Free rides on the CTA?

After the Chicago Transit Authority more or less set fire to all its funds in recent years and then had the gall to ask the State to bail it out, our state legislators have faced the unenviable task of finding some way to keep public transit operating now and in years to come.

Having just done so, their reward was to have our state governor amend their bill to make it also provide free mass transit to senior citizens, no matter how wealthy they may be, and with no provision for paying the added cost of his "generosity."

If the governor gets his way, in a few years I too will qualify for an entirely-free ride, rather than the reduced fare I'd previously have already qualified for. Meantime, I'll have lots of new taxes to pay to partly make up the difference.

What really bugs me about this is:
1) This idea could and should have been debated by the legislature this Fall, rather than being sprung as a last-minute surprise by the governor.
2) There are a lot of wealthy Senior citizens. Why do they need help, rather than for instance, DCFS kids and the handicapped?
3) Once Metra is entirely free for any group, homeless members of that group will use it as a daycare center, much as they already use the CTA - riding around the system all day long for a single fare.
4) Somebody eventually has to pay for giveaways. Since the presenting problem is that the CTA is out of money, proposing to make it give away even more seems DOA. Fortunately, one thing both parties in our legislature seem to agree on lately is halting the governor's latest follies.

Update: I was too optimistic - the Governor won.