Rising oil prices associated with the current conflict in Iran have increased pressure on household and transportation affordability nationwide and have led to calls across the country for the suspension or reduction of taxes on motor fuel sales. In the State of Illinois (Illinois or ‘the State’), however, motor fuel taxes now support a broader range of transportation and transit systems than in prior years, meaning temporary tax reductions could have significant implications for transportation…
Illinois Senate Bill 2111, passed by the Illinois General Assembly on October 31, 2025, makes major changes to the way transit service is governed and funded in Illinois. The legislation, which is expected to be signed by the Governor, becomes effective on June 1, 2026. This report briefly summarizes the components of this legislative breakthrough and assesses how well the legislation addresses the system’s underlying challenges. While the legislation specifies substantial governance…
The following is testimony delivered by Civic Federation Senior Policy Advisor Paula Worthington to the Regional Transit Authority's Ad Hoc Committee on Transit Funding on October 3, 2025. The original testimony has been edited slightly for publication.The Civic Federation, along with a number of other civic and business-oriented organizations, sent a letter to this Committee earlier this…
Our collective organizations write to express the urgency of reaching a resolution on transit funding for the northeastern Illinois region. We urge the RTA and the service boards to be more transparent and forward-looking, providing more detail via regular communications channels and turning to third parties or consultants to provide financial and operational analysis as needed to educate stakeholders and build trust that is now lacking.
A comparative analysis of state expenditures finds that Illinois allocates a larger portion of its operational expenditures to pension obligations than most peer states. Illinois’ annual expenditures on state-level public pensions totaled nearly $12.2 billion, or approximately 11% of Illinois’ total operational expenditures, based on FY2023 national data. This substantial allocation surpasses that of nearly all 12 peer states used for comparison, as well as the national average. This…
This report lays out several major issues facing the Chicago Mayor and City Council as they prepare to enter the FY2025 budget cycle and beyond, including the City’s structural deficit, pensions, long-term debt, public safety and more.
The Chicago Community Trust and the Civic Federation in partnership welcomed a dynamic moderated panel of regional transit experts at the Federation’s July 12 Board of Directors meeting, hosted by The Chicago Community Trust. Panelists included state Sen. Ram Villivalam, state Rep. Eva-Dina Delgado, Regional Transportation Authority Chair Kirk Dillard and Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning Executive Director Erin Aleman. Erik Cempel, president of Cempel International Transportation…
The Civic Federation today released a position paper calling on the Illinois General Assembly to pursue foundational structural reform of Northeastern Illinois’ mass transit systems—the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Metra, Pace and the Regional Transit Authority (RTA)—by centralizing the service boards and operations under a single, duly empowered and resourced regional transit agency. Doing so would allow for more efficient, effective, integrated and equitable service delivery as well as…
CHICAGO — The Civic Federation today released a position paper calling on the Illinois General Assembly to pursue foundational structural reform of Northeastern Illinois’ mass transit systems—the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Metra, Pace and the Regional Transit Authority (RTA)—by centralizing the service boards and operations under a single, duly empowered and resourced regional transit agency. Doing so would allow for more efficient, effective, integrated and equitable service delivery as…
The Civic Federation today releases a report calling for the consolidation of the Chicago Transit Authority, Metra, Pace and the Regional Transit Authority into a single regional transit agency. The Federation urges linking transit governance reform with funding.
