Bill Text: IL SR0144 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Opposes any sale or lease of the State Toll Highway Authority or its properties or any redirection of any portion of the Authority's revenues.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2021-01-13 - Session Sine Die [SR0144 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2019-SR0144-Introduced.html
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1 | SENATE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, Proposals have been made to sell or lease all or | ||||||
3 | part of the property of the State toll highway system to | ||||||
4 | private parties and also to assign all or part of the revenue | ||||||
5 | received by the State toll highway system from tolls paid by | ||||||
6 | the public to private parties, in order to raise money for | ||||||
7 | Illinois' pension funds; and
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8 | WHEREAS, The Toll Highway Act provides that the purpose of | ||||||
9 | the State Toll Highway Authority is "to promote the public | ||||||
10 | welfare, and to facilitate vehicular traffic by providing | ||||||
11 | convenient, safe, modern and limited access highways designed | ||||||
12 | for the accommodation of the needs of the traveling public | ||||||
13 | through and within the State of Illinois," not to enrich | ||||||
14 | private parties through the use of its public powers; and
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15 | WHEREAS, The Toll Highway Act provides that the tolls | ||||||
16 | collected by the State Toll Highway Authority are to be used | ||||||
17 | "to provide for the construction, operation, regulation and | ||||||
18 | maintenance of a toll highway or a system of toll highways, | ||||||
19 | incorporating therein the benefits of advanced engineering | ||||||
20 | skill, design, experience and safety factors, to eliminate | ||||||
21 | existing traffic hazards, and to prevent automotive injuries | ||||||
22 | and fatalities", not for the enrichment of private parties; and
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1 | WHEREAS, Proposals to divert the public funds and property | ||||||
2 | of the State Toll Highway Authority for the enrichment of | ||||||
3 | private parties violate the spirit, if not the letter, of | ||||||
4 | Section 1 of Article VIII of the Illinois Constitution, which | ||||||
5 | provides that "public funds, property or credit shall only be | ||||||
6 | used for public purposes"; and
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7 | WHEREAS, Proposals to divert the public funds and property | ||||||
8 | of the State Toll Highway Authority rightly call to mind the | ||||||
9 | City of Chicago's failed experiment with privatizing its | ||||||
10 | parking meters, parking garages, and the Chicago Skyway, where | ||||||
11 | ever-increasing fees continue to be paid to enrich private | ||||||
12 | parties while providing no continuing benefit to the public; | ||||||
13 | and
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14 | WHEREAS, In 2016, the citizens of Illinois expressed their | ||||||
15 | opposition to such diversions of public funds by amending their | ||||||
16 | Constitution to add Section 11 to Article IX, which provides | ||||||
17 | that "moneys, including bond proceeds, derived from taxes,
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18 | fees, excises, or license taxes relating to registration,
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19 | title, or operation or use of vehicles, or related to the use
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20 | of highways, roads, streets, bridges, mass transit, intercity
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21 | passenger rail, ports, airports, or to fuels used for
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22 | propelling vehicles, or derived from taxes, fees, excises, or
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23 | license taxes relating to any other transportation
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24 | infrastructure or transportation operation, shall be expended" |
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1 | only for "the following:
the costs of administering laws | ||||||
2 | related to vehicles and
transportation, including statutory | ||||||
3 | refunds and adjustments
provided in those laws; payment of | ||||||
4 | highway obligations; costs
for construction, reconstruction, | ||||||
5 | maintenance, repair, and
betterment of highways, roads, | ||||||
6 | streets, bridges, mass transit,
intercity passenger rail, | ||||||
7 | ports, airports, or other forms of
transportation; and other | ||||||
8 | statutory highway purposes."; and
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9 | WHEREAS, Using the tolls paid by the citizens of Illinois | ||||||
10 | for the operation and maintenance of the State toll highway | ||||||
11 | system to raise money for Illinois' pension funds blatantly | ||||||
12 | violates the plain meaning of Section 11 of Article IX of the | ||||||
13 | Illinois Constitution; therefore, be it
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14 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL | ||||||
15 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, That we state our firm | ||||||
16 | opposition to the unconstitutional diversion of the tolls | ||||||
17 | collected by the State Toll Highway Authority; and be it | ||||||
18 | further
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19 | RESOLVED, That we fully support the right of every Illinois | ||||||
20 | citizen to enjoy the full benefit of the tolls paid to the | ||||||
21 | State Toll Highway Authority in the form of improved roads and | ||||||
22 | safer driving, without having any portion of those funds | ||||||
23 | diverted for the enrichment of private parties; and be it |
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1 | further
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2 | RESOLVED, That we state our firm opposition to any sale or | ||||||
3 | lease of the properties of the State toll highway system and to | ||||||
4 | any redirection of any portion of the tolls paid for the | ||||||
5 | operation and maintenance of the State toll highway system for | ||||||
6 | the enrichment of private parties.
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