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Gov. vetoes measure for mass-transit agencies

Governor Pat Quinn has rejected a bill that would have allowed public transit agencies to take on more expensive projects without giving public notice or going through a bidding process. 

In Tuesday's veto message, Quinn says mass transit in northeastern Illinois has major issues. He also plugged his new task force that's going to suggest changes at Metra in the wake of a hiring scandal. The panel will also study the Regional Transit Authority, which oversees Metra, PACE and the Chicago Transit Authority. Bill sponsor Senator Terry Link, a Democrat from Waukegan, says he agrees with Quinn's veto.

"With what's going on at Metra, we just don't want to give Metra anything right now until we get this whole mess cleared up."

Link says the bill was originally targeted at PACE to update decades-old limits. It would have allowed no-bid contracts for anything worth less than 40-thousand dollars, rather than the current 10-thousand-dollar threshold.