Lightfoot's Free Gas, Transit Giveaway Narrowly Wins City Council Vote

CHICAGO — Mayor Lori Lightfoot's $12.5 million gasoline and transit card giveaway narrowly won City Council approval Wednesday in a 26-23 vote.

Ward bosses objected to the plan for a variety of reasons.

"To say it comes off as a gimmick would be an understatement," Ald. Raymond Lopez, who is running for mayor, said.

Downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly said the city shouldn't be subsidizing fossil fuels.

Other aldermen said the money should be shifted to fund violence prevention or food insecurity.

In the end, the majority sided with Lightfoot, who argued that on "planet reality" people have to pay for gasoline to get to work, and not everyone has access to public transit.

The mayor tweaked the "Chicago Moves" program to steer the gas cards to low-income Chicagoans and push about 75 percent of the $150 gas cards to people living in transit deserts.

Gas cards and transit vouchers are set to be distributed next month in a series of rolling lotteries.

Details on how to apply weren't immediately available.