70 ILCS 3605/7

(70 ILCS 3605/7) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 307)

(Text of Section before amendment by P.A. 104-457)

Sec. 7. The Authority shall have power to acquire by purchase, condemnation, lease, gift or otherwise all or any part of the plant, equipment, property, rights in property, reserve funds, employees' pension or retirement funds, special funds, franchises, licenses, patents, permits and papers, documents and records belonging to any public utility operating a transportation system within the metropolitan area of Cook County, together with all or any part of the right of way, equipment, fixed facilities and other property of any kind of any such utility extending beyond the boundaries of the metropolitan area of Cook County and forming part of an integrated suburban rapid transit, rail transportation facility or motor bus operation connecting with rapid transit or electric railway lines in super highways of the Authority or leading to the unification and integration of a unified rapid transit, rail, and motor bus operation in and about the metropolitan area of Cook County. Such properties upon acquisition by or lease to the Authority shall become and be operated as part of the transportation system of the Authority and the Authority shall have all powers in connection with such properties and such operations as are conferred by this Act with respect to the transportation system of the Authority located within the metropolitan area of Cook County. The Authority shall also have the power to enter into agreements to operate any such lines extending beyond the boundaries of the metropolitan area; such agreements to be subject to all other provisions of this Act. The Authority shall have power to contract for or lease for operation and maintenance by the Authority, any municipally owned local transportation subways or other municipally owned local transportation facilities or the facilities of any common carrier or the facilities of any local Mass Transit District, organized under the "Local Mass Transit Act", approved July 21, 1959, as heretofore and hereafter amended, whether such subways or facilities are within or without the metropolitan area of Cook County. The Authority shall have the power to contract with any local Mass Transit District, organized under the "Local Mass Transit Act", approved July 21, 1959, as heretofore and hereafter amended, or with any common carrier for the construction and operation of a transportation system, whether such transportation system is within or without the metropolitan area of Cook County. However, the Authority shall not have power to operate a motor bus facility, the major part of which is used for local transportation of passengers in any city, village or incorporated town, unless and until the Authority shall have secured the right to operate motor buses in such municipality for local transportation of passengers in the manner stated in Section 11 of this Act.

(Source: P.A. 76-1548.)

(Text of Section after amendment by P.A. 104-457)

Sec. 7. General powers.

(a) The Board of the Authority shall:

(1) oversee the operations and management of the Authority;

(2) convey the Northern Illinois Transit Authority's goals, priorities, and requirements to the Authority; and

(3) convey information, concerns, and recommendations from the Authority to the Executive Director and Board of the Northern Illinois Transit Authority.

(b) The Board shall manage the debt that was issued and outstanding by the Authority and ensure that the obligations owed to bondholders are fulfilled.

(c) The Board may not issue new debt, except for:

(1) debt or other financial instruments designed to refinance or retire debt that was issued and outstanding on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 104th General Assembly;

(2) debt or other financial instruments in the amounts, terms and conditions, and other requirements provided for in the Full Funding Grant Agreement in the form in which it was executed on January 10, 2025, and in effect on the date of this amendatory Act of the 104th General Assembly (Project ID No. IL-2025-001-00), commonly known as the Red Line Extension Project, and to refinance or retire debt that was issued pursuant to the Full Funding Grant Agreement in the form in which it was executed on January 10, 2025; and

(3) debt or other financial instruments in the amounts, terms and conditions, and other requirements provided for in the Full Funding Grant Agreement in the form in which it was executed on January 9, 2017, and in effect on the date of this amendatory Act of the 104th General Assembly (Project ID No. IL-2017-002-00), commonly known as the Red and Purple Modernization Phase One Project, and to refinance or retire debt that was issued pursuant to the Full Funding Grant Agreement in the form in which it was executed on January 9, 2017.

The Authority shall receive revenues sufficient to satisfy the financial obligation of the above instruments under the Northern Illinois Transit Authority Act.

All material changes in the amount, terms and conditions, or other requirements of the projects covered by the Full Funding Agreements in paragraphs (2) and (3) and occurring after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 104th General Assembly are subject to the review and approval of the Board of the Northern Illinois Transit Authority. The Authority shall cooperate with the Northern Illinois Transit Authority on the use of alternative issuers of debt or other financial instruments or other efforts by the Northern Illinois Transit Authority to reduce the debt expense of the above-referenced projects, including pursuit of additional funding sources. The authorization provided in paragraphs (2) and (3) of this subsection shall expire on December 31, 2032.

(d) In addition to any powers provided in this Act, the Authority shall have all of the powers specified in Section 2.20 of the Northern Illinois Transit Authority Act, except that the powers specified in paragraph (v) of subsection (a) of Section 2.20 must be delegated to the Authority by the Board of the Northern Illinois Transit Authority.

(e) The Board shall also have the power to:

(1) cooperate with the Northern Illinois Transit Authority in the exercise by the Northern Illinois Transit Authority of all the powers granted to the Northern Illinois Transit Authority by the Northern Illinois Transit Authority Act;

(2) receive funds from the Northern Illinois Transit Authority under Sections 2.02, 4.01, 4.02, 4.09, and 4.10 of the Northern Illinois Transit Authority Act, as provided in the Northern Illinois Transit Authority Act;

(3) receive financial grants from the Northern Illinois Transit Authority;

(4) adopt ordinances and rules to regulate the use, operation, and maintenance of its property and facilities; and

(5) carry into effect the powers granted to the Authority, with any necessary fines or penalties, such as the suspension of riding privileges or confiscation of fare media under Section 2.40 of the Northern Illinois Transit Authority Act, as the Board deems proper.

(f) The Authority shall use powers delegated to it by the Northern Illinois Transit Authority to oversee the delivery of public transportation in the metropolitan region, provided that the Northern Illinois Transit Authority shall retain primary responsibility for setting fares, service standards, schedules, and coordinated fare collection so that the public transportation system in the metropolitan region operates on a one-network, one-timetable, one-ticket model for transit users.

(Source: P.A. 104-457, eff. 6-1-26.)