Illinois House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch told ABC7 he never specified an amount of funding or guaranteed that additional money would be provided to Chicago Public Schools.
Transit agency officials in Chicagoland met this week and formally began the process of planning for next year's budget, including drawing up plans for major service cuts and potential layoffs.
Taxpayers will be on the hook for more than $1 million for a giant base camp tent that was supposed to be built to house migrants back in 2023.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson added that creative revenue ideas are needed for Chicago with its looming budget problems.
Mass transit and union leaders are warning about jobs and service cuts after Illinois lawmakers passed a budget that does not address $770 million budget shortfall for the RTA.
A new $55.2 billion state budget may be more significant for what is not in it than what is. Namely, an agreement on how to pay for the more than $770 million dollar shortfall the Regional Transit Authority is facing by year's end.