The Capitol Fax Blog » Transit follow-up *** Updated x1 ***

Friday, Nov 2, 2007

* Yesterday, I told you that the comptroller’s office was claiming that the governor had not followed through on his September pledge to provide a temporary bailout to the RTA/CTA. An initial $37 million was paid, but the rest was not distributed, according to the comptroller. RTA Chairman Jim Reilly also said that all the promised cash hadn’t been received.

The revelation was important because the governor is planning to announce the details of yet another temporary transit bailout today. The CTA’s “doomsday” is Sunday, and the RTA/CTA say they don’t want another temporary fix, which the governor derided yesterday as ridiculous.

The governor’s PR staff worked overtime yesterday to convince other reporters not to write about the alleged failure to disburse the original temporary bailout money. I also received this e-mail last night from one of the governor’s spokespersons…

The funding is being disbursed according to the agreement the Dept. of Transportation signed with the RTA: $37 million was immediately released in September when the agreement was reached. We agreed to release an additional $18 million a month in October, November and December. Last week we forwarded the Comptroller’s office the paperwork they need to get the October payment process started. The $18 million November payment will be vouchered to the Comptroller tomorrow.

The comptroller’s office’s specific response to the Blagojevich administration statement that the paperwork was sent last week is unprintable, but it started with a “Bull” and ended with a “t.” And it wasn’t “bullet.” Please, no guesses in comments.

Take a gander at this link. It’s IDOT’s contract obligation document to fund the temporary bailout announced in September. Scroll down and look at two things…

1) It wasn’t signed by IDOT’s bureau of accounting and auditing until Monday, October 29th. That’s this week.

2) It was received by the comptroller’s office yesterday. I’m told it was hand-delivered after I wrote about the snafu on the blog yesterday.

So, the paperwork wasn’t sent to the Comptroller “last week.” It was sent yesterday. And not all the paperwork has been sent. As of yet, no payment voucher has been submitted by the governor’s office, according to the comptroller. No voucher equals no payment.

As long as there’s no voucher, I stand by the story.

*** UPDATE *** The payment vouchers for the October and November temporary bailout payments were hand delivered to the comptroller’s office shortly after this post was put online. So, apparently, the only way that the RTA is gonna keep getting its money is if I bug the governor’s office every month. (Just kidding… kinda)

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* Meanwhile, as I told you yesterday, Downstate Senate Democrats said they couldn’t support a transit bailout until a capital projects bill is approved…

Long-standing rifts between Chicago lawmakers and their downstate brethren were on full display in the Illinois Statehouse Thursday.

As Chicago officials scrambled to put together a plan to bail out their financially strapped mass transit systems before a Sunday deadline, lawmakers from the midsection of the state complained that they also need money for road, bridge and school construction projects in their districts.

Some of the rhetoric was way overheated…

“Why should I help out Chicago when they haven’t helped out my area for the last umpteen years?” added Republican state Rep. Bill Mitchell of Forsyth.

Rep. Mitchell, who has received thousands of dollars from Ameren and its affiliated companies over the years, was bailed out of a big mess by Chicago legislators this year when they helped Downstaters roll back the company’s exhorbitant rate increases. Rep. Mitchell’s rhetoric is not exactly helpful, or true.

* More transit stories….

* Editorial: Day of reckoning in legislature for politicians, state

* Lawmakers debate another short term CTA bailout

* Blagojevich floats new temporary fix

* Transit funds eyed warily

* Last minute save for public transportation?

* Commuters brace for possible Pace cuts

* Blagojevich: Money is there to avoid transit meltdown

- posted by Rich Miller

33 Comments

- j - Friday, Nov 2, 07 @ 10:17 am:
I thought you said yesterday Rich that the quid pro quo was Downstate Rate Relief = Cook County Property Tax relief.

- Rich Miller - Friday, Nov 2, 07 @ 10:18 am:
I did. But Rep. Mitchell claimed that Chicago legislators hadn’t helped out his area in “umpteen” years. Not true.

- j - Friday, Nov 2, 07 @ 10:20 am:
OK, sorry. Thought you were insinuating a new quid pro qup was at play.

- Princeville - Friday, Nov 2, 07 @ 10:21 am:
Somewhere there is guy with a little doll with “Rich Miller” printed across it and the guy is sticking little pins in the doll.

Question, though, if the original promised two payments of October and November actually went out , say Oct 1st and Nov 1st, could ‘doomsday’ made it without the threat of Nov 4th for another few weeks? And is the ‘new’ promised money bailout going to include the past not sent or be in additional to it?

- Rich Miller - Friday, Nov 2, 07 @ 10:24 am:
===And is the ‘new’ promised money bailout going to include the past not sent or be in additional to it?===

It’s supposed to be “new” money.

- j - Friday, Nov 2, 07 @ 10:25 am:
Is it a loan or advance?

Or is it a grant (not to be paid back)?

- Rich Miller - Friday, Nov 2, 07 @ 10:27 am:
We don’t know yet. Stay tuned. It’s likely an advance.

- Fanfare for an idiot - Friday, Nov 2, 07 @ 10:43 am:
The initial $37 million was paid, but the rest was not distributed. What was the dollar amount was not distributed?
Where does all this money come from? Blago keeps telling everyone the State of Illinois is broke.
RTA/CTA shouldn’t trust Blago under any circumstances.

- fedup dem - Friday, Nov 2, 07 @ 11:02 am:
I was wondering if Rep. Bill Mitchell’s nickname is “Dennis.” If it isn’t, it should be will dumb comments like that!

Pingback Politics: Blogger/journalist keeps commuters commuting in Chicago - Friday, Nov 2, 07 @ 11:03 am:
[…] If you depend on public transportation in the Chicago area, you might want to send Rich Miller a thank-you note. Apparently, he’s the only thing stopping the entire system from shutting down due to lack of money. Seriously. No Comments, Comment or Ping […]

- j - Friday, Nov 2, 07 @ 11:22 am:
per Carol Brown’s press conference of a few minutes ago (was on the Trib Web site):

The offer is “$21 million in additional capital. It is not an advance or a loan…. It is money that had not been allocated for capital before.”

“It would last until the end of 2007.”

They are trying to figure out “Whether or not legally FTA will allow us to amend existing capital grants to accept an additional $21 million and apply that to operations. ”

And they will hear from the FTA by the end of the day.

- the commuter once known as So Ill - Friday, Nov 2, 07 @ 11:26 am:
Good work, Rich.

I don’t think they will, but I REALLY hope the RTA and CTA stick to their guns. Blago can try and put this on them, and he will, but the truth is a good defense: “We told you no more bandaids. You didn’t listen. And oh by the way, your October payment was four weeks late, making things even worse.”

- jerry 101 - Friday, Nov 2, 07 @ 11:29 am:
Now we know how to get things done in Springfield. All it takes is a posting from Rich Miller!

Rich, How about telling them to finish the budget and the CTA funding and the Capital Bill? :-)

- Downstater - Friday, Nov 2, 07 @ 11:44 am:
First I want to say that I understand the huge problem CTA is having. It is a huge mess, for CHICAGO. It is not often that legislators from Chicago want to help downstaters. (Thanks for Ameren, but that’s about it) I don’t feel comfortable with my tax dollars going upstate for busses, especially when schools downstate are staying at last year’s funding levels, or close to those levels. I feel sorry for the people that rely on mass transit, but look how it’s run! No wonder they need help from the state. And no capital bill either? NO WAY CTA. Until the good ole boys in Springfield get it together, I don’t want my money going upstate. Build a casino boys.

- Rich Miller - Friday, Nov 2, 07 @ 11:45 am:
===I don’t feel comfortable with my tax dollars going upstate for busses, ===

The proposal on the table does not do this.

- Carl Nyberg - Friday, Nov 2, 07 @ 11:50 am:
Downstater, are you claiming the state roads in Downstate Illinois–lots of roads for few people–are built without transferring any state dollars from more productive, more densely populated areas to more sparsely populated areas?

I’m not for screwing downstate Illinois, but downstate legislators shouldn’t be for screwing Chicago area residents either.

What’s the transportation project that’s been held up for “umpteen years” in downstate Illinois? Or is this just a cynical attempt by some to hold up the public transit money until they get some pet project? And are these cynical pols playing to the bigotry of regionalism?

- the commuter once known as So Ill - Friday, Nov 2, 07 @ 11:54 am:
Downstater:

So let me get this straight. You think it’s a better idea to build three new casinos than to charge people in the northeast portion of the state ONLY an extra quarter for every $100 of goods they purchase?

Gaming comes with it social issues that could pose problems. It brings three new tourist attractions that pull people away from downstate. And it stops people in Northern Illinois from even considering going to the boats in the Quad cities or Peoria.

A regional tax increase would do nothing to or for anyone down south directly, and indirectly would help keep the economy of the state (such as it is) at a sustainable level.

Trust me, I’ve lived in both places this year alone — the regional sales tax is better for So. IL and the rest of downstate.

I can appreciate being against a tax hike because you don’t like tax hikes, but frankly I don’t think you should have the right to determine whether my taxes get raised. I’d like to have that right, through my representatives at the statehouse.

- Downstater - Friday, Nov 2, 07 @ 11:57 am:
Carl, I guess we should travel on dirt roads since we don’t have a lot of people? I am not for screwing upstate either, but I don’t agree with the idea that transit should be bailed out by the state because they aren’t capable of good management.

- Downstater - Friday, Nov 2, 07 @ 12:00 pm:
I was joking about the casino. It just seems to be the answer to everything this year. Sarcasm was all it was.

- Litle Egypt - Friday, Nov 2, 07 @ 12:03 pm:
What this article proves unquestionably and indisputably is that there is at least one person high up on Blago’s staff that monitors this website on a daily basis. I wonder what salary one is paid for sitting at their computer and reading your blog comments/posts on a daily basis? How funny. Rich, you are feared by this administration and that’s a wonderful position to be in. At least they are afraid of one person, what you write, who reads it, and what others write, even though they will deny it. Sadly though, you may have just been kicked off the bus.

- the commuter once known as So Ill - Friday, Nov 2, 07 @ 12:11 pm:
But you did say you don’t want YOUR tax dollars going north for buses, and the problem is, that wouldn’t happen under the current plan…so what’s your objection?

- Carl Nyberg - Friday, Nov 2, 07 @ 12:12 pm:
Is the CTA managed perfectly? Absolutely not.

Can the current situation be fixed by making RTA/CTA management more efficient? Absolutely not.

It’s completely unfair and unrealistic for people to be raising minor concerns at the 11th hour as an excuse to not make the money available.

If you are going to raise issues of mismanagement of the RTA/CTA at this point I expect you to have a history of raising these issues and a list of specific cuts the RTA/CTA can make.

To just tell me that you “know” there are inefficiencies that can be cut–even if you don’t know what they are and how big they are–and therefore it’s OK to deliver a devastating blow to public transportation tells me that you were against public transportation when you came to the discussion.

- Downstater - Friday, Nov 2, 07 @ 12:18 pm:
I shouldn’t have commented without reading the wh proposal. I am not against public transportation. I apologize. However,I did not say that I know there are management issues. There seems to be some kind of management problem if they need bailed out. Just an observation.

- Rich Miller - Friday, Nov 2, 07 @ 12:20 pm:
:)

- Captain America - Friday, Nov 2, 07 @ 1:19 pm:
More lies and disinformation, or possibley just incredible ineptitiude, from the Blago adminstration about whether the promised interim transit bail-out funds had been authorized.Hynes/Miller called the Blago bluff.

I’m comfortable with another temoporary interim solution until January Simply becasue Madigan can pass the Hamos Plan with a simple majority in January of he still needs to do so. Jones would be toppled immediately if he fails to pass the Hamos plan in January, and Blago will be committing political suicide if he vetos the Hamos Plan in January.

Presumably, the legislators will be able to come to some agreement on the capital and transit bills soon. It’s a complete mystery to me why the Governor considers the use of State gas tax money to be superior to a regional metropolitan sales tax. It’s a classic “Rob Peter to Pay Paul” maneuver. My understanding is that we’re already guranteed to incur substantial shortfalls in the FY 2008 budget because of cuts in Federal funding for health care , in addition to the Governor’s exraconstitutional health care initiatives.

- MOON - Friday, Nov 2, 07 @ 1:31 pm:
Captain America 1:19 pm

If life was only so simple. If Madigan cannot get a super majority, his plan (sales tax increase) will be vetoed by Blago.

- Captain America - Friday, Nov 2, 07 @ 2:16 pm:
Blago can veto it, and if he does, he will never be elected to any political office again. So there is a silver lining in every cloud. Everyone knows who is responsible for the current mass transit impasse, and it isn’t Mike Madigan.

If I were Mike Madigan, I would make the captital/casino plan, contingent on achieving a veto proof supermajority in both the House and the Senate for the Hamos Plan, simply because it is the best public policy option available from the menu of alternatives to address the msss transit funding problem. In other words, I’d shove it down Blago’s throat and make him like it.

- Bill - Friday, Nov 2, 07 @ 2:24 pm:
Rich,
Nice work! Governor Blagojevich is lucky to have you keeping an eye on his administration to make sure that they perform the way they are supposed to.
Now, if you will just get to work on some supplemental approps for some of the vetoed projects this could turn out to be a decent year.

- Cassandra - Friday, Nov 2, 07 @ 2:35 pm:
You would think that if the RTA were as hard up as they say they are, they would have been demanding their money loudly and publicly for weeks. I know there are always accounting maneuvers but still….there’s a PR factor here.

Looks like things aren’t as bad over there as they’d like us to believe…raising questions about how badly they really need that sales tax money.

When money is involved, you can never believe anything the government says. And unless all taxpayers get their CPA’s and start review all the
financial stuff themselves, we really can’t assume the pols aren’t picking our pockets. So much for transparent government.

- MOON - Friday, Nov 2, 07 @ 2:58 pm:
Captain

I’am agreement with your beliefs, however in the next session(2008) Blago will start the games all over again. furthermore there will be no emergency. Your thoughts ?

- Deep South - Friday, Nov 2, 07 @ 3:42 pm:
Don’t try to tell me that a healthy CTA/RTA is good for the economy in deep Southern Illinois. That dog just don’t hunt, never will.

- MOON - Friday, Nov 2, 07 @ 3:49 pm:
DEEP

Where do you think the majority of tax dollars come from? Open your mind, a healthy economy in northern Illinois benefits the entire state. That dog does hunt!!!!!

- Rich Miller - Friday, Nov 2, 07 @ 3:58 pm:
Deep, so you’re saying that if it doesn’t benefit deep southern Illinois then you’re against it? That’ll go far in a legislature comprised of people from all over Illinois.

Some of y’all really need to grow up and realize that politics isn’t solely about yourselves.

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