In This Issue:
State Sales Tax Holiday
School Supply Drive
Heroes & Helicopters
Coffee & Conversation
Dear Friends,
It’s hard to believe it’s already August!*
For those of us getting into back-to-school mode, I wanted to make sure you know that starting today and going through August 14, the state sales tax decreases by five percentage points on notebooks, binders, and many of the items on our school supply lists. Even if you’re not preparing for the new school year, know that the list also includes most clothing and footwear items. You can see the details and fine print for the sales tax holiday below.
We have many other events going on in August, including a school supply drive with local school districts, a Heroes and Helicopters event (with a live helicopter landing!), and our monthly community coffee and conversation.
My office and I get many of our event ideas from community members like you, so please let us know if there are any other event you think we should host. We look forward to meeting and chatting with you!
Best,
Janet
Sales Tax Holiday
Starting today and continuing for the 10 days through August 14, the state sales tax for certain clothing and school-related items will be reduced by five percentage points. Clothing and footwear items with retail selling prices of less than $125 per item qualify for this tax holiday, while school supplies are not subject to this $125 threshold. Some of the most commonly purchased qualifying items are in the flyer below, and this bulletin from the Illinois Department of Revenue provides the full list in detail.
The creation of this tax holiday is a good example of the collaboration that happens during the legislative process. Earlier in the year when my colleagues and I were in caucus budget meetings, downstate representatives shared with us their experiences with neighboring states like Missouri generating benefits for businesses and consumers with their sales tax holidays. As a caucus, we decided it was a policy worth exploring, and it was ultimately included in this year’s budget in the form you see today.
School Supply Drive
While there’s no doubt that we live in an amazing community, it can sometimes be easy to overlook the needs that also exists among us. One of my jobs as your representative is to help my colleagues in Springfield better understand our community; that often means clearing the misconception that the 41st district is a uniformly prosperous one. With those colleagues, I often share the below statistics about the percentage of students that qualify for free and reduced lunch in our area school districts. For Wheaton/Warrenville 200, that figure stands at 28%, while for Indian Prairie 204 and Naperville 203, that share of students is about 17%.
To coincide with the sales tax holiday and the back-to-school season, we’re working with our area school districts on a school supply drive. Please join us to make sure all students have the supplies they need to have a successful start to the school year.
Heroes & Helicopters
Along with Senator Laura Ellman, our office is excited to celebrate our community heroes with you and your family at our upcoming Heroes & Helicopters: A Community Showcase event!
In addition to a medical helicopter landing (scheduled for 10:00 am) and a multitude of first responder vehicles ready for hands-on exploration, we’re showcasing how different organizations and services work to cultivate safety and community in our districts. These community heroes offer care and compassion in so many ways--from literacy to youth safety to puppies! These heroes serve all ages, including our youngest community members and their families to our seniors.
When: Saturday, August 20th
Time: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Where: Frontier Sports Complex at 3380 Cedar Glade Dr, Naperville
Below is a list of participating organizations:
Coffee & Conversation
Join us on the last Saturday of each month to chat about the local and state-wide issues that matter to you. We rotate throughout locations in the district, and on August 27, we will be in the southern portion of the 41st district at the McDonalds located at Route 59 and 95th Street.
*Bonus material! Thanks for making it to the bottom of this month’s newsletter. If you’re as surprised as I am that we’re already in the month of August, here’s an article (and a longer version with more science) that you might enjoy on the science of why it feels like time flies as we age and how to recreate the feeling of those long, slow days of summer that we felt as kids.