All hands on deck! (Updated x2)
Saturday, May 31, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Isabel and I both received this earlier today. Did you?…
* Regarding the delivery tax…
A coalition of business groups including the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, Illinois Chamber of Commerce, Illinois Fuel & Retail Association, Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, Illinois Restaurant Association, Illinois Retail Merchants Association, NFIB Illinois and TechNet, released the following statement urging lawmakers to reject a new $1.50 tax on retail and food deliveries:
“Amid persistent inflation, Illinois lawmakers are now considering a new delivery tax that would make it more expensive for consumers to have food, medicine and other goods delivered to their homes or businesses. This new, regressive tax will undermine consumer savings from the recent elimination of the grocery tax and would disproportionately impact communities that rely on delivery services to receive vital items. That includes residents who live in food deserts, people with mobility challenges and disabilities that make shopping trips challenging, or those without access to transportation. It also threatens income and opportunity for thousands of delivery drivers who may see demand for their services drop as consumers cut back to avoid this tax. We urge lawmakers to stand with working families and reject this tax.”
* Let’s move to a completely different topic…
Hi Rich, please find below a statement from Deb Robertson, a terminally ill Illinoisan for whom Senate Bill 1950, the End-of-Life-Options Act (also known as “Deb’s Law”) is named:
“As the Illinois General Assembly begins work on this final day of the 2025 Spring session, it is my fervent hope that the Illinois Senate will debate and take a final vote on Senate Bill 1950, the End-of-Life-Options Act (also known as “Deb’s Law”) before the adjournment later today. For me, for my family and for countless others across Illinois, this measure offers mercy and comfort in the wake of a terminal diagnosis. Although it is now unlikely that the law will be implemented for me to utilize, I urge state senators to reject the fear and overheated rhetoric of opponents of this measure and simply give mentally competent adults the ability to take a prescription to end their suffering and die peacefully.
“Eleven states and the District of Columbia debated and adopted medical aid in dying. Those debates were accompanied by the same claims and dire predictions we have heard from opponents of Deb’s Law. None of the list of horribles shouted by those in opposition in Springfield have come to pass.
“The advocates on the ground in Springfield tell me that there is a path to passage in the Senate. And, I understand that Governor Pritzker is prepared to sign the measure into law. My prayer today is that Senators will spare a moment today to think about those suffering today with a terminal diagnosis and approve Senate Bill 1950.”
Deb has been an outspoken advocate and has testified before legislators multiple times.
This post will likely be updated.
…Adding… Transit…
…Adding… On the Digital wager tax, which would tax a fraction of online sports betting…
- @misterjayem - Saturday, May 31, 25 @ 12:58 pm:
“My prayer today is that Senators will spare a moment today to think about those suffering today with a terminal diagnosis and approve Senate Bill 1950.”
Amen.
– MrJM
- Incandenza - Saturday, May 31, 25 @ 1:05 pm:
I don’t know about everyone else, but I actually regularly take a CTA bus to pick up take-out. I think this is a great idea!
- Just Me 2 - Saturday, May 31, 25 @ 1:15 pm:
No on Uber notification from someone living in Chicago.
- Amalia - Saturday, May 31, 25 @ 1:33 pm:
did not see that. is there a pizza biz lobbyist? cause could imagine seeing one of these for that $1.50 per delivery tax proposal.
- Leap Day William - Saturday, May 31, 25 @ 1:43 pm:
I struggle to whip up sympathy for the Private Burrito Taxi Service costing $1.50 more when you can just go out and get it yourself and not pay the fees and massive upcharge restaurants have on Uber, DoorDash, et. al. have because of how large a bite those companies take out of the restaurant’s margin.
- Lakefront - Saturday, May 31, 25 @ 1:48 pm:
== when you can just go out and get it yourself ==
1. Not everyone can “just go out and get it” themselves. And 2. That wouldn’t really help the transportation damage/congestion problem this is ostensibly trying to solve - would it?
- DS - Saturday, May 31, 25 @ 2:41 pm:
Pour one out for the poor, oppressed gaming industry
- Flat Bed Ford - Saturday, May 31, 25 @ 3:02 pm:
JB signs this into law and the Presidential campaign hit piece mailers write themselves.
- Rich Miller - Saturday, May 31, 25 @ 3:16 pm:
===JB signs this into law and===
And if he vetoes it and transit is damaged?
The campaign is a long way away. The idea here is to pass some bills.
- low level - Saturday, May 31, 25 @ 3:57 pm:
I have stuff delivered and place wagers extensively. Im fine w a $1.50 tax. People act like that will make them go broke.
- JustMe - Saturday, May 31, 25 @ 4:19 pm:
It’s kind of weird to say that the Dems’ proposed sports betting tax will be on “a fraction of online sports betting.” Most online sports bets are for $1. A single dollar. The Gov’s people are proposing a tax of 25-50 cents on each bet. For the typical bet of $1, that new tax is not a “fraction.” It’s actually a tax of 25-50% per bet.
- Excitable Boy - Saturday, May 31, 25 @ 4:45 pm:
- JB signs this into law and the Presidential campaign hit piece mailers write themselves. -
I have no idea if Pritzker aims to run for president or not, but are you incapable of imagining that multiple goals can be planned for at the same time? The idea that his decisions are based on one or the other is tiring.
- Leap Day William - Saturday, May 31, 25 @ 8:20 pm:
== Not everyone can “just go out and get it” themselves ==
Having done shopping/delivery Instacart for a couple of years in the mid-late 2010s because I was sitting with a bundle of free time and I wanted to burn down my mortgage, the overwhelming majority of these services are used by people who can but choose not to as a cost-benefit analysis. Yes, some people are physically not capable of doing it themselves but there are services out there for those edge cases that aren’t propped up by venture capital and stealing from restaurants/gig workers.