Patti Vasquez is joined by Illinois Democratic State Sen. Laura Murphy.

Murphy discussed the upcoming "Fight for Our Communities: Citizens Against Tyranny" event with Indivisible Elk Grove Township, highlighting concerns over cuts to social services due to the recently enacted Republican One Big Beautiful Bill Act. She noted that social service agencies in her district, particularly the Center of Concern in Des Plaines, have already faced cuts due to unfulfilled federal funding promises.

Murphy also addressed the public transportation crisis in Illinois.

"RTA, CTA, Pace and Metra are facing a significant fiscal cliff from activities that occurred mostly during COVID, and they had federal dollars to supplement them during COVID so they could continue to operate. And those federal dollars now are drying up, and/or [have been] spent, by the end of this year. So we have to revisit how we look at transit."

She added: "When I tell people this, they're amazed: that currently the state has no oversight over any of those bodies. The CTA, the RTA, Metra and Pace operate autonomous, and part of the problem is they operate autonomous from each other. So part of our governance changes is going to require some state oversight."

Catch "Driving It Home with Patti Vasquez" weekdays from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/driving-it-home).

And find the "Driving It Home (Full Episodes)" podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, YouTube, and Amazon.

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