THE ILLINOIZE: Thursday Free for All...Mileage tax?...Farmers face uncertainty
March 13, 2025
Good morning, Illinois.
Looking for book recommendations. I’m finishing up TV chef Alton Brown’s “Food for Thought” collection of essays and need something else to distract me from the horrors of our politics. Reply with your thoughts. (Needless to say, no politics, please.)
I’ll have the first GOP candidate for governor, DuPage County Sheriff Jim Mendrick, on the radio in Springfield this morning. Listen here. I’m also scheduled to be on NPR Illinois’ “State Week” tomorrow. You can bookmark that here.
The Senate is out. The House is in at noon. Governor Pritzker speaks at the IEA annual conference in Rosemont at 9:40 and at an aviation fuel conference at 11.
Let’s get to it.
YOUR THURSDAY FREE FOR ALL
(note: we’re not responsible for paywalls and restrictions from other news outlets, because good journalism isn’t free)
Illinois eyes taxing motorists by the mile — rather than by the gallon of gas (Chicago Sun-Times)
As engines become more fuel efficient, and electric vehicles make greater inroads , Illinois faces an unexpected consequence — less funding for roads.
The motor fuel tax helps pay for road, bridge and public transit improvements throughout Illinois. Now, though, vehicles require less gas — or no gas at all — so funding for infrastructure has taken a hit.
Legislation proposed by state Sen. Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago, and Christopher Belt, D-East St. Louis, takes aims at that problem by creating a pilot program to explore the viability of establishing a “road usage charge,” essentially a tax on miles driven.
“We need to ensure there’s sustained funding to ensure the safety of our roads, bridges and mass transit,” Villivalam told the Sun-Times.
Under the current tax structure, vehicles that don’t rely on gasoline, such as electric vehicles, do not pay the gas tax that helps maintain state infrastructure, said Marc Poulos, executive director of Operating Engineers Local 150, which strongly supports the proposed legislation.
“Everybody’s been in search of the one-size-fits-all fix ... and the real fix is a road usage charge, which is essentially playing off the tollway system,” Poulos said.
On Illinois toll roads , drivers pay approximately seven cents per mile, according to Poulos. With a mileage-based system, drivers could expect to pay three to four cents per mile. That would come on top of any tolls already being paid, similar to the gas tax.
Participants in the pilot would report their car’s fuel efficiency and mileage to the Illinois Department of Transportation. Roughly 1,000 motorists could sign up for the program with the Illinois Secretary of State’s office, Poulos said.
To track and report mileage, some drivers could have a transponder on their car, though motorists also could be allowed to send a photo of their odometer to IDOT. Drivers who paid more in the gas tax than they would in mileage would get a refund. Other details about how the program would work still must be hammered out.
Oregon and Utah have already implemented similar programs, and five states including Pennsylvania and California have begun pilot or exploratory efforts, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
With Oregon’s program, launched in 2015, volunteer motorists pay a per-mile charge and receive a non-refundable credit for fuel tax paid. Electric vehicle drivers are incentivized to participate with reduced registration fees.
In Illinois, the charge likely wouldn’t raise enough revenue to allow eliminating the motor fuel tax.
Illinois farmers, saying they face ‘so many challenges as it is,’ criticize USDA funding freezes (Chicago Tribune)
Funding freezes by the U.S. Department of Agriculture under President Donald Trump could have a “generational” impact on vulnerable Illinois communities and are already causing financial hardships for farmers, a state House legislative committee was told in testimony Tuesday.
“Farmers face so many challenges as it is, and now they must contend with the uncertainty of whether these contracts with the government will be honored,” said Anna Morrell, co-owner of The Little Farm at Weldon Springs in Clinton and a member of the National Young Farmers Coalition. “We need certainty, and we need certainty so we can continue feeding our communities.”
The USDA has said it plans to cut off funds in fiscal year 2025 for a program that provides funds to food banks to purchase food from local farmers, among other funding pauses and program cuts. Some of the programs cut specifically helped newer farmers and farmers from historically disadvantaged groups, or brought food to disadvantaged communities, Morrell said.
As a first-generation farmer, Rachael Smedberg of Tulip Tree Gardens in Beecher said the grant related to food banks, called Local Food Purchase Assistance, or LFPA allowed her to “turn the traditional narrative of local, nutrient dense foods on its head.”
Trump’s widespread halting of federal funds through executive action, which his administration says eliminates government waste, has sown confusion and chaos across federally funded programs in Illinois, though some funding has been restored.
The president’s tariffs and resulting retaliation from other countries could also cause issues for farmers, Illinois Department of Agriculture Director Jerry Costello told the committee. Trump has said those tariffs will stoke American industry after potential short-term economic hardship.
Related: Illinois farmers, schools and food banks will lose millions with USDA funding cuts (Chicago Sun-Times)
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POLITICAL POTPOURRI
Gov. JB Pritzker’s $300M proposal seeks to attract developers to abandoned sites that now draw only vandals (Chicago Tribune)
Lincoln's New Salem is 'deteriorating,' needs revitalization. A plan is being proposed (State Journal-Register)
Pritzker to speak to New Hampshire Democrats about dangers of second Trump administration (Chicago Sun-Times)
Partisan politics infiltrating non-partisan local Illinois elections (Capitol News Illinois)
How chaos at the Education Department affects Illinois schools (WBEZ)
Illinois schools turn to retirees, substitutes, outsourcing & state grants to combat prolonged teacher shortage (Capitol News Illinois)
Real ID ‘supercenter’ opens in Loop this week to handle rush ahead of May 7 deadline (Chicago Tribune)
‘Right to Play’ bill that would affect high school athletes advances in House (Capitol News Illinois)
Editorial: Springfield bid to regulate homeschooling and private schools overreaches (Chicago Tribune)
Opinion: Conflicting revenue picture complicates Illinois' budget process (Champaign News-Gazette)
Opinion: Township consolidation fight continues brewing under the surface (Shaw Local)
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A great memoir by Bill Gates called Source/Code. It is about Gates' growing up and focusing on developing a micro-computer which he did and now owns Microsoft...a multi-billionaire. Great read!