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A recent study from consumer finance website WalletHub put
Illinois at the bottom of all states for racial equality. The
areas reviewed include Illinois ranked 47th for both median
household income and labor-force participation rate, 50th for
unemployment rate, 33rd for homeownership rate, 40th for poverty
rate, 46th for homeless rate, 49th for share of unsheltered
homeless and 45th for share of executives.
State Rep. Dan Ugaste, R-Geneva, announced the creation of the
Opportunity Caucus he said is meant to bring policies forward to
lift everyone up.
“Any member [of the General Assembly] can join in providing real
reform so we can get out of this problem we’re in of being 50th
in the nation of racial economic equality,” Ugaste said.
Teresa Haley, the Illinois State Conference President of the
NAACP, said Illinois’ environment is not working to lift Black
residents up.
“Illinois is a dying state, it’s a dying community, and so we
need to find ways to lower our taxes,” Haley told WMAY. “We need
to find ways so that everyone can experience life abundantly and
we don’t have that here in Illinois.”
Separately, one example of inequality is the property tax rate
in predominantly white Winnetka being around 8% while in
predominantly Black Harvey, it’s around 26%.
Ugaste said that devastates the Harvey economy.
“A property tax rate that’s that high in Harvey, try and get a
business to locate there when they have to pay a property tax at
that rate,” he said. “It’s just not right. There are reforms
that can be made.”
Republicans have attempted to get reforms to lower property
taxes in Illinois without much support from the Democratic
majority, Ugaste said.
Haley said politics aside, Illinois policies need to change to
lift everyone up, including Black Illinoisans.
“And we’re not seeing it,” she said. “People leaving Illinois
because of high taxes. People leaving Illinois because they
can’t find a job, or the rich get richer and the poor stay poor
is what we see in Illinois.”
Other WalletHub studies have found Illinois is 7th worst for
racial equality in education and the 10th biggest wealth gap by
race.
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