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“The $43 billion
needed to rebuild and improve our transportation infrastructure
is less than what we’re wasting today on vehicle repairs due to
poor road conditions, time lost to traffic congestion, and
population and jobs going to neighboring states,” Jim Reilly, a
senior fellow at the nonprofit, nonpartisan Chicago region
planning group, said in a statement.
The fifth-largest U.S. state is in its 10th month without a full
fiscal 2016 budget due to an impasse between its Republican
governor and Democrats who control the legislature. Illinois is
struggling with a $6.7 billion bill backlog as pensions and debt
payments gobble up a big chunk of available revenue.
The report called for raising $2.7 billion a year by increasing
the current 19 cents-a-gallon state gasoline tax by 30 cents and
hiking vehicle registration fees, which cost $101 a year for
most cars, by 50 percent.
Half of the new money would be tapped for pay-as-you-go
projects, with the other half backing $25 billion of 25-year
bonds.
The money would be spent on state and local roads, mass transit
and railroads.
The council recommended an amendment to the Illinois
Constitution creating a transportation trust fund to ensure the
new revenue is not diverted for other purposes.
(Reporting by Karen Pierog; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
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