Below is a copy of the email I sent to Representative Hamos and Senator Sandoval.
Rep. Hamos,
I am currently a 3rd year Law Student at Chicago Kent College of Law and enrolled in Professor William Kling's Legislative Advocacy course.
My final project for the course is to create a legislative action plan and my chosen topic is state funding related to Chicago mass transit improvements.
As the Chairman of the House Mass Transit Committee I know you are aware of the issues facing Chicago transportation and that the state legislature is looking at creating new public works legislation.
I wanted to inquire on how far along this potential legislation is; specifically if a document has been drafted.
If a draft has not been created I would be happy to create a bare bones initial draft tailored to fit your vision. Either the 10 billion dollar plan proposed by the Regional Transit Authority or something on a smaller scale. If not I would appreciate some information on the proposal and when it might be introduced.
Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.
Respectfully,
Aaron Basch
I was unable to make contact with Senator Sandoval but I did hear back from Representative Hamos’ Office. I conducted a phone interview with her Chief of Staff Angie Lobo and a memo of that conversation follows:
Ms. Lobo began by instructing me to focus in on the RTA recommendations and their major plan titled Moving Beyond Congestion. MBC was a major study conducted by the RTA of the specific transit needs of northeast Illinois. The study concluded with a 10 billion dollar wish list of projects.
The discussion then turned to what the state legislature has already accomplished. Just recently the house had passed a mini capital bill providing a modest amount of funds for mass transit. A perpetual problem in the state has been the gross disparity in the funding between roads funding and transit funding. The mini capital bill put the ratio at 2 to 1. Traditionally the ratio has been even greater at 5 or 4 to 1.
She noted that more studies need to be conducted to decide where funds could best be used. Additionally decisions need to be made as to who manages projects and how much oversight the legislature should have.
Ms. Lobo did express so hope that a bill could be introduced later this year although it is unclear how difficult it will be to pass a bill and in what form.
In the meantime the state is actively seeking federal stimulus money for any agencies presenting shovel ready projects. To conclude she reiterated how troubling it is for the state that there has been not a single capital bill in over a decade.
