ILLINOIS — On Sunday, the Illinois General Assembly adjourned without addressing Northeast Illinois transit agencies’ $770 million budget deficit, leaving the millions of transit riders who use the system every day and the transit operators who run and maintain our trains and buses in the lurch. Jen Walling released the following statement on behalf of the Illinois Environmental Council:
“For the past year, we’ve united around one rallying cry: transit is essential. It’s essential for working families who need to access job and educational opportunities. It’s essential for seniors making their way to pick up prescriptions or spend time with family. It’s essential for downstate communities and Chicagoans alike. It’s also essential for our climate–our transportation sector produces more climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) than the power, residential, and industrial sectors combined, and public transit is a key climate solution. For a service this essential, inaction isn’t an option.
“IEC joins the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition in urging lawmakers to return to Springfield to finalize governance reforms and partner them with a $1.5 billion investment to avert the transit fiscal cliff this year and fight for the transportation system that all Illinoisans deserve.”
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