Illinois lawmakers passed a compromise bill to fund public transit in an overnight session, delivering $1.5 billion in new funding for mass transit systems across the state, and creating a new governing body to oversee the CTA, Metra, and Pace in the Chicago area.

Supporters said it will avert the need for drastic cuts to the Chicago area's mass transit systems without a significant statewide tax hike.

Gov. JB Pritzker said he will sign the measure into law.

"Illinoisans deserve a world-class transportation system that connects communities across regions, drives economic growth, and helps every resident – no matter where they live – access transit to live, work, and enjoy the state," he said in a statement.

The House voted 72-33 to pass Senate bill 2111 around 2:15 a.m. on Friday with only Democrats supporting the plan.  The Senate followed with a 36-21 vote in favor of the bill around 4 a.m., concluding more than a year of negotiations.

The plan authorizes the Regional Transportation Authority to increase its regional sales tax by 0.25 percentage points, to 1% in Lake, McHenry, Kane, DuPage and Will counties and 1.25% in Cook County. The RTA board has the authority to raise it within two months of the bill's effective date, which is June 2026. That tax hike is expected to generate $478 million.  

The bulk of the funding, $860 million, would come through redirecting sales tax revenue charged on motor fuel purchases to public transportation operations. Another estimated $200 million would come from interest growing in the Road Fund — a state fund that is typically used for road construction projects but can also be used for transportation-related purposes under the state constitution. 

"That system has been running on borrowed time," bill sponsor Rep. Eva-Dina Delgado, D-Chicago, said. "Fragmented governance, uneven investment and post-COVID ridership losses have left transit struggling with unreliable service, delayed trains, canceled routs and a looming fiscal cliff that's threatening to derail it all without action."  

Earlier proposals of a 7% amusement tax and a $1.50 packaged-goods delivery fee are now gone.

Drivers of passenger vehicles on northern Illinois' toll roads will also have to pay 45 cents more per toll as part of a plan to create a new capital program for tollway projects.  

A coalition of labor unions that had generally opposed using Road Fund money for public transportation supported the latest bill.  

"It is, you know, just vitally important that we keep 15,000 people in transit working," Illinois AFL-CIO President Tim Drea, who led the labor coalition, told Capitol News Illinois. "Overall, it was a good bill that that we needed."  

The bill will also abolish the Regional Transit Authority, the organization that oversees Metra, Pace, and CTA. This would be replaced with the Northern Illinois Transit Authority. 

The Better Government Association said the new oversight structure for the Chicago area's mass transit agencies is a step in the right direction.

"While all the other boards will still be there, this one is the major board that they all have to report to. So I think, at the end of the day, this is going to create major efficiencies with governance, with infrastructure, with finances, and with fares, and with scheduling." 

The Regional Transportation Authority, Chicago Transit Agency, Metra commuter rail and Pace Suburban Bus collectively face a $230 million funding shortfall in 2026 as pandemic relief money runs out. The funding deficit is projected to grow to $834 million in 2027 and $937 million in 2028. Without action in Springfield to plug that gap, the transit agencies have said they could be forced to cut services by 40%.

Audrey Wennick, who leads the transportation policy efforts at the Metropolitan Planning Council, a nonprofit policy organization, has been tracking transit funding efforts in Springfield from the beginning.

"This provides a long-term funding solution," she said. "This has been a multiyear journey."

Wennick said mass transit users will see improvements with the new funding; "better connections for riders, better communications with riders, improved safety."

Republicans pleaded with the Democratic sponsors to pull the bill Thursday night, given that the funding shortfall for the Chicago Transit Authority wouldn't hit until the middle of 2026. But after more than a year of negotiations, Democratic leaders were ready to put the issue to rest.

The Senate followed with a 36-21 vote in favor of the bill around 4 a.m., concluding more than a year of negotiations.

"We are changing our public transit system for the first time in five decades to be safe, to be reliable, to be accessible, to be integrated; making sure that we got the performance and we got the funding that's needed to make a system of the next level," Sen. Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago, said.

The bill frustrated some lawmakers outside the Chicago area because of provisions that reroute money from the broader funding source of infrastructure projects.

Funding for downstate public transportation agencies, which face their own funding challenges as a sales tax-based formula becomes less lucrative, are set to receive $129 million annually – below the $200 million they had hoped for.

The move to direct most of the funding to the Chicago area left Republicans frustrated.

"I'm actually not thrilled that we are continuing on this transit bill, although I am happy that my constituents aren't going to be stuck with ridiculous taxes," Rep. Regan Deering, R-Decatur, said. "But I just can't continue to vote for a piece of legislation that's screws them anyway."

Downstate lawmakers also worried the bill tapping into Road Fund money removed a critical funding source for road construction projects.

"This transit funding bill creates a perverse incentive … to not diminish the balance of the Road Fund, not get projects out of the door … but continue to build up big balances in the Road Fund," Rep. Ryan Spain, R-Peoria, said.

Sen. Don DeWitte, R-St. Charles, the Senate Republican's transit leader, spoke in support of using interest from the road fund to pay for public transportation.

Capitol News Illinois contributed to this report.