Chicago Sun-Times

State should know taxing sugar beats taxing income

- Marcy Kirsh, Northbrook

Illinois will surely reach junk bond status if it doesn’t get its act together and start taking pointers from everyone else who is taxing items such as plastic bags, soda, vaping devices and even cloud services. Although some of those taxes are already in place or currently being considered in certain counties and cities of the state, they should in fact be statewide— nationwide even.

People can get over and even get behind any tax that is attached to anything harmful to our health and environmen­t such as cigarettes, gas, plastic bags and sodas. I’m all for those. In fact, why not start increasing taxes across all plastic goods that we use daily, even including toys. Fast food, plastics, non- recyclable­s ( batteries, electronic­s), sugary drinks and candy are examples that could have been considered for being taxed statewide before resorting to taxing our income.

Having the freedom to choose which tax to pay is a whole lot better than being forced to take home less pay. People can only stretch the dollar so much, which is probably how we ended up here. Ultimately we are the ones stuck paying for the shameless lack of accountabi­lity our government

Demand Rauner signHB 40

After having three healthy children, my husband and I weren’t ready for a permanent birth control solution, so our birth control of choice was an IUD. We were lucky to have a choice. Currently, House Bill 40— which is sitting on Gov. Bruce Rauner’s desk waiting for his signature— will allow all women to continue to safely find the best birth control for their situation in the event that the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. However, without the passage of HB 40, the majority of birth control methods will become a criminal offense including the IUD.

HB 40 is not all about abortion, it goes much deeper and will affect all residents of Illinois— an issue that is unknown to most. I’m not a criminal nor are other women who choose birth control as a method for their family planning. HB 40 is especially impactful for families who cannot afford birth control, reproducti­ve care and more.

Based on Gov. Rauner’s questionna­ire for Personal PAC in 2014 as a candidate for governor, he states, “My highest priority in this area will be to ensure effective administra­tion of the laws regarding access to contracept­ion and provide that access regardless of income.”

Please remind the governor of his commitment to the women of Illinois by contacting him at 312814- 2121 and 217- 782- 0244 or send a message via personalpa­c. org/ takeaction and demand that he protect access to reproducti­ve health care for all women.

SEND LETTERS TO: letters@ suntimes. com. Please include your neighborho­od or hometown and a phone number for verificati­on purposes.

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