Child Care Advocates Win Crucial Funding Needed for Our State To Expand Child Care

Kids along with their child care providers and parents dressed up like super heroes and traveled to Springfield with a simple message for lawmakers as they were making their final budget decisions: “Tax billionaires to fund child care!” That’s because no matter what a child looks like, where their parents are from, what language they speak, or their gender – every kid deserves safe, quality child care and education.

And guess what?! We had a huge victory with the passage of the a $1.2 billion digital ads tax!

We did this as part of the Illinois Revenue Alliance (ILRA). This win demonstrates how grassroots organizing can fight back against widening wealth gaps, cuts to essential services, ballooning corporate power, and growing authoritarianism.

ILRA organized massive days of action at the state capitol and grassroots lobbying of legislators. Our organizations’ lobbying and government relations staff collaborated daily inside the capitol, working with legislative allies to ensure chamber leaders heard the demand for progressive revenue.

The fight isn’t over. This funding goes into the state’s general fund, but we can fight to make sure funding we need for getting to child care for all can come from this and other taxation of tech giants, billionaires, and corporations.