HB1663ham001 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Rep. Julie Hamos

Filed: 5/6/2005

09400HB1663ham001 LRB094 03106 BDD 46107 a

AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 1663

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 1663 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 5. The Regional Transportation Authority Act is amended by changing Sections 3A.08, 3A.09, and 4.01 and by adding Section 2.30 as follows:

(70 ILCS 3615/2.30 new)

Sec. 2.30. Paratransit services.

(a)For purposes of this Act, "paratransit services" means transportation services required under the federal Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 for any individual who, by reason of illness, injury, age, congenital malfunction, or other permanent or temporary incapacity or disability, has been certified as unable, without special mass transportation facilities or special planning or design, to use ordinary mass transportation facilities and services as effectively as persons who are not so affected.

(b) Beginning July 1, 2005, the Authority is responsible for the funding, financial oversight, and coordination of all paratransit services that are required to be provided by the Authority or by any of the Service Boards. Beginning July 1, 2006, all paratransit services for all Service Boards shall be provided by the Suburban Bus Board. The Suburban Bus Board may begin the transition of providing paratransit services prior to this date.

(c) No later than January 1, 2006, the Authority, in consultation with the Suburban Bus Board, must adopt a plan for the provision of paratransit services. The plan must set forth, without limitation, provisions to:

(1)maintain or enhance existing levels of paratransit service provided by the Service Boards, with no interruption in service;

(2) provide a balanced budget for paratransit services, with responsibility for funding and financial oversight by the Authority;

(3) reconstitute the paratransit management structure, and provide for the transfer of any necessary personnel, as determined by an audit of the administrative expenses related to the provision of paratransit services;

(4) transfer the appropriate paratransit service contracts to the Authority or the Suburban Bus Board, as necessary;

(5) provide for consistent policies throughout the Authority service region for scheduling of paratransit trips to and from destinations, with consideration of the scheduling of return trips on a "will-call" open-ended basis upon request of the rider, if practicable, and with consideration of an increased number of trips available by subscription service than are available as of the effective date of this Act;

(6) provide for service contracts and rates with private carriers and taxicabs for paratransit service by means of an open procurement process;

(7) provide for fares, fare collection, and billing procedures for paratransit services throughout the Authority service region;

(8) provide for performance standards for all paratransit transportation carriers, including door-to-door service;

(9) provide, in cooperation with the Department of Public Aid and other appropriate agencies and private entities, for the application and receipt of grants, including, without limitation, reimbursement from Medicaid or other programs for paratransit services; and

(10) provide for the system of dispatch of paratransit transportation carriers throughout the Authority service region, with consideration of county-based dispatch systems already in place as of the effective date of this Act.

The plan under this subsection must be filed with the Federal Transit Administration.

(d)By no later than September 1, 2006, the ADA Advisory Board of the Suburban Bus Board and all of the members of the ADA Advisory Board of the Chicago Transit Authority shall be combined to create the ADA Advisory Board of the RTA. This newly reconstituted board is responsible initially with assisting the Authority and the Suburban Bus Board in organizing at least 2 public hearings to receive public input on the paratransit service plan developed under subsection (c) of this Section.

(70 ILCS 3615/3A.08) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 703A.08)

Sec. 3A.08. Jurisdiction.

(a) Any public transportation by bus within the metropolitan region, other than public transportation by commuter rail or public transportation provided by the Chicago Transit Authority pursuant to agreements in effect on the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1983 or in the City of Chicago, shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the Suburban Bus Board.

(b) Beginning July 1, 2006, the jurisdiction of the Suburban Bus Board includes all the territory of the Regional Transportation Authority for the purposes of providing paratransit services under Section 2.30 of this Act.

(Source: P.A. 83-886.)

(70 ILCS 3615/3A.09) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 703A.09)

Sec. 3A.09. General Powers. In addition to any powers elsewhere provided to the Suburban Bus Board, it shall have all of the powers specified in Section 2.20 of this Act except for the powers specified in Section 2.20 (a) (v). The Board shall also have the power:

(a) to cooperate with the Regional Transportation Authority in the exercise by the Regional Transportation Authority of all the powers granted it by such Act;

(b) to receive funds from the Regional Transportation Authority pursuant to Sections 2.02, 4.01, 4.02, 4.09 and 4.10 of the "Regional Transportation Authority Act", all as provided in the "Regional Transportation Authority Act";

(c) to receive financial grants from the Regional Transportation Authority or a Service Board, as defined in the "Regional Transportation Authority Act", upon such terms and conditions as shall be set forth in a grant contract between either the Division and the Regional Transportation Authority or the Division and another Service Board, which contract or agreement may be for such number of years or duration as the parties agree, all as provided in the "Regional Transportation Authority Act; ."

(d) to perform all functions necessary for the provision of paratransit services under Section 2.30 of this Act.

(Source: P.A. 83-885; 83-886.)

(70 ILCS 3615/4.01) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 704.01)

Sec. 4.01. Budget and Program.

(a) The Board shall control the finances of the Authority. It shall by ordinance appropriate money to perform the Authority's purposes and provide for payment of debts and expenses of the Authority. Each year the Authority shall prepare and publish a comprehensive annual budget and program document describing the state of the Authority and presenting for the forthcoming fiscal year the Authority's plans for such operations and capital expenditures as the Authority intends to undertake and the means by which it intends to finance them. The proposed program and budget shall contain a statement of the funds estimated to be on hand at the beginning of the fiscal year, the funds estimated to be received from all sources for such year and the funds estimated to be on hand at the end of such year. After adoption of the Authority's first Five-Year Program, as provided in Section 2.01 of this Act, the proposed program and budget shall specifically identify any respect in which the recommended program deviates from the Authority's then existing Five-Year Program, giving the reasons for such deviation. The fiscal year of the Authority shall begin on January 1st and end on the succeeding December 31st except that the fiscal year that began October 1, 1982, shall end December 31, 1983. By July 1st 1981 and July 1st of each year thereafter the Director of the Illinois Governor's Office of Management and Budget (formerly Bureau of the Budget) shall submit to the Authority an estimate of revenues for the next fiscal year to be collected from the taxes imposed by the Authority and the amounts to be available in the Public Transportation Fund and the Regional Transportation Authority Occupation and Use Tax Replacement Fund. For the fiscal year ending on December 31, 1983, the Board shall report its results from operations and financial condition to the General Assembly and the Governor by January 31. For the fiscal year beginning January 1, 1984, and thereafter, the budget and program shall be presented to the General Assembly and the Governor not later than the preceding December 31st. Before the proposed budget and program is adopted, the Authority shall hold at least one public hearing thereon in the metropolitan region. The Board shall hold at least one meeting for consideration of the proposed program and budget with the county board of each of the several counties in the metropolitan region. After conducting such hearings and holding such meetings and after making such changes in the proposed program and budget as the Board deems appropriate, the Board shall adopt its annual budget ordinance. The ordinance may be adopted only upon the affirmative votes of 9 of its then Directors. The ordinance shall appropriate such sums of money as are deemed necessary to defray all necessary expenses and obligations of the Authority, specifying purposes and the objects or programs for which appropriations are made and the amount appropriated for each object or program. Additional appropriations, transfers between items and other changes in such ordinance may be made from time to time by the Board upon the affirmative votes of 9 of its then Directors.

(b) The budget shall show a balance between anticipated revenues from all sources and anticipated expenses including funding of operating deficits or the discharge of encumbrances incurred in prior periods and payment of principal and interest when due, and shall show cash balances sufficient to pay with reasonable promptness all obligations and expenses as incurred.

The annual budget and financial plan must show:

(i) that the level of fares and charges for mass transportation, other than fares and charges for paratransit services, provided by, or under grant or purchase of service contracts of, the Service Boards is sufficient to cause the aggregate of all projected fare revenues from such fares and charges received in each fiscal year to equal at least 50% of the aggregate costs of providing such public transportation, other than fares and charges for paratransit services, in such fiscal year; and

(ii) that the level of fares and charges for paratransit services provided by, or under grant or purchase of service contracts of, the Authority is sufficient to cause the aggregate of all projected fare revenues from such fares and charges received in each fiscal year to equal at least 10% of the aggregate costs of providing such paratransit services in fiscal years 2007 through 2008 and at least 12% of the aggregate costs of providing such paratransit services in fiscal years 2009 and thereafter.

"Fare revenues" include the proceeds of all fares and charges for services provided, contributions received in connection with public transportation from units of local government other than the Authority and from the State pursuant to subsection (i) of Section 2705-305 of the Department of Transportation Law (20 ILCS 2705/2705-305), and all other operating revenues properly included consistent with generally accepted accounting principles but do not include the proceeds of any borrowings. "Costs" include all items properly included as operating costs consistent with generally accepted accounting principles, including administrative costs, but do not include: depreciation; payment of principal and interest on bonds, notes or other evidences of obligation for borrowed money issued by the Authority; payments with respect to public transportation facilities made pursuant to subsection (b) of Section 2.20 of this Act; any payments with respect to rate protection contracts, credit enhancements or liquidity agreements made under Section 4.14; any other cost to which it is reasonably expected that a cash expenditure will not be made; costs up to $5,000,000 annually for passenger security including grants, contracts, personnel, equipment and administrative expenses, except in the case of the Chicago Transit Authority, in which case the term does not include costs spent annually by that entity for protection against crime as required by Section 27a of the Metropolitan Transit Authority Act; or costs as exempted by the Board for projects pursuant to Section 2.09 of this Act.

(c) The actual administrative expenses of the Authority for the fiscal year commencing January 1, 1985 may not exceed $5,000,000. The actual administrative expenses of the Authority for the fiscal year commencing January 1, 1986, and for each fiscal year thereafter shall not exceed the maximum administrative expenses for the previous fiscal year plus 5%. "Administrative expenses" are defined for purposes of this Section as all expenses except: (1) capital expenses and purchases of the Authority on behalf of the Service Boards; (2) payments to Service Boards; and (3) payment of principal and interest on bonds, notes or other evidence of obligation for borrowed money issued by the Authority; (4) costs for passenger security including grants, contracts, personnel, equipment and administrative expenses; (5) payments with respect to public transportation facilities made pursuant to subsection (b) of Section 2.20 of this Act; and (6) any payments with respect to rate protection contracts, credit enhancements or liquidity agreements made pursuant to Section 4.14.

(d) After withholding 15% of the proceeds of any tax imposed by the Authority and 15% of money received by the Authority from the Regional Transportation Authority Occupation and Use Tax Replacement Fund, the Board shall allocate the proceeds and money remaining to the Service Boards as follows: (1) an amount equal to 85% of the proceeds of those taxes collected within the City of Chicago and 85% of the money received by the Authority on account of transfers to the Regional Transportation Authority Occupation and Use Tax Replacement Fund from the County and Mass Transit District Fund attributable to retail sales within the City of Chicago shall be allocated to the Chicago Transit Authority; (2) an amount equal to 85% of the proceeds of those taxes collected within Cook County outside the City of Chicago and 85% of the money received by the Authority on account of transfers to the Regional Transportation Authority Occupation and Use Tax Replacement Fund from the County and Mass Transit District Fund attributable to retail sales within Cook County outside of the city of Chicago shall be allocated 30% to the Chicago Transit Authority, 55% to the Commuter Rail Board and 15% to the Suburban Bus Board; and (3) an amount equal to 85% of the proceeds of the taxes collected within the Counties of DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will shall be allocated 70% to the Commuter Rail Board and 30% to the Suburban Bus Board.

(e) Moneys received by the Authority on account of transfers to the Regional Transportation Authority Occupation and Use Tax Replacement Fund from the State and Local Sales Tax Reform Fund shall be allocated among the Authority and the Service Boards as follows: 15% of such moneys shall be retained by the Authority and the remaining 85% shall be transferred to the Service Boards as soon as may be practicable after the Authority receives payment. Moneys which are distributable to the Service Boards pursuant to the preceding sentence shall be allocated among the Service Boards on the basis of each Service Board's distribution ratio. The term "distribution ratio" means, for purposes of this subsection (e) of this Section 4.01, the ratio of the total amount distributed to a Service Board pursuant to subsection (d) of Section 4.01 for the immediately preceding calendar year to the total amount distributed to all of the Service Boards pursuant to subsection (d) of Section 4.01 for the immediately preceding calendar year.

To further and accomplish the preparation of the annual budget and program as well as the Five-Year Program provided for in Section 2.01 of this Act and to make such interim management decisions as may be necessary, the Board shall employ staff which shall: (1) evaluate for the Board public transportation programs operated or proposed by transportation agencies in terms of goals, costs and relative priorities; (2) keep the Board informed of the public transportation programs and accomplishments of such transportation agencies; and (3) coordinate the development and implementation of public transportation programs to the end that the monies available to the Authority may be expended in the most economical manner possible with the least possible duplication. Under such regulations as the Board may prescribe, all Service Boards, transportation agencies, comprehensive planning agencies or transportation planning agencies in the metropolitan region shall furnish to the Board such information pertaining to public transportation or relevant for plans therefor as it may from time to time require, upon payment to any such agency or Service Board of the reasonable additional cost of its so providing such information except as may otherwise be provided by agreement with the Authority, and the Board or any duly authorized employee of the Board shall, for the purpose of securing such information, have access to, and the right to examine, all books, documents, papers or records of any such agency or Service Board pertaining to public transportation or relevant for plans therefor.

(Source: P.A. 91-51, eff. 6-30-99; 91-239, eff. 1-1-00; revised 8-23-03.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.".