City Council to vote on Mayor Lightfoot’s gas and transit card program

CHICAGO (CBS)– The Chicago City Council will vote on whether to approve mayor Lori Lightfoot’s gas card program.

The $12.5 million plan will give out thousands of gas and transit cards to Chicagoans.

Last week, the Budget Committee voted 15-12 to approve the mayor’s “Chicago Moves” program, which would provide 50,000 prepaid $150 gas cards, and 100,000 transit cards that could be used to cover $50 worth of CTA fares. 

Many aldermen who voted in favor of the program nonetheless sounded reluctant in their support.

Ald. Michael Rodriguez (22nd) said he would have preferred having that money go to the city’s first-ever guaranteed basic income program, which will begin accepting applications later this month.

Many opponents have complained that the program appears to be no more than a political stunt in response to millionaire and mayoral candidate Willie Wilson’s gas giveaways. 

Lightfoot has denied her program is a reaction to Wilson’s gas giveaways, and her chief financial officer, Jennie Huang Bennett, told aldermen the plan was modeled on programs in other cities and states offering government-funded gas card and transit card programs.

With the Budget Committee’s approval on Wednesday, the mayor’s gas and transit card program now goes to the full City Council for a likely final vote.