If this is the outcome, lawmakers missed the moment.
Capitol News Illinois reported Wednesday on the increasingly real possibility the General Assembly will pull Chicago area public transportation off their fiscal cliff in the most predictable and least courageous manner: by allocating more money (from where remains to be seen) without reorganizing leadership of the Chicago Transit Authority, Metra or Pace Suburban Bus. All three would remain under a “newly empowered” Regional Transit Authority.
State Rep. Marty Moylan, D-Des Plaines, gave CNI the kind of quote that encapsulates the ruthless efficiency with which Springfield deflates optimism:
“That seems to be the consensus of the General Assembly: Leave the boards in, have them do some reforms and let’s move forward,” Moylan said. “We’re making progress with some of the transit agencies. The RTA still doesn’t get it, but they will by the end.”
Former state Sen. Kirk Dillard has been RTA chairman since 2014. To whatever extent local choices contributed to the current crisis, he can shoulder responsibility. That includes choosing to spend $750,000 on “Save Transit Now” advertising, explaining the looming $770 million shortfall is only part of the $1.5 billion sought to really fix things for the future.
As noted in January, RTA’s proposed solution seeks more money and power for an agency that hasn’t been able to effectively deploy a $4.147 billion annual operating budget, manage $160 billion in physical assets or execute a $9.469 billion capital plan to provide satisfactory service to more than 2 million daily riders in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties.
Last week I wrote about the sliding doors moment of Adam Kinzinger pursuing another U.S. House term in 2020 rather than challenging Dick Durbin for his Senate seat. In 2021, I considered how Illinois might’ve been different had Bill Brady collected just 31,895 more votes in his 2010 gubernatorial contest with accidental incumbent Pat Quinn.
Exploring that alternative timeline involved an even narrower gap: the 193 votes by which Brady beat Dillard in the GOP primary; they finished with 20.26% and 20.24% in a field of eight. If Dillard had gone on to lose to Quinn, he might not have run for governor again in 2014, where he finished almost 24,000 votes behind Bruce Rauner.
Three months after that loss, Dillard landed at the RTA. Perhaps he’d have gotten that gig without being in either primary, or maybe if he’d beaten Brady, he could’ve toppled Quinn and Rauner wouldn’t have entered politics.
None of this speculation leads to an improved future for statewide public transportation. But so far, neither has it been useful to suggest lawmakers embrace the cliff as an invitation to take truly transformative action.
The status quo wins again.
• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.
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