Despite conflict, Mayor Lightfoot’s plan to distribute prepaid gas and transit cards moves to full City Council

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s high-profile and controversial effort to hand out 50,000 gas cards and 100,000 CTA transit fare cards narrowly cleared an important City Council hurdle Wednesday even as aldermen expressed concerns the initiative was more about politics than helping citizens.

Lightfoot’s plan, dubbed “Chicago Moves,” came just weeks after onetime political supporter and now potential mayoral opponent Willie Wilson used his own money to buy more than $1 million in free gas at Chicago stations in March as prices at the pump have soared in recent months. With Lightfoot weighing a bid for a second term, the mayor’s proposal called for spending $12.5 million in city money for the gas and public transit cards.

The council’s Budget Committee approved the plan by a 15-12 vote, sending the measure to the full City Council for consideration next week.

The passage came after Lightfoot was forced to tweak her initial proposal to ensure most of the recipients of the city’s largesse came from either lower-income households or “high mobility hardship” areas, mostly on South and West sides.

Still, even some council members who backed the plan said they did so reluctantly.

Southwest Side Ald. Mike Rodriguez, 22nd, said he would rather the funds go to a pilot universal income program for poor residents. He nonetheless voted in favor of the Lightfoot gas-and-transit card program because “at its core, we are redirecting money to working-class people.”

A council member from the other side of the city, Northwest Side Ald. Ariel Reboyras, 30th, voted yes because he said he understands Chicagoans are hurting and the “Chicago Moves” program is a way to help some of them. But Reboyras added he wished the plan could be applied to give aid to more people.

The criticism irked some council members who are supportive of the initiative.

During the committee debate, West Side Ald. Jason Ervin, 28th, said his colleagues who opposed the measure were voting against “those who need the most help” making ends meet and finding affordable ways of traveling throughout the city.

“This is a small way to help some of our most challenged residents,” Ervin said.

Since Lightfoot announced the plan, more than 10 months before the mayoral election in early 2023, several aldermen have greeted it with skepticism. They’ve grumbled that using $12.5 million in city money to give away 50,000 prepaid gas cards worth $150 each and 100,000 passes that will cover $50 worth of CTA bus and train fares would only help a small percentage of citizens while providing lots of publicity for the incumbent mayor.

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Coming after Wilson staged his own gas giveaway before announcing his mayoral campaign, some dismissed the Lightfoot move as a political ploy. Wilson is planning another gas giveaway on Saturday, which has raised eyebrows about the two-time failed mayoral candidate repeatedly providing handouts to potential voters.

Still, the concerns about Lightfoot playing politics were amplified by the fact that a prototype of the gas card the city will issue to residents featured Lightfoot’s name on it.

“There are many questions in terms of where this program came from, if it was inspired by Dr. Willie Wilson’s gas giveaway,” said Northwest Side Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, 35th. “I’ve heard from some constituents who’ve said they feel this is the mayor trying to prove that she has the biggest gas hose. So to me, I think that I really do not like that this has the mayor’s name prominently on the gas card.”

But Budget Committee Chair Ald. Pat Dowell, 3rd, told her colleagues to focus on the low-income Chicagoans they’re trying to help.

“In terms of the mayor’s name on everything, let’s not be petty,” Dowell said. “The mayor’s name is on everything. You get off a plane, you’re coming into Chicago, it says ‘Mayor Lori Lightfoot.’ Your check says ‘Mayor Lori Lightfoot.’ That is a nonissue, and really very, very petty.”

Another criticism of the plan from council members centered on the income guidelines the mayor initially set for eligibility.

Facing pushback, Lightfoot amended her initial plan to direct the cards to lower-income households, from $140,000 to $93,200 for a family of four, and make sure three-fourths of the $7.5 million in gas cards go to people from “high mobility hardship” neighborhoods mostly on the West and South sides.

Of the roughly 1 million households in Chicago, about 500,000 would be eligible for one of the 150,000 total cards, according to Chief Financial Officer Jennie Huang Bennett. About one-third of the households are within the “high mobility hardship” areas, Huang Bennett said.

The cards would be distributed via lottery if more eligible households apply than the number of cards that are available.

Although Lightfoot earlier this week defended the program as a public policy move that was not tied to her reelection campaign or a reaction to Wilson’s giveaways, it failed to convince several members of the council committee.

Noting food insecurity is a more pressing concern of many residents, South Side Ald. Leslie Hairston, 5th, said, “there are so many more needs we have in this city.”

Ald. Derrick Curtis, 18th, lamented that residents in his Southwest Side ward wouldn’t see many of the cards because of the income and geographic hurdles.

“If everyone can’t get a slice of the pie, no one should,” he said.

Ald. Sue Sadlowski Garza of the Far South Side’s 10th Ward said the $12.5 million should go for something “more sustainable,” such as paying for mental health services.

“I don’t think this is a good move,” Sadlowski Garza said. “You’ve got a car, you’re filling it up twice and it’s over.”

jebyrne@chicagotribune.com