Help Fix Illinois' Infrastructure

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This fall, Illinois voters will have a chance to protect transportation funding once and for all. There will be a Constitutional Amendment on the ballot that would require all transportation-related revenue (e.g., motor fuel tax and vehicle registration fees) to be dedicated solely to public highways, roads, streets, bridges, and mass transit. If the Amendment passes, transportation funding will be secured, and we will have the chance to make long overdue investments in our infrastructure.

There is strong support for this initiative. Polling conducted by the Citizens to Protect Transportation Funding shows that 85 percent of voters support the idea of a transportation lockbox. Seventy-five percent want more funding for roads and bridges. Support is both broad and bipartisan. Sixty-four percent of Democrats, 61 percent of Republicans and 66 percent of Independents approve of the idea.

But people will have questions, and we're here to provide answers.

1) What is the Safe Roads Constitutional Amendment? The Safe Roads Constitutional Amendment is a proposed amendment to the Illinois Constitution to protect transportation funding. At the General Election on November 8, 2016, Illinois voters will be asked even before voting for President of the United States whether the proposed amendment should be added to the Illinois Constitution. The Illinois Constitution allows the General Assembly to propose amendments to the Illinois Constitution and submit those amendments to Illinois voters for approval and ratification at the next General Election. The General Assembly proposed the Safe Roads Constitutional Amendment by adopting House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 36 on May 5, 2016.

2) How does the Safe Roads Constitutional Amendment protect transportation funding? The Safe Roads Constitution Amendment provides that moneys raised through State or local motor fuel taxes, motor vehicle registration or title fees, and other user taxes, tolls, and fees dedicated to public highways, roads, streets, bridges, mass transit (buses and rail), ports, or airports may only be expended on transportation purposes. In other words, the proposed amendment prohibitsthe General Assembly or a unit of local government from using, diverting, or transferring moneys raised from these transportation revenue sources for non--‐transportation purposes.

More information on the Safe Roads Constitutional Amendment will appear in future issues of IAPA eNews.

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