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Chicago transit gets help from downstate lawmakers

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By Mike Riopell | Thursday, January 10, 2008 12:43 AM CST | () comments

SPRINGFIELD — A small group of downstate lawmakers Wednesday helped approve proposals to aid Chicago’s cash-strapped mass transit systems, even though a plan to fix roads, bridges and schools hasn’t appeared on the legislative horizon.

The House approved plans to send some of the state’s sales tax from gasoline purchases to the Chicago-area transit systems. They also OK’d a separate proposal that would raise local taxes in the counties near the city for the same purpose.

Among the downstate House lawmakers who voted for the transit funding were state Reps. John Bradley, Bob Flider, Dan Reitz, Kurt Granberg and Mike Boland.

The plan also sends more money to local bus systems. “Now is the chance to grab the money when we can,” said Boland, D-East Moline.

Blagojevich’s staff set up a flat-screen TV in front of his Capitol office Wednesday that displayed videotaped pleas from bus and train riders.

The transit issue has been lingering in Springfield for months, and some downstate lawmakers had said they needed to see a statewide construction plan in place before they’d support a fix for Chicago’s trains and buses.

“How can a downstater support this bill?” asked state Rep. Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth. He voted “no.”

Some House lawmakers pointed out that their threat to hold out on a transit plan may not be as powerful now as it was just last month.

In the waning months of last year, approval would have taken three-fifths vote of lawmakers. Now, a simple majority will work, and Democrats control both the House and Senate.

But the Illinois Senate rejected a third, different plan, by a single vote late Wednesday night, perhaps casting more uncertainty on how the issue would play out.

“We’re still working, trying to get the votes,” said Senate President Emil Jones, D-Chicago.

(Kenneth Lowe and Kartikay Mehrotra contributed to this report.)

Mike Riopell can be contacted at (217) 789-0865 or mike.riopell@lee.net. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.