wait for it wait for it

Wait for it ... wait for it ...

The worries of Chicago-area mass transit riders, Illinois public

schools and human service providers culminated at the state Capitol

Thursday, but they were all put on hold for seven to 10 days. Gov. Rod

Blagojevich said Thursday night outside of his Statehouse office that

he would announce a short-term plan Friday that would save

Chicago-area mass transit from severe cuts in services and in payroll.

In those seven to 10 days, Blagojevich said he and the legislative

leaders -- three of whom stood next to him Thursday night -- would

urge the Regional Transportation Authority to avoid cutting

Chicagoland mass transit services November 4. He said that's because

he and the Illinois General Assembly could tie up major differences in

the capital program for road and school construction financed by a

gaming expansion. And tying that up would allow for Republicans and

downstate lawmakers to approve a mass transit bill primarily for

Chicago, he said.

He was joined by Senate President Emil Jones Jr. and the two

Republican leaders, Tom Cross in the House and Frank Watson in the

Senate.

Quote Blagojevich: "There's broad consensus among Senate President

Jones, Republican Leader Watson, Republican Leader Cross and myself

that the practical reality is that in order to solve the mass transit

problem long-term for the Chicagoland area, we need an infrastructure,

capital construction program to get the downstate members to vote for

a Chicago issue and to get the Republican members to support a Chicago

issue."

The missing force was House Speaker Michael Madigan, who arrived late

and left early from the leaders' meeting. Afterwards, Madigan said

little other than that the House would wait to hear the governor's

announcement before voting on the mass transit proposal that would

increase the regional sales tax and real estate transfer tax in Cook

County and restructure the governance of the Chicago Transit

Authority.

"We're going to wait to hear from the governor to see if he has

produced more money for another short-term, one-week to 10-day

bailout," Madigan said before walking away.

Downstairs from the leaders' meeting, Chicago Transit Authority

executive director Ron Huberman told a House committee that the agency

can't risk accepting another short-term solution. But that depends on

whether he, as well as the mass transit riders and other service

providers waiting for state money, believe the governor's promise that

everything will fall into place within seven to 10 days.

Jones said the RTA and the CTA officials will testify to a Senate

committee Friday.

Schools held hostage?

One more issue tangled in this mess is state aid payments for public

schools.

School districts across the state are still waiting for increases in

state aid payments promised to them when the legislature approved a

state budget in August. (They've been getting their fiscal year 2007

levels since August.) The piece of legislation needed for the state to

distribute the new money -- including an increase in per-student

spending and an increase in reimbursements for special education

teachers -- is another victim of the political standoff on capital and

mass transit funding.

"Enough is enough." That was the message delivered by state Rep. Roger

Eddy, a Hutsonville Republican, on behalf of fellow House Republicans

and school superintendents earlier Thursday in a Statehouse news

conference.

Without the legislation to release the new money, Eddy said not only

will schools miss out on the promised increased funding, but some

districts actually will lose money. The Illinois State Board of

Education would have to recalculate general state aid payments using

last year's numbers.

"In fact, 726 school districts, as of today, when the calculation is

recalculated, will actually receive less money in state aid payments

beginning with the November 10 payment," Eddy said.

For instance, Jeff Patchett, superintendent of Oblong Community Unit

School District 4 in east central Illinois, said that his district,

which is already on the federal financial warning list, would lose out

on $8,571 in state aid per month without legislative action. If the

legislation to implement the payments were approved, then the

district's state aid payments would increase by more than $21,000 per

month.

Logistically, the House could vote on one "budget implementation bill"

(a.k.a. BIMP) already approved by the Senate. Instead, the House

advanced a new, more comprehensive BIMP bill that Democratic budget

negotiator Rep. Gary Hannig of Litchfield said is more in sync with

the approved budget than the one approved by the Senate month's ago.

The House and Senate are back in session Friday, and the leaders are