You can take action on this alert by reading the information below and following the directions at the bottom.

Illinois has one of the most regressive tax systems in the country and a huge state budget deficit. We need to fix these problems while preserving programs and services that meet basic human needs.

State legislators will finalize their plan to balance next year's state budget by the end of May. With just a few days left, there are still not enough legislators willing to support a necessary tax increase in order prevent huge cuts to human service programs.

If you need more reasons to take action, we ask you to contact your state legislators in solidarity with five grassroots activists who started a five-day Hunger Strike for Budget Justice on May 27. They will continue the hunger strike until May 31 unless the General Assembly passes a budget that raises new revenue, increases tax fairness for working families and protects the safety net.

If you have already contacted your state legislators, we thank you and ask you to forward this alert to others. If you haven't, please respond today.

Without increased state revenue, the only way to balance the budget will be through cuts to programs and services that serve people with the lowest incomes.

The worst-case scenario is that human service programs could lose more than 30% of their funding. Specific programs that would be cut include:

• The Homeless Prevention Program that provides one-time grants to people to help them avoid or end homelessness.
• The Emergency Food and Shelter Program for individuals and families who are homeless.
• The Homeless Youth Services line item that funds shelters for unaccompanied youth.
• Social services for people who used to be homeless but now live in supportive housing.

While we need new revenue, we don't want to continue the practice in Illinois of taxing the poorest families, so that they pay a greater portion of their income than the wealthiest families to support public services.

Illinois’ lowest income families pay close to 13% of their incomes toward sales, income and property taxes, compared to only 5% among Illinois’ wealthiest families.

Increasing the state income tax to 5% from 3%, combined with tax relief targeted at those with the lowest incomes through expanding the state Earned Income Tax Credit, will increase the sustainability and fairness of our state's tax system and preserve the programs that vulnerable people depend on every day.

Your message will be sent to each of the following targets:

Your State Representative
Your State Senator

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This Action Alert Campaign is Closed.