Chicago Transit Authority wants to help fund a long-stalled extension of the Red Line by creating a new tax increment financing district sure to face an uphill battle in the City Council.
To extend the Red Line to 130th Street, the CTA hopes to land a $2.16 billion federal grant and must come up with $1.44 billion to match it. To do that, it plans to raise $950 million through a special tax district for transit projects.
When COVID-19 shutdowns left a record number of people suddenly out of work, Illinois saw record applications for unemployment benefits. That increase drained the state fund that pays out those benefits, the Illinois Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund.