Mayor Lori Lightfoot walked back her proposal to lift Chicago’s 3-cent gas tax March 31 amid record prices at the pump. Instead, she said the city will offer gas and Ventra cards to residents.
The relief plan the mayor dubbed “Chicago Moves” would offer $7.5 million in prepaid gas cards to motorists and $5 million in prepaid mass transit cards over four months to winners of a citywide rolling lottery.
The shift in tactics comes after the City Council Finance Committee abruptly canceleda hearing last week on Lightfoot’s plan to reduce the city’s gas tax from 8 cents a gallon to 5 cents. The proposed tax break would have saved an estimated $18 million at the pump through the end of 2022.
The lottery will offer 50,000 prepaid gas cards worth $150 each starting in May through the summer in anticipation of persisting high prices at the pump. The cards will be valid at gas station within city limits for one year.
Lightfoot Abandons Gas Tx Cut for Gas, Transit Card Lottery
- by: Patrick Andriesen, Ann Miller
- 04-01-2022
- Source:
Illinois Policy
- 04/04/2022
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is licensed under flickr Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is licensed under flickr Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
Help FAIRtax Become The Number One Issue in 2024
Enacting the FAIRtax must be a prominent topic in these times. We did it before, we can do it again, but we need your help!