Democratic state senators speak out against Trump cuts in Joliet during bus tour

A bus tour led by Illinois Democratic senators made a stop in Joliet to speak out against cuts to social programs proposed by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

The tour on Sunday went through Chicago, Buffalo Grove and Joliet before returning to Chicago. The stop in Joliet took place at Joliet Junior College.

More than 80 people attended the stop, where a group of state senators urged them to organize against Trump and call on state lawmakers to get rid of Illinois’ flat tax system.

“We need middle class tax relief and we need it now. We can only get that through a graduated income tax,” said state Sen. Rachel Ventura, D-Joliet.

Ventura asked everyone in the room to stand up or raise their hand if they receive Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, housing vouchers or publicly funded education.

Ventura said that “almost everybody in this room is standing.”

“These are the individuals who will be impacted by the continued cuts of the federal government. If we do not do something in Illinois, that comes to our doorstep,” Ventura said.

Sunday’s four-stop tour was called the “For The People Bus Tour.” The tour sought to alert residents in the Chicago area of the proposed cuts to social spending by the Trump administration and how that will affect the state.

The Trump administration is preparing a budget for the next fiscal year that would cut billions of dollars from programs supporting child care, health research, education, housing assistance, community development and the elderly, according to an article Friday from The New York Times.

Besides Ventura, other Democratic state senators who joined the tour in Joliet were Graciela Guzmán, Robert Martwick, Mary Edly-Allen, Adriane Johnson, Karina Villa and Mark Walker.

Villa said she ran for office when she was a school social worker because the state government under one-term Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner slashed funding for social services for “the people who needed it the most.”

“Those same programs that were the reason why I ran for office are the same programs that Donald Trump is attacking right now. [He] and his cronies are attacking all of those things that we hold valuable,” Villa said.

The senators at Joliet’s event promoted a graduated, or progressive income tax system, as the answer to the state’s financial problems and a way to provide tax relief to the middle class and needed funding for social programs.

Voters rejected a ballot proposal in 2020 to get rid of the state’s system of taxing income at a flat rate. But Martwick has proposed a resolution last February to remove the flat tax provision in the state constitution.

At Sunday’s event, Guzmán said “solidarity is our shield [and] progressive revenue is our sword in this moment.”

Martwick told the JJC audience that Illinois is a “bastion of blue” that has led the nation on environmental policy, women’s access to reproductive health care and LGBT civil rights.

And yet, the state has a regressive tax system that puts the “burden of funding government on the backs of people who cannot afford it,” Martwick said.

With the election of Trump, Martwick said the U.S. has a “government that is being run by oligarchs.”

The most notable oligarch is Elon Musk, considered the richest man in the world. He was tasked by Trump to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

The initiative aimed to dramatically slash government spending and jobs.

While Musk promised $2 trillion in cuts, he most recently claimed DOGE apparently saved taxpayers just $150 billion, according to the Washington Post.

Martwick encouraged people to have conversations with their neighbors who voted for Trump. He said those voters are “suffering from the same things that we are.”

“They’ve just been fooled into a narrative that somehow or another, we’re the problem,” Martwick said.

One of the questions brought up by the audience was how people can connect with their elected officials better and get more people involved in activism against Trump.

Earlier this month, hundred of people came to downtown Joliet to protest Trump and Musk.

Ventura gave the crowd her email address and phone number.

“You want elected officials who you can get in touch with. If they are unwilling to give you contact information, stop voting for them,” Ventura said.

Ventura encouraged people to contact her office if they need help with anything. She said her office has helped people with issues such as healthcare, homelessness or even pet care.

“We scour our community and find resources,” she said.