United Working Families Resolution on Adopting an Anti-Austerity Budget for the People
Adopted at the August 21, 2019 General Membership Meeting
Guided by: Our vision for a city and a state that provides for the many, not just the wealthy few.
Recognizing, Chicago is displacing and overpolicing Black and Brown families and communities, women, the LGBTQ+ community, and starving the city’s working people of the resources they need to live and thrive. Black, Brown and working families overpay through discriminatory use of fines, fees, and property taxes while corporate developers receive massive handouts for projects that displace residents. While we fight for police accountability and true sanctuary, we must also fight for the resources and funding for what actually makes us safe: including public education, public transit, pensions, mental health care, and affordable housing.
Recognizing, The Mayor has said there is a projected $1 billion budget shortfall and that we should brace ourselves for tax increases borne by Chicago’s already overtaxed and under resourced working families.
Whereas, We reject this false choice - we know there is enough money to pay for what our families and communities need. Governments and institutions are making a CHOICE to prioritize the greed of corporations and developers over the needs of Chicago citizens. When the city gives money to the rich through tax breaks, TIFs and funneling money downtown, it is taking money directly out of the pockets of working families and Black and Brown communities. Politicians have done decades of harm and violence to Black and Brown families, through forced segregation, redlining, police killings, and starving neighborhoods of basic resources. The time has come to pay back what is owed.
Therefore, The time has come for Black, Brown and working class people of Chicago to become the number one budget priority. We demand and are ready to fight for a city budget that fully funds schools, pensions, programs and services that are vital to families and communities. We demand the city STOP giving billions of dollars to police and developers and START requiring the wealthy to pay their fair share. We commit to fighting for reparations for our communities and demand a budget that divests from police and developers, invests in communities and neighborhoods, and fund the resources we need by requiring the wealthy to pay their fair share. We require a budget that solicits and implements public feedback from communities most impacted by a history of austerity budgets.
