Both the Illinois House and Senate passed the half-billion dollar state transit funding bill today averting a mass transit crisis by days. The bill of necessity included Governor Rod Blagojevich’s last minute amendatory veto demand that seniors 65 and older ride mass transit free. As reported in Capitol Fax, the General Assembly is considering a trailer bill which passed the State House and may be considered in some form in the State Senate. The trailer bill would likely change the free senior rides to something more income and/or disability based.
In exchange for the support of DuPage Republican State Senators John Millner, Kirk Dillard and Dan Cronin, the bill contained DuPage County Board Chair Robert Schillerstrom’s proposed additional quarter point of sales tax in the collar counties that can be used for public safety or transportation [see the “Schillerstrom amendment”]. With the bill becoming law, it will be interesting to see how Robert Schillerstrom and the DuPage County Board plan to spend that additional $40 million in sales tax. About $10 million of it is supposed to go to public safety staff salaries and programs that were on the chopping block in DuPage’s recent disastrous budget. The other $30 million, as of now, is not specifically spoken for although restoring public safety programs, using it for “homeland security,” using it to free up general funds for cut human services, and reducing property taxes have all been mentioned as well as the law’s specification that it can be used for transportation.
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Isn’t it great when our legislators cooperate?
Posted 18 Jan 2008 at 7:01 am ¶Trackbacks & Pingbacks 4
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