IL: Mayor Brandon Johnson urges ‘expediency’ in addressing CTA fiscal cliff

Mayor Brandon Johnson on Tuesday reiterated his urgency for Springfield to hammer out a deal addressing the Chicago Transit Authority’s fiscal cliff before the current legislative session ends this week, while remaining vague on his latest demands.

At his weekly City Hall news conference, the mayor again called for Chicago area transit to receive an “equitable distribution and fair share of resources” as state lawmakers mull proposals including whether to tie a bailout of the CTA to a proposal overhauling the governance structure of the Chicago area’s public transit systems. However, it remained unclear what the Johnson administration’s role will be in those discussions over the coming days.

Asked whether it would be acceptable for lawmakers to change local transit’s governance structure without new CTA revenue, the mayor stressed “my position is we have to do both.”

“There’s no secret that we have to move with some expediency to ensure that the funding is there,” Johnson told reporters before conceding that bifurcating the two was a possibility. “The timing of it all, (there’s) probably some room there. Not very much though.”

Should the Illinois General Assembly conclude its spring session this weekend without addressing the financial shortfall that looms for the CTA at the end of this year, the issue may then be punted to the fall veto session.

Complicating a delay like that, though, is that the CTA is slated to present its 2026 budget proposal during the fall, with an expected vote in November. So if Springfield leaders do not figure out the transit system’s funding shortfall this week, the agency would have to prepare a budget with a giant question mark on much-needed revenue.

“Yes, I am calculating the distance between ensuring that there’s funding and how we can continue to grow our system, and we’re going to stick to it, work as hard as we can these next few days to be able to come to a reasonable resolution,” Johnson said.

The mayor visited the statehouse in late April with a modest wish list that did not include the CTA funding piece among his four priorities “because it’s on the priority list of the entire state of Illinois.” That’s even as the ramifications of the governance changes being discussed would uniquely impact the mayor’s office.

Faced with customer dissatisfaction over the years, a proposal to combine CTA, Metra, Pace and the Regional Transportation Authority has been on the table for months, along with a provision that would limit the mayor’s influence on the transit boards. The RTA warns of a 40% cut in service to the local transit systems should they not see a significant influx of new money.

Meanwhile, the city’s upcoming budget process is already shaping up to be an arduous one, given the $1.1 billion deficit projected for 2026. A hearing next week in the City Council’s subcommittee on revenue aims to address the shortfall with a bundle of new taxing ideas, which Johnson’s team said includes levies that require state legislative approval.

Since Springfield is adjourning before then, any revenue ideas that need state buy-in may not be negotiated until the fall veto session at the earliest, meaning discussions would have to happen concurrently with the city’s 2026 budget process.

Johnson’s budget director, Annette Guzman, characterized the revenue hearing next week as beginning the conversations “early,” however, because it’s ahead of next year’s state budget process. She added that the administration plans to explore new taxes the city can impose, too.

Also Tuesday, Johnson’s administration championed its legal efforts to oppose President Donald Trump’s sweeping changes to federal government. All together, Chicago has entered 30 direct complaints, amicus briefs and administrative responses to oppose Trump’s efforts, Johnson’s Corporation Counsel, Mary Richardson-Lowry, said.

One lawsuit joined by the city to halt the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency’s cuts to the federal workforce won a preliminary restraining order and is now in the Supreme Court, Richardson-Lowry said. In another case, the city is opposing cuts to anti-terrorism program funding, she added.

Echoing a February speech by Gov. JB Pritzker, Johnson likened Trump’s actions to “how Nazi Germany became real,” adding, “you can’t make this up, he is doing it in plain sight.”

©2025 Chicago Tribune.
Visit chicagotribune.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.