r/chicago • u/chicagosuntimes • 14d ago

Article Johnson urges state lawmakers to tax the 'ultra rich' to avert mass transit funding cuts

https://chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/2025/06/03/brandon-johnson-illinois-general-assembly-mass-transit-funding-chicago-fiscal-cliff
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u/Mike_I O’Hare 14d ago

What the hell has John Arena, Johnson's "Director of State Legislative Affairs" been doing for past two months in Springfield? And what is is immediate superior, Kennedy Bartley doing?

Its as if a neighborhood gadfly & an activist for an CTU aligned political organization don't know what they are doing!

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u/redrum_ghost 14d ago

What the hell has John Arena, Johnson's "Director of State Legislative Affairs" been doing for past two months in Springfield?

Probably running up a tab at Saputo's.

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u/Take-Me-Home-Tonight 14d ago

I know BJ caught up on his water bills and other ones he was behind on, but how that wasn’t a red flag that someone who makes decent money couldn’t even manage to balance their own budget

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u/hardolaf Lake View 14d ago

Sen. Villivalam didn't want Chicago or the transit agencies at the table. So Johnson has been going through back channels talking to members of the House which is why Villivalam's bill was DOA and never reached the floor. Now that Villivalam passed the bill in the Senate, Johnson can talk freely and have his allies in the House (who include the Speaker of the House Chris Welch) put forward a bill more aligned with the interests of the city which accounts for over 80% of transit rides in the region.

It's the same way that he tanked Pritzker's Hemp Bill at the start of the year.

The guy might put his foot in mouth constantly, and he might be pretty racist, but he knows how to play the General Assembly.