Latest transit proposal would hike tolls, tax ride shares to avoid $771 million fiscal cliff
'The funding mechanism we put forward, with estimates, gets us above the fiscal cliff amount,' Democratic Sen. Ram Villivalam of Chicago, chair of the committee covering transportation, said. 'The goal is to ensure that we're funding a system not for tomorrow, not for next year but for decades to come.'
Key labor organizations were quick to question the proposal introduced Thursday in the Senate, citing concerns over the long-term viability of the funding streams. Also voicing opposition were suburban officials who said the bills put the interests of mass transit users, most of them in Chicago, above those of their constituents.
Transit agencies have said services would be slashed if legislators don't come up with funding to plug the budget shortfall expected when COVID-19 relief funding runs out at the end of this year. With the spring legislative session set to end this weekend, agencies have said they will need to start planning for those cuts soon, though lawmakers could take up the issue to later in the year.
The bill introduced in the Senate on Thursday has similarities with a House proposal a day earlier that include replacing the Regional Transportation Authority with an entity called the Northern Illinois Transit Authority that would be given with broad planning responsibilities. Only the Senate version, however, offered funding proposals.
The House version of the bill passed out of the chamber's executive committee by an 8-4 vote on Thursday and was scheduled to go before the full chamber for a vote despite questions about the lack of financing. Concerns also were raised about how the legislation could jeopardize the bonding authority for the Chicago Transit Authority to see through its planned extension of the Red Line.
The Senate revenue proposals, which include transit agency staff cuts in addition to an increase on toll roads, would not fully cover the $1.5 billion that some transit advocates say is needed to transform Chicago-area public transportation, Villivalam told reporters, though he later added a final estimate on how much the proposals would raise is not yet known. The legislation did not come to a vote in the Senate committee.
The bill would require the revamped transit governing board, NITA, to make cuts that could include layoffs. It mandates $10 million in transit service-related savings and $20.1 million in savings on labor, which the bill suggests would come from changes in employee headcounts and position types. Those changes have previously been suggested by the RTA.
A key provision allows the transit board to impose a surcharge of 50 cents on roads operated by the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority. The tax would be capped at $1 per vehicle per day, according to the legislation. The bill also includes a 10% tax on rideshare trips in Chicago, suburban Cook County, or the collar counties.
The Senate proposal also asks for $16.8 million in savings from property and real estate. The savings would need to be realized in NITA's budget for the fiscal year beginning in October 2026.
The bill also includes a real estate transfer tax in the collar counties and suburban Cook County. In Cook County, half of the revenues from that tax would go toward CTA pension payments, with leftover funds going to transit operations. The other half would go toward a fund designed to encourage transit-oriented development that is designed to boost ridership and create walkable communities and commercial corridors. Taxes levied in the collar counties would go entirely toward that development fund.
Interest earned on money in the state's road fund would also need to go toward public transit construction projects, according to the bill.
Labor leaders argued the funding proposals wouldn't provide long-term security for the transit systems.
'We strongly oppose any transit governance reform legislation that lacks a dedicated and sustainable revenue source,' said Marc Poulos, executive director of the labor-management group for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150.
Tim Drea, president of the Illinois AFL-CIO, said in a statement that the two legislative proposals '[kick] the can down the road and [set] our state up for a future fiscal crisis.' The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 241, which represents CTA bus operators, opposes the Senate bill.
Representatives from the collar counties pushed back against several of the revenue ideas Thursday.
'The Senate plan steals $72 million dollars in DuPage tax revenue, imposes a local real estate transfer tax with no oversight from the County, and taxes suburban commuters,' DuPage County Board Chair Deborah Conroy said in a letter opposing the bill Thursday. 'If passed as written, DuPage County will be forced into massive layoffs, crippling our ability to provide safe streets and neighborhoods for our nearly 1 million residents.'
Republican Sen. Donald DeWitte of suburban St. Charles said the Senate bill subsidizes mass transit in Chicago at the expense of the suburbs, citing the tollway tax proposal and other measures.
'The suburbs get taxed, Chicago gets control, and that's outrageous,' he said.
Like the House bill introduced Wednesday, the Senate version would remake the board of the RTA, renamed as the NITA, with five appointments from the governor in addition to existing appointments from the mayor of Chicago, the Cook County Board President and the collar counties.
The bill also calls for a unified fare system between all Chicago area transit agencies by 2030.
In a statement Thursday, RTA spokesperson Tina Fassett Smith said the agency was reviewing the Senate legislation but again stressed the need to get something done soon. 'The region's transit system serves more than 1.2 million rides each day,' Fassett Smith said. 'Having funding certainty by May 31 is essential to ensure CTA, Metra, and Pace can continue to provide safe, reliable, affordable transportation for all.'
Representatives for CTA, Metra and Pace did not immediately provide comment Thursday.
Funding for the proposed CTA Red Line extension south of 95th Street was one point of discussion in a hearing on the House version of the bill Thursday.
The multibillion-dollar project would extend the train line south to 130th Street and add four stations. The project, discussed for more than 50 years, has the potential to be a major investment in the city's Far South Side, even as it has meant acquiring dozens of residents' homes.
After Thursday's House hearing, state Rep. Marty Moylan, a Des Plaines Democrat who heads the House Transportation Committee, said the removal of the CTA's bonding authority from the bill was an oversight and should be addressed with another amendment.
'This is a major program that's going to redo the whole face of transit and you've got to look at the greater good, which is we're going to have an operating transit system, which is going to have reforms and operating more efficiently and safe so that people can actually ride the system,' Moylan said of the transit reforms as a whole.
Among the issues discussed on the House bill was the proposed system-wide law enforcement task force. Led by the Cook County sheriff's office, the system would also include Metra and Chicago police officers, as well as Illinois State Police personnel.
Rep. John Cabello, a Republican from Machesney Park who has also worked as a police detective, said at the hearing he'd prefer to have the task force run by law enforcement throughout the newly-proposal transit system.
'I'd rather have Metra police…take care of the whole thing because their police department goes through the whole of those counties,' Cabello said after the hearing.
Rep. Eva-Dina Delgado, a Chicago Democrat and the main House sponsor of the bill, indicated she's open to discussions about that but also noted how the Cook County sheriff's office has relationships outside the county.
'They currently have a relationship with Metra on dispatch and so they have some relationships outside of Cook County and they're centralized in that way,' Delgado said. 'So, that's where the thought process came from.'
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The Hill
13 minutes ago
- The Hill
Families of Americans slain in the West Bank lose hope for justice
BIDDU, West Bank (AP) — When Sayfollah Musallet of Tampa, Florida, was beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the West Bank two weeks ago, he became the fourth Palestinian-American killed in the occupied territory since the war in Gaza began. No one has been arrested or charged in Musallet's slaying – and if Israel's track record on the other three deaths is any guide, it seems unlikely to happen. Yet Musallet's father and a growing number of U.S. politicians want to flip the script. 'We demand justice,' Kamel Musallet said at his 20-year-old son's funeral earlier this week. 'We demand the U.S. government do something about it.' Still, Musallet and relatives of the other Palestinian-Americans say they doubt anyone will be held accountable, either by Israel or the U.S. They believe the first word in their hyphenated identity undercuts the power of the second. And they say Israel and its law enforcement have made them feel like culprits — by imposing travel bans and, in some cases, detaining and interrogating them. Although the Trump administration has stopped short of promising investigations of its own, the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem has urged Israel to investigate the circumstances of each American's death. Writing on X on July 15, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said he'd asked Israel to 'aggressively investigate the murder' of Musallet and that 'there must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act.' Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and 28 other Democratic senators have also called for an investigation. In a letter this week to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Attorney General Pam Bondi, they pointed to the 'repeated lack of accountability' after the deaths of Musallet and other Americans killed in the West Bank. Israel's military, police and Shin Bet domestic security agency did not respond to requests for comment about the Palestinian-Americans' deaths. Families have demanded independent investigations American-born teenagers Tawfic Abdel Jabbar and Mohammad Khdour were killed in early 2024 by Israeli fire while driving in the West Bank. In April 2025, 14-year-old Amer Rabee, a New Jersey native, was shot in the head at least nine times by Israeli forces, according to his father, as he stood among a grove of green almond trees in his family's village. In the immediate aftermath of both cases, Israeli authorities said that forces had fired on rock throwers, allegations disputed by the families and by testimony obtained by the AP. Israel pledged to investigate the cases further, but has released no new findings. The teens' families told the AP they sought independent investigations by American authorities, expressing doubts that Israel would investigate in good faith. According to the Israeli watchdog group Yesh Din, killings of Palestinians in the West Bank rarely result in investigations — and when they do, indictments are uncommon. The U.S. Justice Department has jurisdiction to investigate the deaths of its own citizens abroad, but does so after it gets permission from the host government and usually works with the host country's law enforcement. The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem declined to say whether the U.S. has launched independent probes into the killings. A spokesperson for the embassy said in a statement that investigations are 'underway' in Israel over the deaths of the four Americans and that its staff is pressing the Israeli authorities to move quickly and transparently. In a statement to AP, the embassy spokesperson said, 'We continue to press for full, transparent, and rapid investigations in each case and understand that they are underway' in Israel adding that consular staff were in regular communication with Israeli authorities. Sen. Van Hollen said that when the U.S deals with Israel it 'either doesn't pursue these cases with the vigor necessary, or we don't get any serious cooperation.' 'And then instead of demanding cooperation and accountability, we sort of stop — and that's unacceptable. It's unacceptable to allow American citizens to be killed with impunity,' the Maryland Democrat said. Israel says it holds soldiers and settlers accountable Israel says it holds soldiers and settlers to account under the bounds of the law, and that the lack of indictments does not mean a lack of effort. A prominent recent case was the death of Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist for broadcaster Al Jazeera killed in the West Bank in 2022. An independent U.S. analysis of the circumstances of her death found that fire from an Israeli soldier was 'likely responsible' for her killing but said it appeared to be an accident. Despite an Israeli military investigation with similar conclusions, no one was ever disciplined. Violence by Israeli forces and settlers has flared in the West Bank since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023. More than 950 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the war in Gaza, according to the United Nations. Some have been militants killed in fighting with Israel, though the dead have also included stone-throwers and bystanders uninvolved in violence. Instead of justice, restrictions and detentions Rather than a path toward justice, the families of Khdour, Rabee, and Abdel Jabbar say they've faced only challenges since the deaths. Khdour, born in Miami, Florida, was shot and killed in April 2024 while driving in Biddu, a West Bank town near Jerusalem where he lived since age 2. U.S. investigators visited his family after the killing, his family said. Abdel Jabbar was killed while driving down a dirt road close to Al Mazra as-Sharqiya, his village in the northern West Bank. Khdour's cousin, Malek Mansour, the sole witness, told the AP he was questioned by both Israeli and American investigators and repeated his testimony that shots came from a white pickup on Israeli territory. He believes the investigators did not push hard enough to figure out who killed his cousin. 'The matter ended like many of those who were martyred (killed),' said Hanan Khdour, Khdour's mother. Two months after the death, Israeli forces raided the family's home and detained Mohammad's brother, Omar Khdour, 23, also an American citizen. Videos taken by family and shared with the AP show Omar Khdour blindfolded and handcuffed as Israeli soldiers in riot gear lead him out of the building and into a military jeep. He said he was threatened during questioning, held from 4 am to 3 pm, and warned not to pursue the case. 'Here, being American means nothing' Omar Khdour said Israeli soldiers at checkpoints have prevented him from leaving the West Bank to visit Israel or Jerusalem. Two other American fathers of Palestinian-Americans killed since Oct. 7, 2023 reported similar restrictions. Hafeth Abdel Jabbar, Tawfic Abdel Jabbar's father, said he and his wife were blocked from leaving the West Bank for seven months. His son, Amir Abdel Jabbar, 22, remains restricted. The father of Amer Rabee says he and his wife have also been stuck in the West Bank since their son's killing. He showed AP emails from the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem in which a consular official told him that Israel had imposed a travel ban on him, though it was unclear why. Israeli authorities did not respond to comment on the detentions or travel restrictions. Rabee said that in a land where violence against Palestinians goes unchecked, his family's American passports amounted to nothing more than a blue book. 'We are all American citizens,' Rabee said. 'But here, for us, being American means nothing.'
NBC News
26 minutes ago
- NBC News
Disgraced former Rep. George Santos reports to prison for seven-year sentence
WASHINGTON — Disgraced former Rep. George Santos reported to prison on Friday, beginning a more than seven-year sentence after pleading guilty to a laundry list of federal charges that included wire fraud, identity theft and money laundering. He is in custody at the Federal Correctional Institution Fairton in Fairton, New Jersey, the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed Friday. The flashy New York Republican, who stormed onto the national stage when he unexpectedly won a congressional seat in 2022 and was expelled by his colleagues the very next year, didn't go quietly this week. He appeared on an hour-long podcast, engaged with his followers on X Spaces and posted a series of farewell tweets on X. He also continued to post videos for supporters on the Cameo platform through Friday morning, charging a minimum of $300 per video, according to the site. 'Well, darlings …The curtain falls, the spotlight dims, and the rhinestones are packed. From the halls of Congress to the chaos of cable news what a ride it's been! Was it messy? Always. Glamorous? Occasionally. Honest? I tried… most days,' Santos wrote on X. 'I may be leaving the stage (for now), but trust me legends never truly exit," he continued. In his hour-and-a-half Spaces live broadcast, Santos, a Donald Trump ally in Congress, said he had been asked by many people whether he would get a presidential pardon or commutation that could cut short his 87-month sentence. 'The answer to that is, I don't know. You're asking the wrong person,' he said on Thursday. 'The only person that can answer that question is, you know, whoever the president of the United States is — in this case, President Donald Trump.' The White House has not commented on the matter. Santos' political career was one of the shortest and most tumultuous in recent memory. Even before he was sworn into office, the New York Times and other outlets revealed that he had fabricated parts of his resume, and the personal narrative that he shared with donors and voters on the campaign trail began to fall apart. The House Ethics Committee issued a scathing investigative report about Santos, finding he'd likely committed multiple federal crimes, and the Justice Department indicted him on 23 counts, including embezzling contributions from supporters, illegally obtaining unemployment benefits and lying on House financial disclosures. In the 2022 midterm elections, Santos had been one of four Republicans who had flipped Democratic-held seats in New York. But after the indictment and Ethics report, it was those same New York GOP colleagues who led the charge to oust him from Congress. On Dec. 1, 2023, the House voted 311-114 to expel Santos, making him just the sixth person in U.S. history to be expelled from the House of Representatives. After his guilty plea, Santos was sentenced to 87 months behind bars this past April and ordered to pay almost $374,000 in restitution and over $200,000 in forfeiture. During his appearances this week, Santos repeatedly expressed remorse for his lies and actions, even as he tried to settle political scores with those who ousted him from Congress. "I think we can all attest that I've made a string of s--- choices in my life, and for that, I'm sorry to those I've disappointed, to those I've let down, to those that I have caused irreparable damage. I'm sorry. I mean it. I'm not— I'm not placating. This isn't for show," Santos said on Spaces.
Hamilton Spectator
41 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Families of Americans slain in the West Bank lose hope for justice
BIDDU, West Bank (AP) — When Sayfollah Musallet of Tampa, Florida, was beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the West Bank two weeks ago, he became the fourth Palestinian-American killed in the occupied territory since the war in Gaza began. No one has been arrested or charged in Musallet's slaying – and if Israel's track record on the other three deaths is any guide, it seems unlikely to happen. Yet Musallet's father and a growing number of U.S. politicians want to flip the script. 'We demand justice,' Kamel Musallet said at his 20-year-old son's funeral earlier this week. 'We demand the U.S. government do something about it.' Still, Musallet and relatives of the other Palestinian-Americans say they doubt anyone will be held accountable, either by Israel or the U.S. They believe the first word in their hyphenated identity undercuts the power of the second. And they say Israel and its law enforcement have made them feel like culprits — by imposing travel bans and, in some cases, detaining and interrogating them. Although the Trump administration has stopped short of promising investigations of its own, the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem has urged Israel to investigate the circumstances of each American's death. Writing on X on July 15, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said he'd asked Israel to 'aggressively investigate the murder' of Musallet and that 'there must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act.' Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and 28 other Democratic senators have also called for an investigation. In a letter this week to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Attorney General Pam Bondi, they pointed to the 'repeated lack of accountability' after the deaths of Musallet and other Americans killed in the West Bank. Israel's military, police and Shin Bet domestic security agency did not respond to requests for comment about the Palestinian-Americans' deaths. Families have demanded independent investigations American-born teenagers Tawfic Abdel Jabbar and Mohammad Khdour were killed in early 2024 by Israeli fire while driving in the West Bank . In April 2025, 14-year-old Amer Rabee, a New Jersey native, was shot in the head at least nine times by Israeli forces, according to his father, as he stood among a grove of green almond trees in his family's village. In the immediate aftermath of both cases, Israeli authorities said that forces had fired on rock throwers, allegations disputed by the families and by testimony obtained by the AP . Israel pledged to investigate the cases further, but has released no new findings. The teens' families told the AP they sought independent investigations by American authorities, expressing doubts that Israel would investigate in good faith. According to the Israeli watchdog group Yesh Din, killings of Palestinians in the West Bank rarely result in investigations — and when they do , indictments are uncommon. The U.S. Justice Department has jurisdiction to investigate the deaths of its own citizens abroad, but does so after it gets permission from the host government and usually works with the host country's law enforcement. The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem declined to say whether the U.S. has launched independent probes into the killings. A spokesperson for the embassy said in a statement that investigations are 'underway' in Israel over the deaths of the four Americans and that its staff is pressing the Israeli authorities to move quickly and transparently. In a statement to AP, the embassy spokesperson said, 'We continue to press for full, transparent, and rapid investigations in each case and understand that they are underway' in Israel adding that consular staff were in regular communication with Israeli authorities. Sen. Van Hollen said that when the U.S deals with Israel it 'either doesn't pursue these cases with the vigor necessary, or we don't get any serious cooperation.' 'And then instead of demanding cooperation and accountability, we sort of stop — and that's unacceptable. It's unacceptable to allow American citizens to be killed with impunity,' the Maryland Democrat said. Israel says it holds soldiers and settlers accountable Israel says it holds soldiers and settlers to account under the bounds of the law, and that the lack of indictments does not mean a lack of effort. A prominent recent case was the death of Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist for broadcaster Al Jazeera killed in the West Bank in 2022. An independent U.S. analysis of the circumstances of her death found that fire from an Israeli soldier was 'likely responsible' for her killing but said it appeared to be an accident. Despite an Israeli military investigation with similar conclusions, no one was ever disciplined. Violence by Israeli forces and settlers has flared in the West Bank since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023. More than 950 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the war in Gaza, according to the United Nations. Some have been militants killed in fighting with Israel, though the dead have also included stone-throwers and bystanders uninvolved in violence. Instead of justice, restrictions and detentions Rather than a path toward justice, the families of Khdour, Rabee, and Abdel Jabbar say they've faced only challenges since the deaths. Khdour, born in Miami, Florida, was shot and killed in April 2024 while driving in Biddu, a West Bank town near Jerusalem where he lived since age 2. U.S. investigators visited his family after the killing, his family said. Abdel Jabbar was killed while driving down a dirt road close to Al Mazra as-Sharqiya, his village in the northern West Bank. Khdour's cousin, Malek Mansour, the sole witness, told the AP he was questioned by both Israeli and American investigators and repeated his testimony that shots came from a white pickup on Israeli territory. He believes the investigators did not push hard enough to figure out who killed his cousin. 'The matter ended like many of those who were martyred (killed),' said Hanan Khdour, Khdour's mother. Two months after the death, Israeli forces raided the family's home and detained Mohammad's brother, Omar Khdour, 23, also an American citizen. Videos taken by family and shared with the AP show Omar Khdour blindfolded and handcuffed as Israeli soldiers in riot gear lead him out of the building and into a military jeep. He said he was threatened during questioning, held from 4 am to 3 pm, and warned not to pursue the case. 'Here, being American means nothing' Omar Khdour said Israeli soldiers at checkpoints have prevented him from leaving the West Bank to visit Israel or Jerusalem. Two other American fathers of Palestinian-Americans killed since Oct. 7, 2023 reported similar restrictions. Hafeth Abdel Jabbar, Tawfic Abdel Jabbar's father, said he and his wife were blocked from leaving the West Bank for seven months. His son, Amir Abdel Jabbar, 22, remains restricted. The father of Amer Rabee says he and his wife have also been stuck in the West Bank since their son's killing. He showed AP emails from the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem in which a consular official told him that Israel had imposed a travel ban on him, though it was unclear why. Israeli authorities did not respond to comment on the detentions or travel restrictions. Rabee said that in a land where violence against Palestinians goes unchecked, his family's American passports amounted to nothing more than a blue book. 'We are all American citizens,' Rabee said. 'But here, for us, being American means nothing.' Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. 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