Our Grassroots Movement Won a Key Victory in the 2026 IL State Budget

How long have we been fighting to tax the rich?

The role of Grassroots Collaborative goes back to at least 2009 when our coalition, led by our dearly missed Amisha Patel, mobilized to stop the Illinois legislature from the worst of its “doomsday cuts.” Fifteen years later, we worked with the biggest set of allies yet to achieve a major victory in this long fight. This year, on June 1st, Illinois state legislators passed a budget that includes a new tax on Big Tech, a result of years of pushing this and other solutions by grassroots organizations and progressive elected officials. 

This is a tax on the digital advertising revenues of the world’s largest tech corporations, including Amazon, Meta, and Google. When it takes effect, these corporations will need to pay a little more—over $800 million—to the State of Illinois. This will still be just a sliver of their profits but a significant addition to our state’s public resources, from which our representatives in office can better fund community needs like health care, child care, affordable housing, violence prevention and education.

In addition to helping meet our communities’ needs, what makes this victory exciting is the new level of collaboration and power our movement built through the work to get this tax passed. The Collaborative was part of the steering committee of the Illinois Revenue Alliance, a coalition of over 30 community, labor and advocacy organization that worked together and in coordination with other groups such as the Responsible Budget Coalition, and with progressive state legislators like the tax’s chief sponsors, State Senator Robert Peters and State Representative Norma Hernandez, and a group of legislators working together as the Affordability and Tax Justice Coalition.

But the power we built and that we need to keep building wasn’t just what we could do inside the state capitol. We also took direct action at the door steps of the mega-corporations, and also in the districts of key legislators, to show the urgency of making the wealthiest pay what they owe.

To ramp up outside pressure for this and other progressive taxes, we launched PowerUp, a compressed campaign of trainings and direct actions to pose a moral public question: Should mega-corporations and the ultra-wealthy pay more in taxes to fund critical public services? PowerUp involved the eight organizations along with the Collaborative and our national network, PowerSwitch Action. The leaders and organizers we brought together took actions outside Amazon and Meta’s downtown Chicago HQs, civil disobedience at an Amazon delivery hub, and creative actions of different sizes at other corporate sites, the state capitol and in legislator’s districts. This worked in parallel with days of action  in the state capitol and other cities like Peoria by the IL Revenue Alliance and more organizations like ICIRR, SEIU, and educator unions. 

Organizing and direct action are critical to winning victories that can make a difference for our people and that can push back on the power of the wealthy at the state level. This is also what it will take to show how megacorporations and billionaires are pillars of  authoritarian movements that are gutting and reshaping government from the federal to local levels. At the same time, working in coalition is also necessary. However slow and difficult the process may be, only by bringing together our diverse organizations can we break through the challenges that limit us all, like tax systems that favor the wealthy. For more about this victory and the lessons we can build on, read this article in Truthout co-authored by our Deputy Director, Marla Bramble.

What happens next? We expect opponents of this tax to challenge it in the courts, as they did to similar legislation in other states. We also know that mega-corporations and billionaires will keep spending more money on lobbying, elections, and media to grow and protect their wealth. The needs of our communities, which are still growing as prices inflate and incomes fall behind, make it necessary to fight back. Our grassroots movement will keep learning, adapting, and growing. To keep up to date on the next campaign and what you role you can play, make sure to sign up for our emails.

See you in the streets!