Gov. Quinn is asking the General Assembly to pass a "mini capital" program by the end of the week. Because it represents the first portion of Quinn's larger, $26 billion construction proposal, transit advocates are pushing legislators to set a solid precedent for how the state prioritizes its surface transportation dollars later in the year. At a press conference in Springfield today, Illinois PIRG director Brian Imus explained the value in funding mass transit projects on a 1:1 ratio with road improvements. Watch it (full video available at Blue Room Stream):

During the same press conference, State Sen. Martin Sandoval also argued that the funding ratio between roads and mass transit isn't good enough.

While the Chicago Democrat has not seen a final draft of the bill, those close to the negotiations (PDF) believe that $100 million from the state’s General Revenue Fund would cover debt service to fund $1 billion worth of transit projects while $200 million will be diverted from the Road Fund to service $2 billion worth of highway bonds. While this ratio is certainly an improvement over capital bills previously proposed by Rod Blagojevich, Sandoval told reporters today that Quinn's distribution still needs work. "We need to be bold," he said, "and use new solutions and new ratios for the future."

The Senator also said he and his Senate colleagues favor an eight-cents-per-gallon increase in the state's motor fuel tax, a move Quinn opposes (but which has some merits). Senate President John Cullerton thinks the hike would generate $500 million a year. Combined with other increases in various motorist-related fees and some general revenue from the state's income tax plan, Sandoval says the General Assembly can piece together $1 billion annually to support that state's minimum transit infrastructure needs.

Of course, to maintain and expand the severely-underfunded statewide system, a lot more revenue is needed.  The Transportation for Illinois Coalition offers a conservative figure of $13 billion over five years. On the first day of the spring session, Sandoval will chair a transportation committee hearing to identify revenue sources to cover such an amount.