Jan 3, 2008 10:07 am US/Central
Mayor Daley: Skyway Funds Won't Go To CTA Bailout
Blagojevich Suggested Idea Of Using Funds From Privatizing Skyway
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Mayor Richard M. Daley says he will not use the $1.8 billion windfall he generated by privatizing the Chicago Skyway to give a boost to Chicago Transit Authority funding.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich has suggested the idea of raiding Skyway funds for the CTA after twice coming up with short-term state funding fixes.
But Daley says it wouldn't be prudent for a city to sell assets to use them for its budget. Daley adds, if the governor wants to generate dollars for state infrastructure projects, he could follow the city's lead and lease the Illinois Tollway to a private contractor.
The problem of transit money has been on the legislative agenda for months. Gov. Rod Blagojevich scheduled a special session of the Illinois General Assembly to address the issue on Wednesday, but almost no one showed up.
A sparsely-attended Senate meeting adjourned after two minutes. Attendance in the House was slightly better, but the session ended there after 13 minutes.
Late Wednesday, Abby Ottenhoff, a spokesperson for the governor said in a statement, "We're disappointed that most lawmakers failed to appear for the special session called by the Governor to fund the CTA and avert a planned January 20 doomsday."
Among the governor's other suggestions for CTA funding are to take advantage of corporate tax loopholes and possibly implement a cigarette tax hike to fund transit. He opposes a proposal to use state sales tax and regional real estate transfer tax to cover mass transit costs.
The CTA plans to cut 81 of its 154 bus routes, raise fares to as much as $3.25 and lay off more than 2,400 workers if the deadline passes without action in Springfield.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.cbs2chicago.com's Most Popular Pages
Slideshow: Most Popular Videos Of 2007 Slideshow: Newsmakers Remembered Slideshow: Drinks Dudes Should NEVER Order Slideshow: They Really Said It! Quotes From Celebrities In 2007 Slideshow: 90s TV Stars Then And Now Slideshow: What A Way To Go Slideshow: In To Be Out: Gay Celebrities Slideshow: Did You Know? Stars From Chicago!
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
