Economic Justice
Putting people over profits, and building a city that works for families not big corporations.
What We Believe
We organize to fight economic inequity and raise progressive revenue. This means researching tax and budget issues, educating our membership, and advocating for policies that mandate that the rich and big corporations pay their fair share in taxes. We believe that our governments should raise revenue from the wealthiest individuals and big corporations in order to fund vital services like public schools, human services, affordable housing, and investing in our infrastructure.
What We Will Do
- Monitor and leverage opportunities to increase funding for critical services through the city and state budget processes.
What We Have Done
- Pushed legislators to embrace progressive revenue solutions through Fair Economy Illinois and the 15-day March to Springfield.
- Closed $125 million in corporate tax loopholes in the Illinois state budget in July 2017: After a long campaign with partners to keep the spotlight on the need for progressive revenue in Illinois, the legislature finally passed a budget including some progressive revenue, including 3 loopholes we had been demanding be closed. The legislature had to override Governor Bruce Rauner’s veto, but the budget was adopted.
- With the SRO Committee of the Housing Justice team, we helped to shepherd the Bring Chicago Home campaign to ballots in 2024 — a five year effort. Though this measure was defeated at the ballot box, it significantly changed public conversations around homelessness and motivated many people to look critically at city funding for the issue.