As someone who has spent nearly two decades keeping Chicago’s trains moving safely, I know how much our region depends on public transit — and how much is at stake if we let it fail.

Right now, Illinois is facing a transit fiscal cliff. By 2027, the CTA, Metra and Pace are projected to face a combined $834 million annual shortfall. Even with hiring freezes, fare hikes and one-time funds, that gap will only grow if left unaddressed.

That number represents real people who rely on buses and trains to reach work, school and medical appointments, and workers like me who keep the system running safely every day. Without sustainable funding, both groups will pay the price through layoffs, service cuts and longer wait times.

I’ve lived through that uncertainty before. In 2011, I was laid off right before Christmas during another budget crisis. I had bills to pay, a family to support and no clear path forward. What should have been a joyful season became one of fear and instability. It took seven years before I was finally called back to work.

I joined the CTA in 2006, following in my brother’s footsteps. When I was growing up on Chicago’s Southeast Side, good union jobs like this were rare. The CTA wasn’t just a paycheck but a chance to build something better for me and my family. When that was taken away, everything felt uncertain. I saw what layoffs do to people: the stress, the anxiety, the loss of hope.

Now, more than a decade later, I fear we’re heading down that same track.

Transit workers and riders deserve stability. That’s why I’m calling on the Regional Transportation Authority and Illinois lawmakers to come together and pass comprehensive transit reform that includes both revenue and reform.

We need action. And we need it now.

— Leo Wong, electrical signal maintenance specialist at the CTA and IBEW Local 9 member

Homeowner’s insurance

The Illinois Department of Insurance (DOI) has quietly advanced a sweeping legislative proposal in the eleventh hour of the fall veto session that would upend our state’s successful homeowner’s insurance system and harm consumers. Now more than ever, we should be working together to ensure any legislation protects consumers.

Without public debate or stakeholder engagement, the DOI is pursuing last-minute legislation that would impose a prior approval rate regulation model, one that even authorizes the DOI to retroactively disapprove a rate already approved. No other state has adopted such draconian overregulation.

Illinois’ current regulatory system fosters competition, encourages innovation and gives consumers choices. More than 200 companies offer coverage in Illinois, making our market one of the most competitive in the country. That competition drives affordability. Illinois homeowners pay an average of $1,143 annually for insurance — below the national average of $1,337.

The DOI’s proposed shift would reverse that progress. Independent analysis shows that moving to a prior approval system could increase premiums by 20%, or roughly $230 per household. That’s not speculation; it’s a predictable outcome based on what we’ve seen in other states where regulators attempt to suppress actuarially sound rates. California’s availability crisis is a cautionary tale: When insurers can’t adjust rates to reflect real-world risks, they pull back or exit the market entirely. Consumers are left with fewer options and higher costs.

Let’s be clear about what’s driving insurance costs today:

Construction labor costs have increased 36.3% while building material costs are up 42.7% over the last five years.
Population growth in high-risk areas.
Legal system abuse that inflates claim costs.
Increasing frequency and severity of weather events; in 2023, Illinois led the nation with 120 reported tornadoes.

These are real, measurable pressures. In 2023, Illinois homeowners’ insurers suffered a staggering 30.3% underwriting loss. Over the past decade, the cumulative loss stands at 8.3%. Premium increases are not about profit, but rather ensuring insurers can keep their promises to policyholders.

The DOI’s proposal ignores this reality. Instead of working collaboratively to strengthen the market, it’s working behind closed doors to impose a poorly conceived system that will drive up costs and reduce availability.

Illinois’ insurance market is a success story. It’s competitive and responsive. We should be building on that foundation — not bulldozing it to the ground with rushed, ill-conceived regulations. We urge lawmakers to reject this eleventh-hour maneuver.

— Kevin Martin, executive director, Illinois Insurance Association, Springfield

Strengthen power grid

Illinois businesses and residents have faced shocking increases in their electric bills, with prices rising some 5.5% in the last year and projected to increase further in 2026. It presents a significant challenge, not only for households but also for the entire state economy, which risks losing businesses if energy costs keep climbing.

Illinois is not alone. Electricity prices are rising from coast to coast, as aging and inadequate power infrastructure struggles to meet growing demand from data centers, manufacturing growth and increased electrification of day-to-day needs such as vehicles and heating. The price spikes are pinching budgets and fueling voter angst.

Luckily, Illinois has an opportunity, right now, to do something about it, but it will take urgent action from the state legislature.

Lawmakers have until Thursday to finalize the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability (CRGA) Act — nation-leading legislation that would reduce electric bills, modernize crucial infrastructure and strengthen Illinois’ competitiveness. At a time of federal stalemate, CRGA gives Illinois a chance to set an example for the rest of the country on how to best address these challenges. Importantly, it upholds Illinois’ commitment to reducing pollution and addressing climate change — because, today, clean energy is also the most affordable energy. Solar and wind, along with the battery storage to preserve that power, have rapidly become both the least-expensive and the quickest-to-build energy sources.

Just look at states like Texas, which does not have any climate-related goals but is rapidly deploying clean energy solutions and, in the process, mitigating energy price spikes. Regardless of how you prioritize the dual challenges of climate change and energy affordability, their solutions are in fact the same.

CRGA will reduce energy costs by relying on the technologies, tools and policies that will most affordably and reliably address growing demand. This wide-ranging, holistic and pragmatic approach to energy affordability has won the support of major businesses operating in Illinois — including Akamai Technologies, HA Sustainable Infrastructure, Leopardo Construction, Rivian and Sealed, among others — all of which see the value of getting more power delivered more easily across Illinois.

But lawmakers are running out of time. If they don’t act this week, they will miss the deadline for 2025. At an uncertain economic moment, and with electricity rates rising at double the rate of inflation, Illinois lawmakers must finalize and pass CRGA now.

Illinois ratepayers simply cannot afford the status quo.

— Christian Koch, manager of Midwest state policy, Ceres, Chicago

Campaign finance rules

Regarding the article “Elections board divided, meaning nearly $10M fine against Harmon unlikely” (Oct. 22): Democratic elections board members’ failure to hold Senate President Don Harmon accountable in this case is a shameful abdication of their responsibility to enforce state campaign finance rules and keep our elections fair and honest.

It shows Illinoisans — once again — that party insiders will close ranks to shield each other from accountability and that power and partisanship are more important to our leaders than the public interest and the rule of law.

This is the opposite of what we should expect from our representatives, especially as Illinois Democrats justifiably lambaste the Donald Trump administration for undemocratic abuses of power and former state House Speaker Michael Madigan spends his first weeks in federal prison.

Board members will take up the case again in November to determine the legal effect of the 4-4 tie on Harmon’s potential fine. We hope their decision will be guided by the law and their obligation to the people of Illinois — not by partisanship and cronyism.

— Alisa Kaplan, executive director, Reform for Illinois

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/29/letters-102925-cta-pace-metra-funding/