First they missed the statutory adjournment date of May 31, then they blew past the July 23 record for the longest overtime session in the history of the Illinois General Assembly. Now lawmakers are on notice from House Speaker Michael Madigan that they probably won’t be going home on Oct. 12, when the veto session is scheduled to end.
The clock is ticking down to Nov. 4, when the Chicago Transit Authority says it will really really really have to impose fare hikes and service cuts, but a solution to the mass transit funding crisis is now hung up on a plan to add three new casinos.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich already staved off one CTA doomsday with a $24 million loan. The $13 billion statewide capital plan that would be financed by a massive expansion of casino gambling includes another $200 million Band-Aid for transit operations, in case lawmakers don’t get around to passing a real fix this session.
Can the legislature just wait until next year? Let’s take a good look at what we already know about 2008: The CTA will lose $17 million in operating money that will go instead to fund paratransit services.
There’s that $24 million loan, which was actually an advance on next year’s state subsidy. There’s a pension obligation of $50 million, and another $40 million budgeted for retiree health-care benefits, which must be paid for the first time from the operating budget.
CTA President Ron Huberman says balancing the 2008 budget will require cuts and fare hikes that make the Nov. 4 scenario — 39 fewer bus routes, $3 rides — look mild.
Much of that would be unnecessary if the governor and legislative leaders would get off the dime. The transit bill now on the table would raise $435 million in new funding each year, mostly through increased sales taxes. But it also would save millions through reforms. The CTA’s unions would make higher pension contributions and accept lower benefits. The offer is contingent on increased funding for transit before Jan. 1. The CTA says failure to take the unions up on their offer is costing $11.9 million a month.
Supporters of the capital bill say it makes no sense to fund mass transit operations without also addressing the capital side, another way of saying there won’t be one without the other, if they have anything to say about it. Their $13 billion capital plan offers little to mass transit.
And that casino component …
Madigan is right to say he’ll hold hearings for a full airing of the casino plan before any vote, (even if his motivation is to give Blagojevich gray hair). A transit crisis can’t be used as an excuse to foist a secretive, quickie casino deal down everybody’s throats. The last time that happened, in 1999, still leaves a bad taste.
This is all getting worse instead of better.
