Illinois Quietly Rewrote the Rules: Intercity Rail is Now Transit When the Illinois General Assembly passed its $1.5 billion transit package, it did something more profound than stabilize budgets or prevent service cuts. It fundamentally reconceived the role of...
Newsletter 9/26/25:Fiscal Cliff Legislation and Ohio Rail Advocacy
Kam “Can Guarantee You” That Fiscal Cliff Legislation Will Get Done
Advocates must keep up pressure to help him deliver on promise.
Illinois legislators will return to Springfield Oct. 14 for the Veto Session, at which they also can take up urgent legislation that they did not pass in the spring. Such a piece of legislation is the “Fiscal Cliff” bill, H.B. 3438.
This legislation is crucial to any efforts to expand rail service, in frequency or reach, anywhere in Illinois. The unease that we feel about this will not be diminished unless and until the governor signs his name to legislation. However, we did hear encouraging words over the weekend from State Rep. Kam Buckner (D-Chicago), one of the main legislators working the Fiscal Cliff bill.
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All Aboard Ohio’s Rail Advocacy Strategy (Video)
Speaker: Mitch Radakovich, Board chair, All Aboard Ohio
All Aboard Ohio has grown, leading an ambitious effort in 2025. With statewide chapters and engaging events, the group has enlisted passenger rail advocates in a push to fund expanded passenger rail service within Ohio and to neighboring states, as well as for reentry to the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission. In this video, you can learn where things stand today, and about All Aboard Ohio’s strategy to take passenger-rail advocacy to a new level.
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Luncheon – Averting the Fiscal Cliff: The Road to Regional & High-Speed Rail
When: Friday, October 10, 11am to 3pm CT (Doors open at 10am)
Where: The Collective, 120 S Riverside Plz, Chicago, IL 60606
From the urgent fiscal crisis threatening Chicago-area transit, to the future of Metra and high-speed rail in the Midwest, you will hear directly from leaders addressing today’s most pressing transportation challenges.
Accelerating the Permitting Process for High Speed Rail Projects
When: Friday, October 24 at 12pm CT
Speaker: Terry Hynes, Senior Counsel, Sidley
Environmental review and permitting of high-speed rail projects can take many years or even more than a decade. This increases the cost of projects, discourages private investment, and makes the public wait to enjoy the benefits of high-speed trains. In this talk, you can learn about a proposal to designate the Surface Transportation Board as the lead agency for all high-speed rail projects, to accelerate review and permitting.
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