Crypto, Social Media, and Gambling PACs Just Spent Millions on Elections. NASW-IL to IL General Assembly: They Can Afford to Pay More in Taxes

CHICAGO—The Illinois primary is over, and the good news is that crypto companies, online gambling giants, and social media platforms are apparently doing just fine.

Fairshake, the political action committee (PAC) backed by Coinbase, Ripple Labs, and Andreessen Horowitz, spent more than $10 million in Illinois races, including a single $10 million push to defeat one senate candidate. DraftKings and FanDuel's PAC spent $2.5 million across 10 Chicago-area state legislative races. Meta's PAC threw in hundreds of thousands more. Total outside spending in Tuesday's primary topped $50 million for a primary.

These are not struggling industries. These are industries spending lavishly to make sure the people writing Illinois tax law stay friendly. So, to the Illinois General Assembly, here's the NASW-Illinois Chapter's humble suggestion—raise their taxes and fund school social workers with the revenue.

The logic is not complicated. The same social media platforms profiting off teen anxiety and the same gambling apps targeting young adults are now funding campaigns to make sure nobody in Springfield makes them pay for the damage. Most Illinois schools do not have a single licensed mental health professional for the general population of students. The youth mental health crisis is only getting worse, and thanks to Tuesday's primary, we finally know which industries have the money to help fix it.

These industries have made abundantly clear they have money to spare. The Illinois General Assembly has the power to redirect some of it toward the kids paying the price. Using tax revenue from the industries creating this problem to hire school social workers is, frankly, the least they can do.

Apparently finding money for school-based mental health is hard. Finding $50 million to influence a primary is not. The Illinois General Assembly should correct that imbalance and raise taxes on these industries to fund school social workers

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The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is the largest membership organization of professional social workers in the world, with over 120,000 members. The NASW-Illinois Chapter is one of the association's largest chapters representing over 30,000 licensed social workers across Illinois, including the school-based professionals on the front lines of the youth mental health crisis every single day. We know what our kids need. We know who has the money to help fund it. Learn more at https://www.naswil.org/.