CHICAGO -- The Chicago Transit Authority and other public transit agencies are staring down steep cuts to service after state legislators ended a spring session without passing a funding bill to stave off a major fiscal cliff the agencies are facing.
State legislators approved a 2026 budget in the final moments of its spring session Saturday, but lawmakers did not pass a bill that would reform the regional transit system and provide funding to plug a long-anticipated $770 million gap in transit agency budgets, according to media reports.
A bill was introduced late in the session by state Sen. Ram Villivalam that would have provided over $1 billion annually in new funding to the CTA, Metra and Pace through a new $1.50 tax on food delivery orders, among other fees. The bill also included an overhaul to the regional transit systems' governance and operations.
It passed the state Senate but not the House by Saturday night's deadline, the Sun-Times reported.
With no new funding for Chicago-area mass transit included in next year's state budget, CTA and other agencies could see massive cuts to service and its workforces, officials have warned.
The funding nosedive is set for the beginning of 2026 as COVID-19 relief money runs out. An estimated 40 percent of the Regional Transit Authority's service could be cut along with an additional 3,000 layoffs without a new funding mechanism, Villivalam said.
This would also mean that one in five Chicagoans would lose access to public transit in 2026, the Regional Transit Agency previously estimated.
If the cuts occur, the most drastic changes would be felt in Chicago, where the CTA would be forced to shut down half the city's "L" lines and eliminate nearly 60 percent of bus routes, cutting bus access for 500,000 Chicagoans and leaving "260,000 city workers without a reliable way to commute," according to the RTA release. The frequency of both train and bus service on remaining lines would be reduced by 25 percent.
The Labor Alliance for Public Transportation, an interest group made up of union-represented workers, said the inaction in Springfield could trigger "massive layoffs and service disruption."
"As the General Assembly adjourns with neither reform or revenue, transit riders and workers alike are left concerned about the future of our communities," the labor group said in a statement.
State lawmakers said the inaction on transit funding leaves the system in a precarious state, but that their work on the issue is not done.
"The crisis is still here," state Rep. Kam Buckner said on social media. "We know what the stakes are. This isn't just about funding and fixing transit; it's about opportunity, access, and equity. The clock is still ticking. And so are we."
Future deliberations are expected to take place over the summer, legislators told reporters in Springfield
"I look forward to continuing to work ... to get this package of reforms and funding across the finish line," Villivalam said in a statement to Block Club.
A spokesperson for the Regional Transit Authority didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the lack of new state funding.
The bill introduced by Villivalam would restructure and rename the current Regional Transit Authority to the Northern Illinois Transit Authority, increasing the number of appointed board members from 16 to 20. The Regional Transit Authority's present configuration oversees transit agencies across the Chicago region, including the CTA, Metra, and PACE.
Some of the proposed reforms included a unified fare system across the three agencies, ensuring that all future trains and busses purchased will be zero-emission, requiring state Senate confirmation for all appointed board members and creating an ambassador program that would put unarmed staff in transit stations and vehicles to assist riders with customer service and safety concerns.
The bill focused on surmounting the looming fiscal cliff through new and existing taxation programs, including a controversial $1.50 tax on food package deliveries in the state, according to the Sun Times.
Villivalam's bill also addresses funding issues facing the systems by creating a 10 percent tax on rideshare trips in Chicago, Cook County and the collar counties. Drivers in metropolitan Chicago could also expect to pay a 50-cent surcharge -- capped at $1 per day -- on the Illinois Tollway system to fund public transportation.
Lawmakers are adamant that funding can't happen without reform. On Wednesday, Gov. JB Pritzker agreed that governance reform was important for the region's transit system, which has struggled to provide reliable and safe services coming out of the pandemic. He also supported efforts in the latest bill to establish full fare integration among the three transit agencies.
"What we really need is to uplift the entire system, make it safe for everybody to ride, get to work, go to school, get home safely," Pritzker told reporters. It's "hyper-important to me that we are doing that because you can't put money into something that doesn't guarantee that at the start."