(The Center Square) – The first spring session of the 104th General Assembly has come and gone and now some Illinois Republicans are analyzing successes and failures.
A virtual town hall took place Monday as lawmakers highlighted legislation that failed to make it out of the Illinois Statehouse before the May 31 deadline.
A bailout package for the mass transit agencies in Chicago did not pass both chambers. The agencies said they are facing a $770 million shortfall in 2026 and warned of service cuts of up to 40% if they don’t secure funding.
“Plus cutting their employees by 40%,” said state Sen. Sally Turner, R-Beason. “We all know that is not going to happen because everyone depends on that to get to their job in the Chicago area, but that’s a scare tactic.”
State Rep. Regan Deering, R-Decatur, said her constituents in central Illinois want to know why they should pay for mass transit in Chicago.
“When it comes to trying to recover $771 million on the backs of every Illinois taxpayer, there’s quite a bit of pushback,” said Deering.
State Rep. Bill Hauter, R-Morton, said the mass transit agencies need an overhaul.
“They need to reform their governance, they need to reform their routes, and they need to reform the sprawl of the different agencies,” said Hauter. “They won’t do that if they can get more taxes and more of other people’s money.”
Harter noted that a proposed $1.50 delivery tax to help fund the agencies was ridiculous, as a person would pay the tax to have a $3,000 television delivered, but someone else would pay the same tax amount for a $10 pizza.
A measure to prohibit the use of Native American mascots in Illinois stalled in the General Assembly. Deering said the legislator who introduced the measure didn’t even have a school in his district that would be affected by the change.
“We have a board for a reason,” said Deering. “We should know the best way to represent the traditions and values of our district and our surrounding community and not be leaving it up to Springfield politicians.”
Deering added that 90 schools in Illinois would have been affected by a costly unfunded mandate.
Other pieces of legislation that failed to pass include an assisted suicide bill and an energy omnibus bill.
