Institute for the Public Good

Institute for the Public Good Research and policy institute that builds and supports legislation to advance racial equity, and materially improve lives of working class Chicagoans.

$20,000. The average cost of childcare for one child is nearing $20,000 a year in Illinois. The Illinois Childcare 4 All...
02/23/2026

$20,000. The average cost of childcare for one child is nearing $20,000 a year in Illinois. The Illinois Childcare 4 All Coalition is fighting to make sure every family in Chicago and Illinois has access to free childcare, and that childcare workers are unionized with thriving wages, benefits, and career pathways.

We’re gathering organizers from across the country that have been fighting for universal childcare in their own states and cities. Join us on Thursday, February 26th from 6:30PM - 8PM (virtual) as we learn about (1) what’s worked, (2) what hasn’t, and (3) how we work together to advance this fight across the country.

We’ll be joined by:
* LaDon Love, SPACES In Action, Washington DC
* Marina Marcou-O’Malley, Alliance for Quality Education, New York
* Matthew Henderson, Olé, New Mexico
* Mary Claire Schmit, SEIU HCII, Illinois
* Moderated by: Ishan Daya, Institute for the Public Good

Register @ bit.ly/ILchildcareforall

Spanish translation and captioning will be offered.

Chicago is clawing back the taxes that companies like Meta and Google have been avoiding with Trump’s tax cuts, by taxin...
02/20/2026

Chicago is clawing back the taxes that companies like Meta and Google have been avoiding with Trump’s tax cuts, by taxing the largest social media companies and using those funds to expand free public mental health centers across the city and non-police crisis response.

JB Pritzker is now taking inspiration, and has put a similar policy in his proposed budget for the State of Illinois.

Want to learn how to push for something similar in your city / state? DM us.

12/12/2025

The fight over if Chicago will tax corporations or working class neighbors continues…with an update!

The Chicago Sun-Times published their own analysis earlier today showing that there’s no evidence that the corporate tax is a “job killer” and the head of the corporate think tank, the Civic Federation, that’s been leading the charge to kill this tax that funds public safety, admitted on the record that they have no evidence that it is a job killer.

The alternate budget from the 27 alders introduced on Tuesday proposes to cut the corporate tax and replace it with garbage fees, liquor taxes, and cuts to youth jobs.

What do you think should happen - tax corporations? Or tax our neighbors?

Ishan Daya with the Institute for Public Good breaks it down.

12/10/2025

Half of Chicago City Council is backing an alternative budget proposal that would trade the corporate tax for a doubling of garbage fees, increases in liquor taxes, and cutting youth jobs.

Moreover, our analysis shows that this proposal does not meet the minimum threshold to balance the city budget.

This bloc of alders is posing the question - tax corporations or chicagoans. The mayor’s proposal taxes corporations, what will this bloc of alders choose?

Julie Dworkin from Institute for the Public Good and Asha Ransby-Sporn from Chicago Black Voter Project talk about it on WBEZ.

12/03/2025

new budget proposal has come into town from a cohort of alders…what does it mean for you and our neighbors?

the TL;DR - trading a tax on corporations for an increase in our garbage fees, increases in liquor taxes, and cuts to worker benefits and youth jobs - one of the most effective interventions to curb youth violence.

we need a budget that protects Chicagoans - not one that chooses to cut services and taxes families struggling to pay rent instead of telling corporations to pitch in.

11/25/2025

Crain’s is saying that working people aren’t doing enough to help balance this Chicago budget, and that we need to “share the sacrifice” with businesses.

They forgot to mention that Illinois is the 8th most regressive taxed state, with the wealthiest 1% paying HALF the rate that working class folks pay in total share of taxes. Corporations need to “share the sacrifice”.

We need to ensure this budget asks the largest corporations to pitch in, instead of making life increasingly unaffordable for working class chicagoans.

11/24/2025

While Trump has been raiding this city thru ICE attacks, his administration just gave BILLIONS MORE to crypto and private equity companies in tax breaks.

And these companies are still lobbying to kill corporate taxes like the Community Safety Surcharge in Chicago, where they’d contribute just a drop of those tax breaks to fund community safety.

Julie Dworkin breaks down the latest reporting from the NYT.

11/11/2025

Tax regular chicagoans MORE or ask large corporations to chip in. If we want to keep this city affordable, we can’t layer onto the already rising costs of groceries. But we can ask those that have received BILLIONS in tax breaks from donald trump to start pitching in.

Ishan Daya with the Institute for the Public Good breaks it down on Chicago Tonight.

11/10/2025

Contrary to what corporate lobbyists would have you believe, the direct corporate taxes in Chicago are lower than our peer big cities. Julie Dworkin with the Institute for the Public Good breaks it down here!

11/08/2025

This Chicago budget is asking - should we tax your neighbors, or should we tax google. Julie breaks down the choices and why it’s time to look to Google, Amazon, and Home Depot to start contributing to community safety in this city.

11/07/2025

Chicago City Council has a choice:

1. tax working families and small businesses who are struggling to make ends meet and are about to see an 80% rise in their healthcare costs, or

2. tax the large corporations that have accrued billions in tax breaks and ballooning profits from the Trump administration - for whom this community surcharge (corporate tax) will cost them an average of 0.06% of those tax breaks.

Ishan Daya with the Institute for the Public Good breaks it down on Chicago Tonight.

Which would you rather see city council do to protect community safety programs?

Don’t believe the hype! Corporations can afford to pay the Community Safety Surcharge to fund vital services to keep our...
10/30/2025

Don’t believe the hype! Corporations can afford to pay the Community Safety Surcharge to fund vital services to keep our neighborhoods safe. Check out the profits and record tax breaks of the top corporations who will pay the tax. Want to check out the full list? Go to bit.ly/taxcorpsnotfamilies

Address

Chicago, IL

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Institute for the Public Good posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category