Economic Justice Issue Team

Big corporations are posting record profits and CEO compensation has skyrocketed while worker compensation has stagnated. Meanwhile tax rates have decreased for the super-rich, and corporations have lobbied for and exploited tax loopholes to dodge paying corporate income tax. However, fully funded government programs that benefit people are more necessary than ever.. As less revenue comes in from those most able to pay, the tax burden is shifted to middle- and low- income people through regressive tax policies.

We know taxes and budgets are confusing! We also know they are critical to creating the world we want to live in — where public schools are fully funded, where everyone has access to health care and an affordable higher education and early childhood education, where the safety net is intact and fully funded so it can support the needs of the community, where we have the training and resources to shift to a renewable energy economy. All of these dreams will require major public investments. And taxes are the way we get there. Check out our vision for a budget that puts people and the planet first.

The Economic Justice Team is working to make progressive revenue a key issue in the 2018 governor’s race. We will doorknock, canvass, do popular education sessions, candidates forums and public forums to demystify how budgets and taxes work and make sure voters are informed about this critical issue as we head into election season.

The Economic Justice team chooses campaigns that focus on raising progressive revenue. This means researching tax and budget issues, educating our membership, and advocating for policies that ask the rich and big corporations to pay their fair share in taxes. Our campaigns tend to focus on the state level, but we also take on federal and city level policy fights as well.

We coordinate our campaigns in conjunction with several coalitions: Fair Economy Illinois, Grassroots Collaborative, People’s Action and Center for Community Change.

We recently celebrated a major victory! The Illinois state budget closed 3 corporate tax loopholes raising $125 million in new revenue for our state. We have a long way to go, but this was the first time in over a decade that the legislature closed any significant corporate tax loopholes.

Our team also led ONE Northside’s participation in #MoralMondaysIL during the summers of 2015 and 2016. These actions helped build the narrative that new revenue had to be part of any budget solution.

Hannah Gelder, hgelder@onenorthside.org, 773-769-3232 x19