmakers to solve a transit funding crisis that could spell disaster for the CTA and suburban commuter systems.
Hundreds gathered for a rally in Daley Plaza, 50 W. Washington St., noon Saturday to ask state officials to solve a $770 million dollar fiscal cliff the Regional Transportation Authority faces next year that could cut area-wide transit service by 40 percent and eliminate CTA bus and train lines, experts have warned. […]
Despite the possibility of a special session to pass transit funding, critics of Pritzker said he hasn’t done enough to shore up public transportation financing amid rumors of a possible 2028 presidential bid. Pritzker has repeatedly taken highly-publicized swings at President Donald Trump since the 47th president’s inauguration earlier this year.
“Our Democratic state government is to blame,” Chicago Teacher’s Union representative Jesse Bostic said at the rally. “When I think to myself, ‘What would the Trump administration do if they were given control of the RTA [Regional Transit Authority]?’ It is exactly this. Our governor and state legislature have promised that they will protect Illinois from the cuts and the cruelty of the Trump administration … they are intentionally making the lives of children and working people harder.”
Discuss.
- Friendly Bob Adams - Monday, Jul 14, 25 @ 12:31 pm:
In spite of his best efforts, they’ve finally caught on to Pritzker’s long term plan to make the lives of children and working people harder…
- Just Me 2 - Monday, Jul 14, 25 @ 12:39 pm:
I will admit I’m surprised to see the CTU supporting another tax eater’s request for more taxpayer funding. What’s their game plan? To advocate for a giant tax increase that CTU can enjoy as well?
- ChicagoBars - Monday, Jul 14, 25 @ 12:41 pm:
So old I remember when Governor Pritzker called for new evolution of CTA leadership as the system continued to flail while Chicago’s Mayor kept appointing pastors with no transit experience to maintain the shambolic CTA status quo.
Wayyyyyy back in….April last year. https://www.transittalent.com/articles/index.cfm?story=Illinois_Governor_CTA_Evolution_of_Leadership_4-22-2024
- Who else - Monday, Jul 14, 25 @ 12:44 pm:
I don’t remember the Governor or the state legislature promising they will protect Illinois from the Trump administration’s cuts. That would be an absurd thing to promise, mostly because that’s not possible. I do remember various iterations of this message: The state cannot fill the hole created by the federal cuts.
The Trump cuts are also not relevant to the transit conversation. What are these guys gonna do when they hear what happened to Medicaid and SNAP?
- Frida's Boss - Monday, Jul 14, 25 @ 12:51 pm:
So the CTU is blaming JB for everything. That should work out well.
As far as I know, they only have one paid employee in the GA and one in the Mayor’s office. Not really enough to get it done.
Maybe advocate for the city of Chicago to increase it’s EAV to the same level as the collar counties do, then you’ll have all the money you’ll need.
- DuPage Saint - Monday, Jul 14, 25 @ 1:01 pm:
It amazes me that everyone at the CTU knows how to win friends and influence people.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Jul 14, 25 @ 1:02 pm:
===increase it’s EAV to===
The CTU usually only supports fantasy tax hikes, not real ones.
- JS Mill - Monday, Jul 14, 25 @ 1:02 pm:
Interesting that Bostic invokes trumps name, he acts just like him. Attack, attack, attack. Yet no solutions other than more money. It does not matter what the issue is, Bostic and CTU play a tuba with only one note…somebody else solve the problems with money from somewhere else. Maybe once CTU can find the money tree themselves.
- anon - Monday, Jul 14, 25 @ 1:07 pm:
So in the last week CTU has called for the Governor to provide a billion dollars for the school system and $770 million for CTA. Still waiting on their ideas for where the state should cut to find that money or the tax increase that can be implemented and produce that much money immediately.
- TheInvisibleMan - Monday, Jul 14, 25 @ 1:10 pm:
–
knows how to win friends and influence people.
–
More like an improvised high school play based loosely off of “The 48 laws of power”.
- Frida's Boss - Monday, Jul 14, 25 @ 1:15 pm:
“The CTU usually only supports fantasy tax hikes, not real ones.”
Agreed
- Larry Bowa Jr. - Monday, Jul 14, 25 @ 1:16 pm:
I agree that “what would the Trump admin” do in charge of the RTA is a scary thought. What the Johnson/CTU administration would do with it is no less terrifying. These people couldn’t run a lemonade stand.
- NIU Grad - Monday, Jul 14, 25 @ 1:23 pm:
Very weird to have the CTU back to being the general spokesperson for every “we need more money” request in the city while their recent priority has been on their massive CPS bailout at the expense of literally every other funding need in the city…hence why Mayor Johnson has taken a backseat to the transit reform discussions.
- StarLineChicago - Monday, Jul 14, 25 @ 1:36 pm:
It’s very important to note that the transit fiscal cliff is not a result of DOGE-style budget slashing and burning; we are where we are because how people use transit around the region has fundamentally changed in the COVID era, and we’re finally drawing down the last of the federal assistance issued during the pandemic to keep buses and trains running. While every day that passes without sending a bill to the governor’s office makes our runway to get over the cliff a little shorter, “let transit fail” is generally not the sentiment on either side of the aisle in Springfield as far as I’ve noticed.
- ChicagoBars - Monday, Jul 14, 25 @ 1:51 pm:
We are “where we are now” because the RTA and Metra generally and CTA in specific did little to nothing since 2022 to adjust to the new normal.
No fare increases, no new marketing, no schedule adjustments, but dozens of millions in useless security “guard” contracts until very recently. And they did all that nothing to help themselves (or riders) during the traffic cataclysm that was the Kennedy Construction.
They created this disaster by their own inaction. Let us now see how many house members they can take down saving themselves from their own fiscal cliff nonchalance.
- Pay as you go... - Monday, Jul 14, 25 @ 2:18 pm:
Commuter costs paid by train and bus rides seem to be under priced when compared to driving a car and parking each day. Perhaps we should increase the cost of train and bus tickets for users before we talk about raising taxes on other people who don’t ride at all.
Why not ask those who ride trains and busses to pay more of the cost of their transportation?
- Sue - Monday, Jul 14, 25 @ 2:36 pm:
Fundamentally, I do not understand why a $770M “fiscal cliff” requires $1.5B to remedy it.
Plus, as far as I can tell, the entire state will pay more, and there’ll be promises that the benefits will be statewide, but it’ll all be lip service because the governing body will be controlled by Chicago/Cook County and spend its money primarily on the CTA. No, thank you.
- Steve - Monday, Jul 14, 25 @ 2:45 pm:
-The CTU usually only supports fantasy tax hikes-
That progressive income tax sure looks good, to the CTU, in moments like this. Can’t imagine we will not be hearing about a progressive income tax by the end of the decade.
- Beans Matter - Monday, Jul 14, 25 @ 2:49 pm:
Taxpayers across the state should give thanks that the Pritzker Fair tax was soundly rejected……or rate adjustments would be ongoing
- StarLineChicago - Monday, Jul 14, 25 @ 2:51 pm:
The fiscal cliff is not unique to Chicagoland (check out what’s going on in Philadelphia for a peek into the future without new funding sources: SEPTA is implementing a 45% systemwide service cut, in addition to a 20% fare hike), and the size of the fiscal cliff cannot be explained solely by CTA’s inaction or negligence: according to the CTA’s FY2025 budget, even if CTA doubled fares without somehow losing a single rider, they’d still be over $200 million in the red this year.
https://www.transitchicago.com/assets/1/6/FY2025_CTA_Budget_Book.pdf
- Grandson of Man - Monday, Jul 14, 25 @ 3:04 pm:
Maybe one day CTU will unite with the IL Freedom Caucus, since they are both so unrealistic. They can call it the horseshoe caucus. And CTU helps the far right by attacking Democrats and helping MAGA. How many didn’t vote for Kamala but are making demands of Democrats?
- City Zen - Monday, Jul 14, 25 @ 3:36 pm:
The gas tax is now 48 cents per gallon. How much is going to transit?
The Lockbox Amendment was meant to fund all forms of transportation, not just serve as a piggy bank for Local 150 construvtion projects.
- Candy Dogood - Monday, Jul 14, 25 @ 5:32 pm:
For folks that are hoping to use the Pritzker Administration as a learning opportunity, this is one of the things that was easier to fix 6 years ago.
But hey, no one was really forecasting the second Trump Administration a few years ago either when we were burning bridges to an opportunity rich future.
- James the Intolerant - Monday, Jul 14, 25 @ 5:46 pm:
Metra did not raise fares last year. As in the shoe Succession, they are not serious people.
- Dotnonymous x - Monday, Jul 14, 25 @ 6:19 pm:
“Instead of getting married again, I’m going to find a woman I don’t like and just give her a house.”
― Rod Stewart
- Allknowingmasterofraccoondom - Monday, Jul 14, 25 @ 7:57 pm:
Anything and everything the CTU has to say goes immediately in my mental circular file.
- CA-HOON - Monday, Jul 14, 25 @ 8:18 pm:
Re: = “When I think to myself, ‘What would the Trump administration do if they were given control of the RTA [Regional Transit Authority]?’ It is exactly this.”==
You want to destroy your credibility, this is a good way to do it. They aimed for hyperbolic (which is fine, sometimes) and went into full absurdity instead.