QUOTE OF THE DAY
Chicago Tribune: Metra proposes 11% fare hike as part of fleet modernization effort
Metra is proposing fare increases averaging nearly 11 percent next year and will seek additional hikes totaling about 68 percent over the next decade, money needed to modernize its aging fleet, officials said Thursday.
The increases would help pay for a $2.4 billion capital plan that Metra says is “critical to maintaining safe and reliable service” by rebuilding and replacing the commuter rail agency’s rail cars and locomotives.
“This is the first time Metra has ever proposed to enact an actual 10-year capital investment plan, on paper for everyone to see,” Metra Chairman Martin Oberman said earlier this week. “This is a brand-new approach to governing Metra.”Chicago’s UberX rates lowest in country
Reuters: Illinois budget to increase unpaid bills to $6.4 bln
The current Illinois state budget is underfunded, relies on borrowing and will boost the state’s stack of unpaid bills to an estimated $6.4 billion, the first such increase in three years, according to a review of the budget released on Thursday.
The Civic Federation, the fiscal watchdog group that undertook the review, said while Illinois had whittled down the bill backlog from $8.8 billion in fiscal 2012 to about $6 billion in fiscal 2014, the fiscal 2015 budget “represents a return to unsustainable fiscal practices”.
The Herald News: Illiana Expressway plan survives latest challenge
Illiana Expressway supporters have defeated an attempt to scrap the project during a meeting of a regional planning organization.
The planned 47-mile tollway south of Chicago in Will County is one of Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn’s top public works priorities. Opponents call it a boondoggle.
The Metropolitan Planning Organization Policy Committee met Thursday to consider draft updates to the region’s long-term infrastructure and land use plan.
State Journal-Register: State pension gaps across country shrink for first time since ’07
State pension plans are strengthening for the first time in six years as rising contributions and rallying stocks ease a fiscal strain that’s vexed municipal leaders since the recession.
The median state system last year had 69.3 percent of the assets needed to meet promised benefits, up from 68.7 percent in 2012, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It was the first increase since the start of the 18-month recession that ravaged retirement assets and led some officials to skip payments as tax revenue sank. Illinois and New Jersey, with the weakest state credit ratings, saw funding levels set new lows for the period.
Washington Post: After huge tax incentive package, Boeing still ships jobs out of Washington
Eleven months ago, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) signed a package of tax breaks and incentives aimed at keeping tens of thousands of Boeing jobs in the Puget Sound region. Valued at $8.7 billion over 27 years, the set of bills amounted to the single largest tax break any state has ever given to a single company.
Now, policymakers who feel they bent over backwards to accommodate the aerospace giant feel burned: In the past two weeks, Boeing announced it would move thousands of jobs out of Washington State.
Sun-Times: Average Metra fare to jump 68 percent over 10 years under proposal
Metra board members Thursday advanced a plan to raise fares by nearly 11 percent next year and by a total 68 percent over a decade to help upgrade the oldest fleet among its peers.
The green light to 10 consecutive years of fare increases came with some trepidation that Metra riders would be hit with a 10.8 percent fare increase Feb. 1, but not see any new train cars for 2 ? to 3 years.
“We absolutely are asking our customers to be patient,” Metra CEO Don Orseno told reporters after Thursday’s board meeting. “It takes a long time to get these cars…”
But Orseno said, “When new cars are in place, they will have a more reliable, more comfortable ride.”
WICD: Minorities: Group Most Effected By Recession
CARTOON OF THE DAY
