HR0521 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0521 LRB098 12802 MST 47289 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The current Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) was created in statute by the Illinois General Assembly in 1973; and

WHEREAS, There were 3 service boards created under the umbrella oversight of the RTA; and

WHEREAS, One of those service boards, METRA, created in 1983, has the oversight responsibility for operation of the commuter rail system throughout the northeast area of Illinois, which includes Cook County and its surrounding collar counties, making METRA the second-largest commuter rail system in the nation; and

WHEREAS, The METRA Board of Directors, a board of public officials appointed by public officials, is the oversight entity for the METRA system operation in conjunction with a transit professional who is the METRA Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of METRA; and

WHEREAS, The Regional Transportation Authority receives hundreds of millions of dollars from various taxpayers sources, including monies from the State of Illinois' General Revenue Fund, which is funded by State income tax revenues and the State sales tax revenues paid by individuals and corporations throughout the State; and

WHEREAS, Over $340 million flows from the General Revenue Fund to the Public Transportation Fund, which helps fund the RTA; and

WHEREAS, A significant portion of the Public Transportation Fund flows through the RTA to METRA; and

WHEREAS, The METRA Board of Directors must approve a budget which properly utilizes these public funds; and

WHEREAS, System-generated METRA operating revenues comprise roughly 52% of METRA's funding; and

WHEREAS, The fares that METRA riders pay make up a large portion of that 52% of funding; and

WHEREAS, Both taxpayers and fare payers who provide so much by way of funding to the operation of METRA have a reasonable expectation that the dollars they are putting into the system will be used in a responsible, efficient, and transparent manner; and

WHEREAS, The METRA Board of Directors recently entered into an employment termination agreement with the METRA Executive Director; and

WHEREAS, That employment termination agreement included a significant financial sum and other personal benefits to the Executive Director for early termination of his contract; and

WHEREAS, This termination agreement and the financial sums involved are far in excess of what would be considered normal when dealing with public monies; and

WHEREAS, The contributing factors and deliberations leading up to that termination agreement were initially withheld from the public by the Chairman and the members of the METRA Board of Directors and were released only after separate public hearings by the RTA and the Mass Transit Committee of the House of Representatives; and

WHEREAS, Dealing in secrecy violates the public trust that has been placed in the Board of Directors and negates the expectation of transparency that the public rightly has when it comes to the handling of public dollars; and

WHEREAS, All reports indicate that it was the Chairman of the METRA Board of Directors who was instrumental in passing the termination agreement; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that the members of the House of Representatives call on the Chairman of the METRA Board of Directors to resign his position as Chairman and his position on the METRA Board of Directors in light of his poor and inappropriate handling of the public funds related to the termination agreement entered into by the METRA Board with the METRA Executive Director; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives call on the METRA Board of Directors to elect a new Chairman who understands the important public role that METRA plays in our regional transportation network and who will operate as Chairman in a transparent and open manner that restores the public trust in the METRA system; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to the Chairman and each member of the METRA Board of Directors.