Buckner Leads Resolution Condemning Trump Administration Funding Freeze on CTA Red Line Extension

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — State Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, led passage of a resolution Wednesday condemning the Trump Administration’s funding freeze of the Chicago Transit Authority’s (CTA) planned Red Line Extension. This southside transit project, which had already secured federal funding under President Biden, would encourage major ridership growth in Black and Brown communities while fostering economic development statewide.

“Donald Trump’s choking off of funding for the Red Line Extension sends a clear message to every lawmaker in the country: any projects that help Black and Brown communities are at risk,” Buckner said. “This is work that would give hundreds of thousands of Chicagoans greater access their city, support local businesses and ultimately grow the statewide economy. But it also pursues economic equity, so this administration has decided it’s unacceptable.”

Buckner led passage of House Resolution 506, which calls on President Trump to unfreeze $2.1 billion in funding to support construction of the Red Line Extension, a 5.5 mile ‘L’ expansion from the existing 95th/Dan Ryan terminus to 130th St. This funding was explicitly approved by the Biden Administration, and the CTA later secured a legal obligation from the federal government ensuring that the money would be released.

In addition to pausing support for the Red Line Extension, the Trump Administration has halted $28 billion in similar projects in Democratic-controlled cities and states across the country.

This loss of funding would end opportunities for affordable public transit for roughly 175,000 new daily riders in Chicago, many of whom are from Black communities with limited transportation options. In addition to increased ridership, the Red Line Extension would generate substantial statewide economic benefits resulting from new good-paying jobs, increased consumer mobility and support for local businesses. Cutting this funding would deprive Illinoisans of those benefits while simultaneously fostering long-term investor uncertainty for federally-funded projects in Illinois and across the country.

“This is beyond punishing for Chicago, this freeze will create long-term fiscal uncertainty throughout Illinois that could harm our economic prospects for years,” Buckner said. “If we can’t depend on federal grant money that has been promised, businesses will look twice at investing in the future. The federal government needs to
fulfill its obligations.”