Our Action Plan for Working Families
Every campaign in this race is going to say they care about working families. We are the only campaign putting forth real solutions in our Action Plan for Working Families which will create stronger and more thriving families. We spoke to thousands of voters from Belmont Cragin to Bucktown and people brought up the same concerns: the cost of housing, the cost of child care, the cost of groceries, and public safety.
Create more affordable housing and control property taxes.
We have a housing affordability crisis in this city because we are not building enough new affordable housing, we have allowed too many properties to sit in disrepair, and we depend too much on property taxes. The state needs to fund the construction of more 100% affordable housing units. Then we need to create a new state program that offers low interest loans for small property owners to rehab vacant properties or to create additional dwelling units. Then we need to control property taxes by fighting corruption and finding more progressive state funding solutions.
Reduce the costs of child care and elder care.
Working families spend one third of their income on child care. These enormous costs put an incredible strain on young families. There are state programs in place that help with these costs but they are very limited in their scope. We propose a dramatic expansion of the Child Care Assistance Program so that more young families do not have to spend so much of their income on child care. This will strengthen families, create more equitable access to child care services, and reward dedicated child care workers who are predominantly women of color. This is an investment in the families and the children of Illinois.
I have not only raised two kids in the city and paid over $3000 a month for child care, but I have also cared for an ailing parent. My dad had a severe stroke, was paralyzed on one side of his body, and required around the clock care. We made the tough decision to bring Dad into our home and to care for him as a family with the help of a caregiver. The assistance these caregivers provided made it possible to care for Dad in our home and he was able to live out the final years of his life surrounded by the love of his family. We need to be working towards universal at home care for our elders and loved ones.
Do everything possible to control the costs of groceries.
An issue that kept coming up was the rising costs of groceries. The State of Illinois has temporarily suspended the sales tax on groceries a few times over the past few years. Let’s permanently abolish the state sales tax on groceries. It’s a regressive tax that hurts Illinois families. We can replace that revenue by increasing the state tax on the digital purchases of physical goods. Prices in the store should be significantly less than online. The State should also be offering more tax incentives to open new grocery stores in communities without healthy and affordable food
Restore public safety.
Families cannot thrive if they are not safe. While overall crime statistics have gone down in Chicago, we are experiencing a plague of armed robberies from Belmont Cragin to Bucktown. We need to go after the organizers of these armed robbery sprees and not just the young perpetrators. We also need to create a task force within the Illinois State Police that targets the import of illegal guns into Illinois from neighboring states. Stopping the flow of guns into our streets will help stem senseless gun violence. All families deserve to live in safe neighborhoods.