CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - Advocates for low income worker tax relief rallied at Daley Plaza Monday for the passage of a bill that has bipartisan support in Springfield.
The bill would account for 1 percent of the total state budget but would impact 40 percent of those living in Illinois.
“I see a lot of tax credits in Springfield. The ones that rise to the top have to make sense for everybody and this is a tax credit that makes sense for literally everybody in the state,” said State Representative Mike Zalewski, who sits on the House Budget and Finance Committee.
Supporters from over 40 organizations say that if passed, the bill would extend the Illinois Earned Income Tax Credit to 1.2 million people currently not qualified, including immigrants that are paying tax under a Individual Taxpayer Identification Number. It would also create a statewide child tax credit of 600 dollars.
State Representative Carol Ammons is one of the bill’s chief sponsors.
“You all have already done all of the convincing that’s necessary. The only part that’s left is that we need to raise our voices a little higher right now so the people up there…we need them to hear us,” exclaimed Ammons.
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Another legislator who supports the bill is State Senator Omar Aquino.
“For us, I believe it’s a common sense thing that we help those who helped us during the pandemic those folks that had no choice of their own but have to show up to work- to take care of the kids, take care of our families, take care of our community,” said Aquino.