Chicago-area community members representing seniors, health care workers, child care providers and more met at Bright Star Church of God In Christ Church in Bronzeville Tuesday to discuss the impact of the state’s growing state budget crisis and its affect on working families with State Representative Will Burns.
“Our state cannot cut its way out of this crisis without hurting working families and critical health care in the state,” said Dolly Nash, a home care worker from Chicago. “We’re counting on our elected officials to do the right thing for our future – pass a fair income tax increase that will put Illinois on track to recover without hurting those who are already suffering.”
Following testimony from the community, Representative Burns expressed his support for a budget that protects essential services and includes a fair income tax increase. “We’ve known for years that the way that we generate revenue is insufficient to take care of our basic necessities,” explained Burns, who went on to describe his past support for an income tax increase to address Illinois’ “woefully underfunded” education system and pledged to support a substantial and fair revenue package to deal with the state’s current crisis and prevent harmful cuts
As Progress Illinois’ Angela Caputo reports:
Yesterday we highlighted how a coalition of community organizations and labor unions are fighting back against Gov. Quinn’s proposal to cut human and social services for the state’s neediest residents. As an alternative, they want Illinois officials to reform the regressive income tax structure so the state can begin generating enough revenue to maintain a strong safety net. Last night, Rep. Will Burns (D-Chicago) expressed his support for their efforts, telling folks who attended the Campaign for Illinois’ Future’s (CIF) budget update that, with an income tax restructuring on the table, now is the perfect time to push for an “inspiring” spending plan that moves the state forward on issues like health care and education funding reform. Otherwise, he said, “How do you sell a budget on less of the same?” Watch him conclude his remarks:
Quinn is in a tough spot: Demand is rising for “safety net” services at the same time that he needs to close an estimated $12 billion budget gap. But as Action Now’s Denise Dixon told us last night, it’s a lack of revenue and tax fairness — not the cost of these programs — that accounts for the shortfall. And while the proposed cuts — such as reductions in both home care and child care spending and the consolidation of Department of Human Service offices — may seem marginal, they have a huge impact on the low-income families and senior citizens that rely on them.
“We want the budget to be balanced,” Dixon added. “If we’re going to raise income taxes, we have to make sure we don’t balance the budgets on the backs of the poor.”
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