House Transit Bill Drops With New "Amusement" and Streaming Tax
Rep. Kam Buckner (D-Chicago), one of the House Democrat lead negotiators on transit reform, speaks to reporters in Springfield Tuesday. (Photo: Chicago Tribune)
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After months of speculation and negotiations, House Democrats dropped a 1,000 page mass transit reform and funding bill that includes more than $1.5 billion in tax increases.
The legislation includes a 7% “Amusement Tax” on sporting events and concerts as well as streaming services like Netflix and Hulu. The legislation also increases penalties for speed cameras in the Chicago area.
Democrats have also included a 4.95% tax on “unrealized gains” of billionaires, profits on an investment that has increased in value but has not yet been sold.
It does not include the $1.50 delivery tax, or “Amazon tax” the Senate passed in the waning hours of the spring legislative session in May that was met with widespread criticism.
Rep. Kam Buckner (D-Chicago), one of the architects of the plan, along with Rep. Eva-Dina Delgado (D-Chicago) called the legislation a “governance, structural, and funding reset” for struggling mass transit systems in the Chicagoland region.
“No state has ever attempted a package that so fully reimagines how public transportation is funded, governed, and held accountable,” he said. “The legislation doesn’t simply plug a budget hole; it rewrites the revenue architecture that underpins mobility for the entire state. It modernizes how dollars flow, how decisions are made, and how reliability is measured.”
The legislation would, at least in theory, stave off a so-called “fiscal cliff” for CTA, Metra, and Pace as well as infuse hundreds of millions of dollars into much smaller downstate transit systems.
Rep. Brad Stephens (R-Rosemont), who has been involved in some of the working group meetings on transit reforms said he was “still absorbing” the legislation after it had been filed Tuesday night.
Multiple Republicans we spoke to say they’re skeptical any GOP member votes for the legislation.
