Lawmakers push for transit reform, funding despite delayed fiscal cliff
[September 29, 2025]
By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – Illinois lawmakers say they hope to pass transit
legislation during the fall veto session next month, even though the
fiscal cliff is not as near as previously reported.
Four legislators participated in a virtual event hosted by Lincoln Forum
and the Union League Club Transportation Subcommittee on Thursday.
State Sen. Seth Lewis, R-Bartlett, said new revenues and Regional
Transit Authority transfers have pushed back the estimated $770-million
fiscal cliff. Lewis said Pace would not implement a cliff until 2027.
“We have time,” Lewis said.
State Sen. Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago, agreed that the regional cliff had
pushed back six months to a year, but he said systemic issues have not
changed. Villivalam said a massive fiscal cliff would get worse in 2028
if the issues were not addressed.
Villivalam proposed a retail delivery tax, real estate transfer tax and
environmental impact fees in a transit-funding bill that failed to clear
the Illinois House before the 2025 spring legislative session ended.
Lewis said there’s no need for a tax increase this fall. He said
lawmakers could reform transit governance and save funding for the
spring.
“We can start that now. We can get that process going in veto so we can
understand our potential cost savings, potential operating costs,” Lewis
suggested.
State Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, said cities grow when they invest in
transit.
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“In our state, Illinois, Abraham Lincoln made his name not just in
courtrooms and cornfields, but he rode the rails. He rode the circuit by
train, and he argued for railroads in court. He understood when he ran
for the House in 1832, that internal improvements, infrastructure
through transportation—it was a different transportation back then—but
transportation was how you move a state forward and how you make it a
place that people want to live,” Buckner said.
Buckner and Villivalam both predicted that the General Assembly would
pass transit legislation during the fall veto session. Villivalam said
he wanted legislation to pass, and he did not want to kick the can down
the road.
Villivalam said it is inefficient to have four different transit
agencies and 21 different appointing authorities.
“It’s not working. We have seven different apps. We have three different
service plans, three different capital plans. It’s not where we need to
be, and it causing us not to have the efficiencies and meeting the
performance metrics that we need to have,” Villivalam said.
State Rep. Brad Stephens, R-Rosemont, said it is important to look to
the future. Stephens said the transit situation is not as dire as some
people believe.
“We need to have some input from the governance board on how they’re
going to find efficiencies before we start throwing a bunch of money at
them. You know the billion and a half that’s been talked about? While,
yes, it could be needed, we also need to find out what the efficiencies
can be and how we can manage this better,” Stephens said. |
