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* Last month, House transit negotiator Rep. Kam Buckner told Crain’s he’d be open to a transit special session—if a deal can be reached.
A key legislative leader says he’s open to the idea of a special session in Springfield to work out a fix on mass transit.
“I’d be open to it,” said Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, one of the legislative leaders in the Illinois House of Representatives. “We’ve got to first come to an agreement. . . .There is nothing right now that we can pass in summer session because we haven’t worked out those hanging chads.” […]
“This is a special situation where a special session may be warranted,” Buckner said during a City Club of Chicago luncheon today. “But I want to remind folks we still have some work to do. If we called a special session next week, nothing would happen because we’re not ready.”
Rich told subscribers late last month that key negotiators, including the Speaker and Senate President, don’t see the point in returning to Springfield without a transit deal.
* Yesterday, Buckner signaled that a transit agreement still hasn’t been reached, telling Evanston Now a special session isn’t on the horizon…
One of the main legislators trying to keep Illinois mass transit from going over a fiscal cliff told an Evanston audience on Wednesday night that lawmakers have a “complete commitment” to resolving the transportation funding crisis.
Rep. Kam Buckner (D-Chicago) said that there is a sense of urgency in Springfield that “we must get this done,” but a special legislative session, at least for now, is not on the horizon. […]
However, Buckner said there’s no need for a special session as long as there is still no package ready for a vote.
Still, Bucker said he does expect an agreement to prevent mass transit from “careening” over the fiscal cliff. […]
Buckner did not say what type of revenue enhancements might end up in a transit bill. A food delivery fee which was part of a Senate plan during the last session was criticized by some as a “pizza tax.”
Thoughts?
posted by Isabel Miller
Thursday, Jul 17, 25 @ 10:27 am
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Veto session is timed right between when CTA, Metra, and Pace have to submit their draft budgets and when RTA has to improve them, so the contours of what doomsday would look like will come into very sharp relief right when the GA is reassembling in Springfield.
Comment by StarLineChicago Thursday, Jul 17, 25 @ 10:42 am
*when RTA has to **approve** them
Comment by StarLineChicago Thursday, Jul 17, 25 @ 10:43 am
I think an outside independent group should look into the spending of the entire mass transit system.
Comment by lowdrag Thursday, Jul 17, 25 @ 10:57 am
== I think an outside independent group should look into the spending of the entire mass transit system. ==
I think everyone would do well to step back for a moment and remember that transit is a vital public service like roads and highways. Transit spending is a tiny fraction of highway spending, but there are few calls to audit road, parking, and highway spending like there is for transit. It’s like the federal focus on auditing the spending of SNAP while letting slide any amount of spending by the DOD. Car travel is THE MOST subsidized form of travel by far.
While transit spending should be spent well (capital investment of the Red Line Extension is dubious to have a good ROI) we should keep in mind that transit (a green form of transport) is wildly under-subsidized and over-scrutinized in this country when compared to car travel (a carbon intensive form of transport).
Comment by Incandenza Thursday, Jul 17, 25 @ 11:37 am
are there any talks of consolidation?
Comment by Blue Dog Thursday, Jul 17, 25 @ 11:48 am
No one and I mean no one has mntioned how half the time you get on a CTA or PACE bus the system is offline so no one is paying besides monthly or weekly pass holders. Then the myriad ” can i ride bro?” that adds up. But im focused on the system not even being turned on to even collect money.
Comment by hmmm Thursday, Jul 17, 25 @ 12:06 pm
What Incandenza @ 11:37 a.m. said.
Comment by Northsider Thursday, Jul 17, 25 @ 12:26 pm
I don’t share the representative’s optimism that the legislature will avoid a transit meltdown.
Comment by DS Thursday, Jul 17, 25 @ 12:34 pm
There are too many players in this. Why are environmental justice focused orgs also in discussions around transit for ex? Get the big players to wrap this up. Unfortunately, some people and groups will be upset but that’s ok. Everyone will never be happy.
Comment by Not Your Time Thursday, Jul 17, 25 @ 1:01 pm
=== Why are environmental justice focused orgs also in discussions===
I have not heard anyone say that they are a barrier to a deal.
The main barriers are the governing bodies and how to pay for the bailout (both of which mean suburban electeds are also a barrier).
In other words, simple solutions are usually neither.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Jul 17, 25 @ 1:09 pm
@hmmm - I’ve taken some form of the CTA almost daily for 13 years and have never once experienced the fare collection system being offline… That’s certainly not the issue.
100% agree with Incandenza. The same scrutiny is not being applied to car-based transit spending.
Comment by SAW Thursday, Jul 17, 25 @ 1:50 pm
== No one and I mean no one has mntioned how half the time you get on a CTA or PACE bus the system is offline so no one is paying besides monthly or weekly pass holders.==
Total nonsense. I’ve been riding for well over 40 years and that has occurred maybe a handful of times.
Comment by low level Thursday, Jul 17, 25 @ 2:25 pm
While we are all trading anecdotes, I too take some form of the CTA almost daily and have at least 2-3 times a month hit a bus with the fare collection for Ventra offline and the bus driver just waving folks on.
It is indeed super rare at rail stations but if you haven’t seen it every few weeks on a CTA bus you haven’t been paying attention.
Comment by ChicagoBars Thursday, Jul 17, 25 @ 3:21 pm