Progress Illinois

While visiting China and South Korea earlier this month, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley talked up his plan for a so-called express train service between O'Hare Airport and the Loop. Express train service deserves the "so-called" modifier because unless the rail and engineering specs have changed dramatically since the CTA released a 2006 study (PDF) about the project, the assumption is that express service trains would zip between O'Hare and its terminus in the Loop in 30 minutes under one scenario or 25 minutes under another.

That means a 15-to-20-minute time savings for travelers versus the 45-minute Blue Line trip between O'Hare and downtown assumed by the '06 study. But to be fair to current Blue Line service, the CTA says that you can board a train at O'Hare on a weekday at 2:00 p.m. and arrive at the Clark and Lake station downtown 39 minutes later. So for some trips, express train service would save as little as nine minutes, based on the CTA's '06 analysis. Shockingly, an informal survey around the Progress Illinois office suggested that staffers would prefer paying the regular CTA rate for a maximum 45-minute Blue Line train trip to O'Hare versus the assumed $17 rate for a 30-minute trip on Daley's hoped-for express service. 

Though the mayor says private investors want to design, build, operate and maintain an express train service here, taxpayers won't be off the hook. More than $172 million in public money has already been committed to just building an express service superstation at Block 37. A more recent planning document, the transportation section (PDF) in 2009's Central Area Action Plan, lists express rail service for O'Hare and Midway as costing $1.5 billion. Federal and state dollars are listed as potential funding sources for construction of such service.

But federal and state capital dollars are limited. The CTA has other important projects it is seeking to fund through the next federal transportation bill -- like the long-awaited Red Line extension to the Far South Side, for example. Such proposals should be at the front of the line for public funds versus those that would save travelers a few minutes here and there. So unless Daley's private investors are ready to pony up for the entirety of this project, maybe it's time to scrap the Zombie O'Hare Express Train altogether. It's yet another call the next mayor will have to make.

Without some help from the federal government, the General Assembly could face another hefty interest payment in about 15 months.

Last year, the state received a $2 billion credit line from Washington to pay out unemployment benefits to laid-off workers. The heightened demand for jobless benefits thoroughly drained Illinois' unemployment insurance trust fund, which employers cover by contributing a percentage of a worker’s salary via a payroll tax. While Congress has so far waived the interest requirement on that loan (as part of the economic stimulus bill), Kurt Erickson reports today that Illinois will need to fork over roughly $300 million in interest beginning in 2012.

Those payments could increase over time, too. The Illinois Department of Employment Security anticipates it will need to borrow from the feds once again before the year closes out. Congress will definitely consider another emergency unemployment benefit extension this winter, which most economists still support. ProPublica estimates that we will ultimately borrow $8 billion before the recession ends.

Back in May, we highlighted a few potential solutions to the unemployment trust fund debacle. In D.C., Congress could extend indefinitely its moratorium on state interest payments. Here in Illinois, business and labor must reach some long-term agreement that either increases how much employers contribute or reduces how much workers receive in benefits. The state already raised (PDF) slightly the maximum wage figure that is subject to the payroll tax, but they could be more aggressive in increasing what employers chip in, as Washington State has done to wide praise. And while they are at it, lawmakers could simplify the lengthy appeals process for workers trying to access benefits, a reform the Legal Assistance Foundation has been fighting for over the past several years.

We recently posted a video highlighting the effects of the unemployment crisis on Illinoisans. Watch it here.