October 19 - 25, 2020 Vol. 28 No. 40
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Arts & (Home) Entertainment
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SportsWise
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The city is beginning to open back up, but most Chicago events and gatherings are cancelled until further notice. We are replacing our usual calendar with recommendations from StreetWise vendors, readers and staff to keep you entertained at home! The SportsWise team asks executive assistant Patrick Edwards about his history with sports.
Cover Story: Fair tax
The flat tax has never produced enough revenue to adequately fund the Illinois budget and so tax expert Ralph Martire and John Bouman, former president of the Shriver Center on Poverty Law, both favor a YES vote on the measure to replace it with a progressive income tax, or "fair tax." Advocates add their memories of how a flat tax has created a "scarcity mentality" in funding Illinois human services and what $3 billion in new revenue from the fair tax would mean in creating a better system. We also have input from the League of Women Voters, AARP and the Illinois Policy Institute.
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Dave Hamilton, Creative Director/Publisher
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Suzanne Hanney, Editor-In-Chief
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Amanda Jones, Director of programs
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Julie Youngquist, CEO
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ARTS & (HOME) ENTERTAINMENT RECOMMENDATIONS Since being stuck inside, which shows have you been watching? Which movies? Have you read any good books lately? Any new music releases have you dancing in your living room? StreetWise vendors, readers and staff are sharing what is occupying their attention during this unprecedented time. To be featured in a future edition, send your recommendations of what to do at home and why you love them to: Creative Director / Publisher Dave Hamilton at dhamilton@streetwise.org
Local Laughs!
Hit 'Em on the Blackside “Hit 'Em on the Blackside” is Congo Square’s new online series featuring the company’s award-winning African American ensemble in biweekly sketch comedy webisodes. The series is directed by Anthony Irons and stars Ron Conner, Alexis J. Roston, Tiffany Addison and Kelvin Roston Jr. Director Anthony Irons promises “gut punching, thought provoking, laugh-out-loud satire, with some deep, artistic kinda stuff thrown in for good measure.” Congo Square is excited to team up with filmmaker Malcom Banks to bring this new virtual experience to audiences. The first episode is available now on Congo Square’s Instagram and Facebook pages. The webisodes will be compiled into a full show for free viewing on the company’s website in December. The next webisodes will be released on October 23, November 6 & 20, and December 4 & 18. For more information, visit www.congosquaretheatre.org.
Race for a Cause!
(HOME) ENTERTAINMENT
Susan G. Komen Chicago Race for the Cure The Susan G. Komen Chicago Race for the Cure will be virtual this year on October 24. Join a team or sign up as an individual to fundraise and race where you are at info-komen.org. Susan G. Komen funds more breast cancer research than any other nonprofit, while providing real-time help to those facing the disease, especially those with the fewest resources: people who are uninsured, underinsured, low-income women and men. Komen was founded by Nancy G. Brinker, who promised her sister, Susan G. Komen, that she would end the disease that claimed Suzy’s life. Through events like the Komen Chicago Race for the Cure®, Komen Chicago has invested more than $18.1 million in community breast health programs in five county areas and has helped contribute to the more than $988 million invested globally in research.
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Historical Cinema!
“Fatma 75” screening & discussion Banned in its country of origin until recently, "Fatma 75" (Selma Baccar, 1975, Tunisia, digital, 60 min) is the first non-fiction film made by a Tunisian woman. It is a feminist essay film that uses the figure of a young woman, a university student, to embody and expand on the political histories of significant women in Maghrebi history. Followed by a live discussion with Florence Martin, scholar of Maghrebi women's cinema, and Issrar Chamekh, PhD candidate in Northwestern's department of political science. A virtual live screening & discussion will be 7 p.m. on October 22, and will be available to watch for the following 24 hours. Learn more and RSVP for this FREE event at blockmuseum.northwestern.edu
MCA Talks!
To Commune, Between Choice And Care This virtual event will be held October 22 at 5 p.m. and will include a discussion exploring the historical and contemporary boundaries between art and life and what we can learn to build a better union in the today. Themes discussed will be related to the Museum of Contemporary Arts' exhibitions "Alien vs. Citizen," "Just Connect" and the performance project "Chapter and Verse: The gospel of James Baldwin" by Meshell Ndegeocello. Panelists will include Ndegeocello’s collaborators, director Charlotte Braithwaite, artist Nicholas Galanin, and Chicago-based scholar Pascale Ife Williams. This presentation is organized by Interim Senior Curator January Parkos Arnall and Curatorial Assistant Marguerite Wynter with the Performance and Public Practice team. The event will be presented on Zoom and Facebook Live. Learn more at: https://mcachicago.org/Calendar/2020/10/Talk-To-Commune-Between-Choice-And-Care
Theater on Screen!
'The Wolves' at Loyola Performing Arts Beneath the fluorescent lights of an indoor soccer field somewhere in suburban America, "The Wolves," a play by Sarah Delappe, paints a vivid picture of a group of teenage girls grappling with some of life’s biggest questions. After a new girl, #46, joins the team, they do their best to navigate the world around them. Addressing topics including belonging, adolescence, and grief, Delappe paints an intimate portrait of how teenage girls understand the world and relate to one another. Directed by Jonathan Wilson, performances are 6 p.m. Saturday, October 24 and 31, 2 p.m. Sunday, October 25 and November 1. Tickets are $5$100, pay what you can at artsevents.luc.edu
Local Music!
The Chicago Artists Workshop Eighth Blackbird, a four-time GRAMMY Award-winning Chicago-based contemporary classical music ensemble, debuts “The Chicago Artists Workshop” (CAW), this fall, at its production facility at 4045 N. Rockwell St. These live-streamed ticketed events will also feature limited in-person seating. Eighth Blackbird Percussionist and Artistic Director Matthew Duvall said, “In addition to showcasing the stellar artistry of artists working in a wide range of genres, we want to create work for them during a time when the performance industry is enormously threatened by COVID-19 causations. We also want the series to be defined by its extraordinary caliber and creativity.” All concerts begin at 7 p.m as follows: ● Wednesday, Oct. 20: Lebanese-American tenor Karim Sulayman, joined by Eighth Blackbird’s Lisa Kaplan and Matthew Duvall ● Wednesday, Nov. 11: Singer songwriter Rebecca Rego ● Wednesday, Nov. 18: Three-time GRAMMY Award-nominee Justin Roberts (guitar/vocals) and Anna Steinhoff (cello) ● Tuesday, Dec. 1: Media artist, filmmaker, pianist Xuan ● Tuesday, Dec. 8: Image Award-winning poet, artist, musician, author and actor J. Ivy. Artists/dates/times are subject to change. For tickets or more information visit eighthblackbird.org.
Classical goes Virtual!
'IPO Reimagined' Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) has announced its virtual opening night concert, "IPO Reimagined," featuring 30 IPO string players performing George Walker’s “Lyric for Strings” followed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Serenade.” Since becoming IPO’s Artistic Director in 2017, Stilian Kirov has enhanced the orchestra’s performance repertoire, which often includes highlighting the incredibly diverse musical genius of American composers. IPO Reimagined allows the orchestra to carry on its three-year-old tradition of presenting an opening night concert that spotlights an American composer, while also complementing IPO’s reinvigorated attention towards equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives. Walker, who died in 2018, was the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music, and his "Lyric for Strings" is one of the most frequently performed orchestral works by an American composer. “Virtual concerts are an opportunity to get to know the music on a more intimate level,” said IPO Executive Director Christina Salerno. “How often can you see a violinist’s fingerings from your seat? Or the conductor’s expression while conducting? IPO views this pandemic as a challenge to connect with more people in new ways.” The 45-minute program takes place Saturday, October 24 at 7 p.m., and is FREE to the public via livestream on IPO’s Facebook page and YouTube channel, as well as on Palos Channel 4.
-Compiled by Kenny Adusah, Dave Hamilton, Suzanne Hanney, & Nina Rothschild
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Vendors Russ Adams, John Hagan and Donald Morris chat about the world of sports with Executive Assistant Patrick Edwards.
SPORTSWISE
Get
to know executive assistant
Patrick: So, I’m going to let you guys ask me anything— about sports, Don!—a chance for you guys and the folks out in Chicagoland to learn more about me. Don, I’m going to hold off on a question for you; give you a chance to come up with something that is sportsrelated. So, Russ, what do you have for me? Russ: Which sports—say, top 5—are your watchables? Patrick: My number 1 is absolutely the NBA. Specifically, I am a Bulls and Lakers fan and, yes, it was pre-Kobe! I always get that follow-up question from folks once they realize the Kobe-love I had for the recently-passed brotha. My time went back to my early college days and Eddie Jones and Starter Jackets! Before anyone asks, Yes, I owned a Lakers Starter Jacket. It was black with gold and white trim. Number 2 is a tie between football and tennis. I love my Bears and, of course, I love my Venus Williams. Number 3 is golf. Haven’t played it much, but it’s so friggin’ peaceful to watch on
a Sunday afternoon—especially if Tiger’s in the hunt! Number 4: Boxing. Still wrestling with the legality and acceptance of this sport, especially when I look back in history and think about how Black kids were made to box for viewing pleasure and betting purposes—events dubbed “Battle Royale”— and this wasn’t even only during slavery. November 5, I’d give it up to baseball. Don: Have you ever officially played sports? In high school, college, etc.? Patrick: Well, throughout middle school and through high school, I did play. From the sixth-grade on, I played basketball and baseball for my school: University of Chicago Laboratory Schools over in Hyde Park. There were a couple of guys I played with throughout those years that I still hang out with from time to time: E, Astone, Jake, Jeff, CB, B, Harry, 'drilla, and still
Patrick
more. For basketball, I was a shooting guard and was, often, forced into the point guard role! For baseball, I pitched and played second mostly. On a separate note, I always did want to go out for the tennis team in high school, but it was always during, I believe, baseball season, and I couldn’t not play baseball. Other than that, nothing official. John: What’s your favorite sport to play? Patrick: Easy. Ping Pong. I loves me some Ping Pong. Now, if there aren’t any pingpong tables on-site, then finding a basketball court is mandatory. Russ: Cubs or Sox? Patrick: I am a Chicago fan. Not only do I enjoy both the Cubs and the White Sox, I root for the Fire, the Sky, the Blackhawks, Bears, DePaul, Northwestern—everybody! If, however, I were absolutely forced to choose, this is how
I’d explain it: I want the Sox and the Cubs to win the exact number of games…and in the final game of the Series, I’ll be rooting for the White Sox to win it on a last at-bat in infinity-inning. Don: When you came on the team here at SportsWise, did you think we had our stuff together? Patrick: Yes. I’d read you guys before, so I knew I was down with the real deal—or, as Don is known to say: the “Real Deal, Holyfield!” Mind you, sitting around with y’all and hearing it from your mouths (or, on occasion, fingers), I’m definitely more impressed. I strive to sound—and be—as intelligent as y’all are with this stuff. No joke. John: Do you truly believe the Bears are Super Bowl bound? Patrick: I do. Any comments or suggestions? Email pedwards@streetwise.org
FAIR TAX 'IS NOT COMMUNISM, IT'S MATH;' IT BRINGS REVENUE TO FIX STATE'S WOES by Suzanne Hanney
Following a Zoom meeting on the November referendum for a progressive tax led by Chicago tax expert Ralph Martire, a LaGrange woman developed this elevator speech for friends: “In the past few months, we’ve seen a lot of inequities revealed in our society, and the flat tax leads to inequities because it puts the burden on low- and middle-income families.” Illinois currently has a flat tax of 4.95 percent, but the referendum would amend the Illinois Constitution to replace it with a graduated tax according to income, just like federal income tax. Under the proposal: • people making $100,001-$250,000 annually would continue paying 4.95 percent • those making $10,001-$100,000 would drop to 4.9 percent • people earning less than $10,000 would pay just 4.75 percent.
"YOU CANNOT TAX LOW-INCOME PEOPLE TO FUND SERVICES IN POOR COMMUNITIES. THEY DON’T HAVE THE MONEY."
Only 3 percent of Illinoisans would see a tax increase. The rate would go up to 7.75 percent only when someone reaches income of $250,001, and it would hit a top rate of 7.99 at $750,001. It is also projected to bring $3 billion new revenue for the Illinois budget.
-RALPH MARTIRE
But another participant in the Zoom meeting sponsored by the League of Women Voters/Unitarian Universality Advocacy Network of Illinois (UUAMI) asked, “Why does Illinois tax anyone who makes less than $10,000 a year?”
Illinois (but only 44 percent nationally). Overreliance on local property taxes for education funding creates inequities between school districts across the state: between Harvey and New Trier, for example.
“Because the state is too broke,” to eliminate taxes on them, answered Martire. He is executive director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability and Arthur Rubloff professor of public policy and public administration at Roosevelt University.
With the flat tax, everyone pays the same rate of 4.95 percent. But the flat tax is regressive because it is harder for a low-income person to pay than a millionaire. The progressive income tax, on the other hand, offsets all other state and local taxes, which are also harder on low-income people.
Putting politics aside, the argument about the progressive tax – also known as the “fair tax” – comes down to “revenue” and “regressiveness.”
Public officials are left with two unpopular alternatives: raise taxes or cut these services. They opted instead to hide the problem, Martire said, by deferring money from pension funding to pay the other bills, which has led to the current budget deficit. They also deferred the state’s obligation to fund K-12 education to local property taxes, which is why these taxes are so high. Across the U.S., states pay an average of 47 percent toward education, but Illinois pays just 24 percent of this cost. Local property taxes account for 67 percent of education funding in
“For somebody who’s making less than $10,000, you might be talking about the difference between paying your electric bill or all your rent, or medicine for your child,” said Tracy, a formerly homeless, grassroots organizer with CCH, regarding the flat tax. “For someone making $250,000 a year, they’re talking about luxury wants, but I am talking about being able to provide food, shelter, clothing. In an ideal world I would want everyone to have the basic necessities and beyond that it’s the icing on the cake. But we all need the cake. For me it would cut into my needs, not my wants, it’s not fair. For someone making minimum wage, it’s still not affordable. We need as much of our paycheck as possible.”
COVERSTORY
The flat tax was a political compromise to appease conservative Downstaters who didn’t want an income tax at all. Since its inception during the Illinois Constitutional Convention of 1970, the flat tax has never raised enough revenue to eliminate the state’s structural deficit, Martire said. Illinois spends more than it takes in.
For example, Illinoisans making less than $21,800 a year pay 14.4 percent of their incomes in combined state and local taxes, while those with annual income of $537,400+ pay only 7.4 percent of their income, said Brandon Marks, Fair Tax state organizer with Chicago Coalition for the Homeless (CCH), quoting the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
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The flat tax is also regressive because it doesn’t capitalize on income growth. Between 1979 and 2017, IRS data show a 254 percent average income increase among the top 1 percent of Illinoisans (from $411,000 to $1.4 million annually), while average income for bottom 99 percent only went from $51,000 to $61,000, Martire said. “Tax policy has to redistribute money from areas of wealth to areas of need or the system won’t work. This isn’t communism, it’s math. You cannot tax lowincome people to fund services in poor communities. They don’t have the money. “ Without a growth in revenue, Illinois spent less in Fiscal Year 2021 than it did in FY2000 under Gov. George Ryan in these areas: • Higher education is down nearly 49 percent, from $3.79 billion to $1.85 billion • Health care funding is down 18 percent, from $10 billion to $8.17 billion • Human services is down 14.68 percent, from $8.1 billion to $6.91 billion A Zoom audience member quoted the evangelist Luke: “to whom more is given, more is expected.” But Martire cited Adam Smith in “The Wealth of Nations” – published in 1776. “ ‘The subject of every state ought to contribute toward the support of the government as nearly as possible in proportion to their respective abilities: that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state.’ Who better to turn to?” he said enthusiastically. “America and capitalism, born together. It was meant to be.” The progressive tax rate tops out at 7.99 and annual income of $750,000, which compares favorably, he said, with neighboring states: • Iowa’s 8.53 percent rate on income above $71,910 • Wisconsin’s 7.65 on $258,950+ income • Minnesota’s 9.85 on $163,890+ income Martire doesn’t buy the argument that higher taxes will drive down the population. For one thing, since 1925, Illinois has had net outmigration every year except one: 2011, the first year of a temporary tax increase. Second, a greater percentage of people from Indiana and Wisconsin moved into Illinois during the temporary tax increase than vice versa – and to Cook and collar counties, which have the highest local taxes. Other factors are more important, whether family ties, weather or where people find a job, he said. He also debunks the idea that the November referendum will give the state any legal authority to tax retirement income. “That’s a lie put out by the right wing.” The moderator of the La Grange League of Women Voters/UUAMI program ended it with her own elevator speech: “We need to be able to show up [at the polls] for the 27% of Illinoisans making less than $10,000 and in desperate need of some kind of equity to change their situations. It would allow us to be a compassionate state and grow business and wealth in so many ways, to begin living into the values that we have.”
FLAT TAX CREATED 'SCARCITY MENTALITY;' FAIR TAX WOULD FUND HUMAN SERVICES by Suzanne Hanney
It’s a been a 50-year struggle to get a progressive income tax amendment on the Illinois ballot, and if it doesn’t pass November 3, the state will have to find other means of generating revenue to balance its budget, says John Bouman, recently retired president and CEO of the Shriver Center on Poverty Law and now chairman of Vote Yes for Fair Tax. Illinoisans currently pay a flat tax of 4.95 percent. But the flat tax is unfair, or “regressive,” Bouman said during a webinar for Illinois Partners for Human Service, because a family making $30,000 pays the same rate as one making $3 million. The flat tax is a much bigger share of the low-income family’s income. What’s more, the current system relies more on lower- and middle-income people than on those at the top; in the process, the state’s greatest way of generating revenue is failing the whole system. Only 3 percent of Illinoisans – those with incomes above $250,000 -- would pay more than the current 4.95 percent under the progressive income tax proposal on the November ballot, Bouman said. Also, the topmost rate of 7.99 “compares favorably with Wisconsin and Iowa and is well below Minnesota” (see ropposite page). Meanwhile, everyone making less than $100,000, or 85 percent of the population – would pay less than 4.95 percent.
“IT’S NOT TRUE WE’RE TRYING TO DUMP ON EVERYONE WHO’S GOT MONEY, WE’RE JUST TRYING TO BRING LLLINOIS INTO THE MAINSTREAM AND MAKE THIS THING MORE FAIR.” -JOHN BOUMAN
“This is not some radical thing. It brings Illinois into the mainstream and takes it out of the laughingstock of late night TV, of being such a sick state,” Bouman said. “It’s not true we’re trying to dump on everyone who’s got money, we’re just trying to bring lllinois into the mainstream and make this thing more fair.” The progressive/fair tax proposal doesn’t give the Illinois General Assembly any new power other than to calibrate the new tax. When opponents say it will allow the state to tax retirement income, “they tell a lie,” Bouman said. “No, it won’t.” But the measure will address the 5 percent budget cuts proposed for this year and 10 percent for next year in a way that doesn’t further burden lower- and working-class people, he said. “We have all been operating in time of scarcity so long that it’s hard to visualize a system that works,” said Sam Tuttle, former director of policy at Heartland Alliance and current committee director, Vote Yes for Fair Tax, during the Illinois Partners webinar. The $3.2 billion expected to be raised from a progressive tax “would give all of us brain space to be creative, to do all the things we want to do that the stress has taken away from us.” Human services encompass everything from childcare to elder care, substance abuse and mental health treatment, disability services, workforce development and more. The sector has been systematically underfunded and is now down to 16 percent of the Illinois general revenue fund from 26 percent in 1997, said Lauren Wright, executive director of Illinois Partners for Human Service. But in a global pandemic that has demonstrated an exaggerated effect on low-income and minority people, you can’t have a robust response without human services, Wright said.
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"IF YOU HAD MORE RESOURCES YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO IMPROVE THE ENTIRE MENTAL HEALTH SYSTEM FOR CHILDREN, FAMILIES, VETERANS, LONG-TERM CHRONICALLY HOMELESS. WE WOULD BE MUCH BETTER ABLE TO SUPPORT PEOPLE WITH MENTAL HEALTH NEEDS.” -LORE BAKER
ASSOCIATION FOR INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT (AID) Association for Individual Development photos illustrate the right of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to live in the least restrictive environment, from smaller group housing to harvesting vegetables with U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-West Chicago) to use in a healthy cooking class.
“You can’t have someone shelter in place if they don’t have a home and you can’t tell someone to stay at home if they don’t have access to food or income. That is the gap that human services fill. When we think about the fair tax, we’re thinking about a small step in the right direction in rectifying this 20-year decline in human services.” Wright said.
almost everyone I’ve known in a shelter situation, it’s the same. It’s not enough to get you where you need to go.”
Where is the scarcity now and what would a better-funded future look like?
The state’s reimbursement model also prevents the service providers from building new infrastructure, Spoden said. In the past, suburban Cook County providers used rotating, volunteer-run shelters that were faith-based. “We knew that was fragile before and not good with COVID going forward. At this point we have the new CARES Act dollars available to us so we can invest in 24/7 shelters that can serve specific populations like families, young people 18 to 24, the medically vulnerable. But with how little the state has been investing in emergency shelter and transition funding, we will not have the revenue to sustain us going forward.”
“We are absolutely scrounging every year for money,” said Katie Spoden, advocacy and development coordinator at the Alliance to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County. Although the Alliance itself is not a direct services provider, but rather the coordinator of 40 groups applying for $13 million in federal funding to end homelessness in the suburbs, “One thing that is always apparent is the scarcity of resources and having to use the reimbursement model, because no money is provided upfront and reimbursement is not timely, which stalls the services that can be provided to people experiencing homelessness and people at risk of homelessness.” From a client’s perspective, said Tracy, a grass roots organizer at Chicago Coalition for the Homeless (CCH) who was in a shelter for a year after the death of her husband and who has been intermittently homeless, “They want to bring stability to people in an unstable situation but don’t have anything to give them that’s stable. I felt like a hamster on a wheel, running and running and getting nowhere.” Tracy’s daughter was 2½ when her father died, so childcare was like the piece someone pulled out of Tracy’s Jenga puzzle that brought it tumbling down, she said. Although Tracy worked in management, her hours extended until 1 a.m. and it was difficult to find a childcare provider who would accept her daughter, since most providers need to be awake for 5 a.m. drop-offs. “It’s a matter of timing. If you come to a program at the right time and they have something available, fine. If not, you’re spinning your wheels. That’s where my white privilege kicked in. I got a scholarship.” She is now earning a master’s degree. “But
“From the nonprofit provider’s perspective, because nonprofits are on shaky ground with scarce resources, we need to have that stability to provide others with stability,” Spoden said.
On the other hand, the $3 billion from the progressive tax would give nonprofits some new money and the flexibility to advocate for housing, she said. There are four specific items that concern housing (permanent supportive housing, homeless prevention assistance, homeless youth programming and emergency shelter/transitional housing), and each year the Alliance asks for increases, Spoden said, “although there has never been enough to meet the need.” Legislators are receptive to them, but consent decrees and other obligations have first hold on the state’s money, so allocations fluctuate. Homeless prevention assistance, or funds that help households navigate a short-term crisis to avoid homelessness, was funded at a high of $11 million in 2006 and then cut to $4 million during the 2008 recession; it’s now at $9 million, said Brandon Marks, Fair Tax state organizer at CCH. “As a person who has spent more than 20 years working for nonprofits and government, it’s been very clear the state budget only has certain places where we have discretionary spending – where we can make cuts,” said Lore Baker, president and CEO of the
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Association for Individual Development (AID), which provides services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and people with behavioral health needs like depression, anxiety, bipolar schizophrenia. “Every time there is a huge tragedy, people talk about mental health services, affordable housing for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities being able to live in their own communities with supports, but we never have any money to invest in those kinds of visions.” AID has 41 community integrated living arrangements (CILAs) in northwestern Cook and six collar counties for 185 people and it supports 800+ people with behavioral health needs. Their alternatives would be either institutionalization or cycling in and out of homelessness and jails, Baker said. “Every year the budget is really desperate,” Baker said. “This past year was probably the best; in the first quarter of the budget year we do not know as service providers what we will be paid because 5 percent cuts are called for. Next year it’s 10 percent. This is on top of increased calls for service due to increased anxiety, and depressed suicidal thoughts across the service system. There’s lots more calls and need for service to people who never sought services before because of the world in which we find ourselves: COVID, racial injustice, fires, hurricane.” Illinois institutionalizes people at a higher rate than many other states, Baker said. But because the U.S. Supreme Court held in Olmstead v L.C. that institutionalization violates their civil rights to live in the least restrictive environment, Illinois is bound by three class action lawsuits -for people with physical disabilities, developmental disabilities and mental illness -- and the resulting consent decrees to which Spoden referred. Illinois still had 1,659 people in seven state-operated centers as of FY17, down from 2,762 in FY05. Eighty percent of Illinois clients receiving services are in CILAs of eight people or more, whereas most states are moving people to apartments with two, three or four people, she said. “Lack of funding has created a dual system,” Baker said. “If you are a class member, you receive a different kind of service. Class
U.S. Representative Lauren Underwood stopped by the
action lawsuits are supposed AID to Aurora change the system for(Keeler the better. Community Day Services Center) to help clients harvest freshout vegetables their gardenpoor to utilize in But because we’ve had to funnel money of anin already healthy cooking classes. system to answer these consent decrees for those class mem10 bers, it has further weakened the ongoing mental health system. You just continue serving people in a way that is not upholding their rights. If you had more resources you would be able to improve the entire mental health system for children, families, veterans, long-term chronically homeless. We would be much better able to support people with mental health needs.” Consent decree notwithstanding, in terms of intellectual and developmental disabilities, as of September 8 there were 18,765 people on the waiting list for Medicaid-waiver services: things like community day services, employment services, assistance with cooking, cleaning, personal hygiene, transportation or anything that would support their small-group living in the community. The waiting list grows every year as students in special education turn 22, are no longer eligible for education, and “end back at home in the basement playing video games because there is no service,” Baker said. Thousands of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Illinois live with caregivers who are 75 or older. If they still have not been taken off the list when their caregivers die, “they wind up in a state-operated developmental center as an emergency placement that their family spent their whole life trying to keep them out of.” The Illinois model for disability services has people on waiting lists for housing, substance abuse and mental health treatment, whereas immediate availability of services would allow them to change their lives as soon as they are ready. “If you don’t have these services, you have people running through the jail system, going to the emergency room,” Baker said. “If you don’t have housing, it’s hard to manage your physical health problems. It’s just a big vicious circle. All these things cost taxpayers way more money than this little income tax, this fair way of raising resources for the state of Illinois to provide support services.”
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THE PROS AND CON
AARP For years, the state's fiscal crisis has left millions of residents reeling. Many Illinoisians have already lost their jobs, as businesses and social service agencies closed their doors or reduced their hours. And, middle and lower-income Illinoisians have been fleeing the state under the current tax burden and cuts to essential programs and services. AARP Illinois has urged elected officials all along to find commonsense solutions to ensure senior service providers are paid, vulnerable citizens receive needed services, municipalities are supported, and the state's debt burden is not hanging over our heads.
PRO
This November, Illinois residents will get a chance to vote on a commonsense solution to address our budget crisis without shifting the burden to our older adults and middle-class families – the graduated income tax amendment. That's why AARP launched a campaign in support of the Illinois Graduated Income Tax Amendment: • A step in the right direction: Illinois needs a plan to get out of the budget mess it has created, without shifting the burden to our older and middle-class residents. Voting YES on the graduated income tax on the 2020 ballot could help the state raise around $3 billion a year to deal with the budget crisis and ensure funding of essential services that older residents rely on. • Protects older Illinoisians: The Graduated Income Tax Amendment does not allow the state to tax retirement income, and it does not make it easier to tax retirement income in the future. However, if Illinois doesn't find a way to fix the budget crisis, state lawmakers may be forced to consider adding a tax to retirement income or more drastic spending cuts that will especially hurt those 50+ and their families. • Only the wealthiest pay more: It's wrong that billionaires pay the same tax rate as essential workers like nurses, first responders, grocery store clerks, and other types of workers. Only those who can afford it – the wealthiest 3 percent of households – will pay more under the graduated income tax. Those making less than $250,000 will see no increase in their state income taxes, and some will see a small decrease. It's time we take a step in the right direction to fix our budget crisis. That's why we are asking all Illinois voters to commit to voting YES.
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LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS ‘It’s time for income tax reform’ For more than 40 years, the League of Women Voters has supported a graduated rate income tax for Illinois, with higher income taxed at higher rates and lower income at lower rates, as in the federal income tax system. In the General Election in November, we will have the opportunity to amend the Constitution in this way. LWV Position Why does the League believe that a progressive income tax is a “Fair Tax,” and why have we supported it for so long?
PRO
First, “Equity and Progressivity:” the Fair Tax is based on the ability to pay. This is not the case with the current flat tax. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the bottom 20% of wage earners in Illinois have twice the tax burden of the top wage earners, and the bottom 20% pay more than they would in any other Midwestern state. Second, “Stability and Responsiveness:” taxing our lowest wage earners at a higher percentage is counterproductive since they generally must spend most of what they earn, returning it to the economy. Furthermore, most of our economic growth since 1970 has benefited our top wage earners, but they have paid taxes at the same flat rate as low wage earners. The Need The state has about $6.5 billion in unpaid bills, despite serious funding cuts. Since 2000, cuts in spending on core services (healthcare, human services, and public safety) have exceeded 20%, and cuts to higher education have exceeded 50%. The Constitutional Amendment Resolution passed by the Illinois General Assembly was paired with a law that sets out the tax rate structure that will go into effect upon passage of the amendment. With that rate structure, a Fair Tax should raise more than an additional $3 billion each year, while 97% of Illinoisans—people earning $250,000 or less—will not see their income taxes increase in 2021. The state’s need for additional revenue stems in part from past decisions to shirk its pension obligations. For decades, the state has kicked the can down the road, passing on mounting debt to future generations. With our flat income tax structure, the wealthiest Illinoisans have benefitted most from those decisions over the years, paying less than their fair share. It is time to put the state on a steady path to meet its obligations with a modern income tax structure.
NS OF THE FAIR TAX ILLINOIS POLICY INSTITUTE Three retirees have joined the Illinois Policy Institute in a lawsuit filed October 5 to challenge the language in the progressive tax amendment, on the grounds that it is not neutral.
CON
WHAT THE BALLOT WILL ACTUALLY SAY: Proposed Amendment to the 1970 Illinois Constitution The proposed amendment grants the State authority to impose higher income tax rates on higher income levels, which is how the federal government and a majority of other states do it. The amendment would remove the portion of the Revenue Article of the Illinois Constitution that is sometimes referred to as the “flat tax,” that requires all taxes on income to be at the same rate. The amendment does not itself change tax rates. It gives the State the ability to impose higher tax rates on those with higher income levels and lower income tax rates on those with middle or lower income levels. You are asked to decide whether the proposed amendment should become a part of the Illinois Constitution.
Officials on the free market think tank’s website say that the summary is misleading because it suggests that the progressive tax amendment would only grant lawmakers the ability to “impose higher income tax rate on higher income levels,” but the amendment does not guarantee the impact only on higher earners.
The plaintiffs also say that the progressive tax opens the door to a retirement income tax in Illinois, because 32 states with a progressive tax system also tax retirement income in some form. (AARP Illinois has noted, however, that the amendment does not make it easier to tax retirement income, although failure to pass the amendment could mean drastic spending cuts to services and a tax on retirement income.) In addition to the Illinois Policy Institute, plaintiffs include Don Wojtowicz, 84, a former Chicago Police Department officer for 25 years and Chicago Department of Aviation employee for 24 years; Barbara McGann, 83, a retired Orland Park resident who worked at a South Holland auto body shop for 25 years and John Sutherland, a former Chicago Fire Department member for 20 years. The Illinois Policy Institute (illinoispolicy.org) outlined its opposition in an August 27 blog. Mistrust of Illinois lawmakers, as well as differentiation between Illinois taxpayers of different income levels and the effect of the progressive tax on small businesses, were some of their issues.
YES/NO For the proposed amendment of Section 3 of Article IX of the Illinois Constitution.
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A. Allen: A friendly reminder about the census ANd voting nov. 3 The U.S. Census Bureau is ending all counting efforts for the 2020 census on October 31. The data collection by the federal government happens every 10 years and getting a complete count of our population has big ramifications. It determines congressional representation and it helps the government determine how much funding each community receives for affordable housing, public education, public transportation and public safety. Through the YWCA Metropolitan Chicago, StreetWise employed vendors to reach out to the homeless population on the street, to let them know they don’t have to go to the library to fill out the census online, that the census workers would be coming and when they do, they should take five minutes to complete it with them.
INSIDE STREETWISE
If you have not completed the census, it only takes a few minutes. You can visit my2020census.gov or call 844.330.2020 to respond in English, 844.468.2020 to respond in Spanish. There are also customer service representatives for people who speak Chinese, Russian, Polish, Arabic – a total of 11 languages.
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We would also like to remind everyone the election is right around the corner: November 3 for the House of Representatives, U.S. Senate and the President of the United States. In Illinois, the ballot also includes the issue of the progressive tax, which will put less of the tax burden on middle- and lower-income families. Also, because of COVID-19 and social distancing, there will be long lines at the polls on November 3, so vote by mail or vote early.
Streetwise 9/7/20 Crossword numbers 1 to 9. Sudoku
To solve the Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and box must contain the
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“Immediately!” Browning’s Ben Ezra, e.g. ___ of Man Shed Roast host J.F.K. postings
wn Worked the soil Handbag Type of missile Vamooses Tranquility Rattle Pioneering Dadaist ___ degree Uniform shade Trackless trolleys
11 Battery fluid 12 Drink garnish 13 Small whirlpool 21 Varnish ingredient 23 “___ say!” 25 Careless driver’s problem 26 Team player? 27 Woman’s undergarment 28 Cowboy show 29 Keypad key 30 Seafood dish 32 Gnatlike insect 33 Computer command 34 Plant fibers 37 Greek letters
38 Common Market inits. 42 Catches flies? 45 Decipher 49 Go a-courting? 52 Turf accountant 54 Cacophony 55 Chill-inducing 56 Unwanted email 57 Guesstimate words 58 Bona fide 59 Cover-up 60 Shopper’s aid 61 Universal veil 62 Times in classifieds 65 Battering device 66 “Monty Python” airer
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last week's Puzzle Answers Sudoku Solution
Solution
Sudoku Solution
PuzzleJu
Crossword Across 1 Reverberate 5 Shoot for, with “to” 11 Contents of some bags 14 Kind of wire 15 Check payee, maybe 16 Farm butter 17 Bistro 18 Alcove 19 Nile reptile 20 Attractive 22 Slangy denial 24 Experiences 25 Football’s Armstrong 26 Plunder 30 Almond candy 34 Vote to accept 35 “___ on my bed my limbs I lay”: Coleridge 36 Myrna of “The 58 Discharge Thin Man” 60 Ended a fast 37 Not being used 61 Come into 38 Microbes view 40 Baedeker of the 62 Greet the Baedeker travel judge guides 63 Took place 41 House vote 64 Forward 42 Dust remover 65 Hebrew for 43 Old Ford “delight” 44 Vulnerability 47 Wicker Down material 1 Catchall abbr. 48 ___ and for all 2 Sticking 49 Lettuce type point? 50 Boxer’s bane 3 Old 45 player 51 Hitch in the 4 Dentist’s middle of rope request 55 Hawaiian 5 Overseas wreath 6 Appears 56 Andy Warhol’s 7 Horse’s forte motion
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8 Extreme anger 9 Fixes up, like an antique 10 Artificial 11 Surgical procedure 12 Orient 13 Electric guitar hookup 21 Seal off 23 “Rocky ___” 26 Acadia National Park locale 27 African antelope 28 Butterballs 29 Mock, in a way 30 Traffic sign 31 Escort’s offering 32 Major artery
33 Parachute material 38 Macabre 39 Musical aptitude 40 Hobby shop buy 43 Bridge declaration 45 A wee hour 46 Some paintings 47 Rank 49 Boatload 50 Salad cheese 51 Joker, e.g. 52 Pop, in France 53 During 54 Judicious 55 Order’s partner 57 Mont Blanc, e.g. 59 Sawbuck
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