Lawmaker wants to privatize transit
So politicians in all their wisdom want to spread a system that's already NOT working, privatization of our public roads & parking meters, to another mode of transportation, mass transit, a mode already plagued by the need for massive public subsidies that has never been able to pay for itself with users alone. The famous Chicago parking meter boondoggle caused parking rates to go from $1/hour to $5/hour. A huge bump is also true of toll rates when public roads are privatized. So who's making out on the deal? Not the taxpayer. It's fiscally irresponsible governments willing to put taxpayers in hawk for generations to get quick cash to solve today's budget problems, rather than restrain spending to match revenue.
Kirk unveils plan to ease transit privatization
By Jon Hilkevitch
Chicago Tribune
11:14 AM CDT, June 20, 2011
Republican Mark Kirk today unveiled a plan designed to make it easier for governments to lease public transportation assets or enter into partnerships with private companies to build them.
In presenting the details of his--which runs counter to proposed legislation from Sen. Dick Durbin--said the plan could produce $100 billion for public-private partnerships on highway, mass transit, aviation and rail projects.
"Our roads, rail, transit and airports are facing unprecedented funding shortfalls,” he said. “We should not further burden working families with higher gas taxes. Instead, we should look to our own economic history to find a solution.”
The measure would "eliminate barriers for innovative funding options,'' he said. Joining Kirk at the announcement at the Union League Club were U.S. Reps. Randy Hultgren, a Winfield Republican, and Dan Lipinski, a Democrat from Western Springs.
The legislation, called the Lincoln Legacy Infrastructure Development Act, would remove federal restrictions on public-private partnerships while requiring that the proceeds of leases or sales be reinvested in infrastructure, Kirk said.
The initiative to loosen the reins on privatization, coming at a time of record federal and state deficits and the prospect of declining government spending on public infrastructure, runs counter to legislation that Democrat Durbin introduced Friday.
It also follows controversial privatization deals in Chicago, including former Mayor Richard Daley's long-term leases of the Chicago Skyway and the city's parking meters. Daley also approved an agreement, which subsequently fell apart, to lease Midway Airport.
Durbin's focus is to protect taxpayer dollars that are used on state and local projects involved in a privatization deal. His proposed legislation, The Protecting Taxpayers in Transportation Asset Transfers Act, would require public involvement before major transportation projects could be leased or sold, he said.
Durbin said he is not opposed to privatization. "But as the private financiers take control of an airport, road or other transportation asset for decades, sometimes as long as 99 years, the federal taxpayer is often left holding the bag,'' Durbin said.
In the case of the Skyway and Midway, the city spent hundreds of millions of dollars rebuilding both the elevated toll road to Indiana and the Southwest Side airport before putting them on the block.
Chicago business owners and residents led by Little Village community activist Raul Montes Jr. called Sunday on Mayor Rahm Emanuel to end the city's lease of the tollway.
"It's an infamous deal," Montes, 36, said. "When we sell Chicago's assets to alleviate budget concerns, it's pretty much fiscally irresponsible."
The city sold the rights to the Skyway in 2005 for $1.83 billion for a 99-year lease. The roadway now costs $3.50 to travel.
The city's contract with Skyway Concession Company LLC is legally binding. Ending the lease early would likely be extraordinarily expensive, if possible at all.
The parking meter deal also has caused public anger over hefty increases in parking rates, the private operator's initial mismanagement of the system and criticism that the city should have received more money for the 75-year lease.
Any deal to sell or lease public assets should include a return on the federal taxpayer investment, Durbin said.