2021 Year In Review
Vision and Mission
The People’s Lobby is organizing for a world where every person and every community can thrive.
We’re fighting to build a new economy and society that brings us closer to the economic, racial, gender, and environmental justice we all need and deserve. We know that such a transformative, systemic overhaul requires us not just to win big investments in people and communities, but to also elect people who share our values and priorities, and will govern in partnership with us.
Building back better than before
COVID-19 brought our old, broken system to a halt. We’re fighting to build a new one.
2020 was about supporting each other through the social, economic, and physical devastation of a historic pandemic. In 2021, The People’s Lobby has fought to create a new, post-COVID “normal” where the needs of people and the planet are the priority—not the profits of wealthy corporations and the super-rich.
Though 2021 still presented unique challenges to building community and acting collectively, we won some truly transformative victories, passing historic climate change legislation, making Illinois the first state to completely outlaw cash bail, presenting a Budget for Black Lives at the county level, and working toward an economy that puts working people first with President Biden’s Build Back Better Plan.
Mass Liberation, Not Mass Incarceration
Policing and incarceration harm Black, Brown and poor communities. White supremacy and capitalism work together to exploit Black, Brown and poor people, depriving entire communities of investments and opportunities and creating conditions that foster crime and violence. Policing and incarceration further traumatize people.
Investing in people, not punishment, makes everyone safer. Community safety is achieved with good jobs, safe and affordable housing, excellent schools, robust public transit, and universal access to essential health services. That’s why we’re fighting to drastically reduce incarceration and to increase investments in communities.
Calling for Federal Investment in Black Lives
The American Rescue Plan sent more than $1 billion to Cook County for COVID relief and recovery. Continuing our divestment work from last year, the Budget for Black Lives coalition developed a plan to spend that money on the priorities identified by our South Suburban membership: housing, mental healthcare, and jobs, not additional funding for policing and incarceration via the Sheriff’s Department.
We’ve engaged in large-scale public pressure to push Cook County officials to spend this money in 2022, and we will continue to hold them accountable to fostering safety and enriching Black communities.
Ending Money Bond and Transforming Pretrial Justice
Every year, Illinois incarcerates over 250,000 people in 92 county jails before trial. None of these people have been convicted of a crime, and most are jailed simply because they can’t afford to pay a money bond (commonly called cash bail). People who are incarcerated before trial often lose their jobs, housing, and custody of their children.
After years of work from organizers, community leaders, people personally impacted by incarceration, and more, Illinois passed a massive criminal justice reform bill in January 2021. This bill includes the Pretrial Fairness Act, which makes Illinois the nation’s clear leader in reforming pretrial justice by ending the practice of money bond. As of 2023, Illinois will no longer incarcerate people before trial just for being poor. The People’s Lobby played a central role in making this happen, as one of the anchor organizations in the Coalition to End Money Bond and Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice.
People & Planet First.
We are building people power to reclaim our democracy, unify across the oppressions that cause so much suffering and divide the 99%, and ensure our elected representatives use their power to serve our communities. We believe we can transform government into a force that guarantees economic, racial and gender equality, and protects our local environment and the health of our planet. But it will take large numbers of people working together to achieve these goals.
Closing $650M in Corporate Tax Loopholes
We celebrated our largest corporate tax loophole win ever this year: together with allied organizations and state legislators we helped elect, we closed $655 million in corporate tax loopholes as part of the 2021 state budget! This will allow our state to spend money on things we need like health care, education, climate justice, and more. Along with our allies ONE Northside, Jane Addams Senior Caucus, and the Grassroots Collaborative, The People’s Lobby has fought for nearly a decade to close the loopholes that allow rich corporations to dodge their taxes by organizing dozens of direct actions, including our March to Springfield, which got more than 100 pieces of news coverage. Over the years, we worked closely with elected officials like State Senators Robert Peters and Ram Villivalam and State Representatives Delia Ramirez and Will Guzzardi (pictured, clockwise from top left) to introduce bills that would create corporate tax transparency and close half a dozen major loopholes, all of which laid the groundwork for this year’s win.
Passing the Climate and Equitable
Jobs Act [CEJA]
Our years of organizing in partnership with the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition paid off this year when we finally passed the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA). This historic climate and energy legislation centers communities most impacted by the climate crisis and makes Illinois a national leader on climate action. CEJA will put Illinois on a path to 100% renewable energy, close all coal and natural gas plants in Illinois by 2045 (with many closing much sooner), hold utilities accountable, and create good green jobs equitably across the state. Our leaders have been organizing around this campaign for years, from participating in listening sessions in the early days of bill writing, to lobbying meetings with legislators in Springfield, to multiple direct actions over the summer pushing Illinois Senate President Don Harmon to carry CEJA over the finish line.
Demanding Funding for Climate, Care, and Citizenship
After almost two years of sickness, fear, instability, and economic devastation caused by COVID and the government’s failure to respond to it, we’re finally on the precipice of winning some truly great things for our communities at the federal level: Medicare expansion, clean energy and other climate restoration, universal paid leave and pre-k, pathways to citizenship, and more.
But the cozy and corrupt relationship between members of Congress and the billionaires and corporations who line their pockets in exchange for political influence threatens to derail this agenda. In 2021, we mobilized our members to meet with members of congress, phone banked voters in states where corporate Democrats like Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema oppose President Biden’s agenda, organized elected officials to take a strong stand in the media, and took direct action in the streets.
Making Gig Jobs Good Jobs
The People’s Lobby’s gig worker organizing team, Chicago Gig Alliance, works to improve pay and working conditions for app-based workers like rideshare drivers and delivery workers. In 2021, we made real progress in our fight to regulate the gig industry and protect workers from rampant corporate greed. When Alderman Brendan Reilly of the 42nd ward filed an ordinance to cap surge pricing for Uber and Lyft, we organized a series of meetings with him that ultimately convinced him to amend his ordinance to include safety standards, yearly raises, and penalties for passengers who make false accusations against drivers.
We also organized several direct actions against Uber and Lyft in 2021, which has resulted in the reinstatement of at least one of our members who was unfairly deactivated (fired and banned from the app.) In 2022, we’ll continue to work with city officials to regulate this industry, and fight for safety and transparency for all gig workers.
Elected Officials Championing Our Issues
Ending Money Bond
State Senator
Robert Peters
Before becoming a state senator, Robert served as the political director of The People’s Lobby and Reclaim Chicago, training and supporting grassroots candidates to run for state and local office and leading our work with the Coalition to End Money Bond. We helped elect him to the Illinois Senate in 2020, where he became the champion of the Pretrial Fairness Act, which ends money bond and reforms Illinois’ pretrial system. Senator Peters played an indispensable role in partnership with The People’s Lobby, the Coalition, Senator Elgie Sims, Representative Justin Slaughter, and State’s Attorney Kim Foxx in making sure this transformative legislation was included in the larger criminal justice package that passed this year.
Investing in Black and Latinx Communities
County Commissioner Brandon Johnson
Brandon Johnson, a leader in the Chicago Teachers Union, ran for Cook County Commissioner in 2018 with backing from the labor movement on a message of protecting public workers, investing in health care and community services, and criminal justice reform. The People’s Lobby’s Oak Park members endorsed Johnson and canvassed voters weekly during the primary. Johnson won, and has worked closely with us and our allies to advance proposals to spend $1 billion from the federal America Rescue Plan on housing, mental health care, and jobs in Black and Latinx communities hardest hit by the pandemic. The Cook County board plans to make final spending decisions in 2022.
Investing in Care, Climate, and Citizenship
U.S. Representative
Marie Newman
In 2020, our members in the 11th ward helped Newman defeat Trump’s favorite Democrat, Dan Lipinski. Newman ran on Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, and immigration reform. With our help, she won the 11th ward by 976 votes and took the primary by 2,816 in 2020, after losing the ward by 171 votes in 2018. After swearing in, Newman joined the revitalized Congressional Progressive Caucus, which has stood up to corporate Democrats seeking to water down President Biden’s proposals to provide paid leave, expand Medicare, invest in green energy and climate-related infrastructure, and expand citizenship.
Power our people’s movement.
Your generosity and commitment is the source of our collective power. Donations like yours fund leadership training and political education, transformative direct actions, and campaigns for candidates and policies that put people and planet first. With your support, we are fighting for a world where everyone has what they need to thrive.