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By cracking down on employee absences, the CTA has saved more than $10 million over the last two years. The CTA says it has cut employee absences by 22 percent since 2011, and it’s all in an effort to curb funding cuts from the state. 

The state mandates that the CTA offer free and discounted fare to qualifying customers, a service that costs more than $100 million annually.

Major Rahm Emanuel says the CTA gets about $14 million from the state to help with that expense, but after cuts in July, it’s only half of what it was just a year ago.

Emanuel: “And when you have these mandates, which are right, the state should not be making cuts in providing the resources.”

Emanuel says the $10 million saved by targeting absenteeism shows just how important every penny is under a tight budget.

For Medill, I’m Brittany Nims.


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