Call your Representative on Wednesday, November 29!
Currently, Congress is assembling tax reform legislation that will impact you and your ability to study as a student. In the House of Representatives version, tuition waivers will be taxed as income. Universities typically provide tuition waivers to graduate students in exchange for teaching and conducting research. As tuition rates soar, this becomes an increasingly important part of compensation. Counting tuition waivers as income will increase the tax burden of graduate students by thousands of dollars a year, de-incentivizing American graduate education overnight. The new tax legislation would severely limit the number of students able to pursue graduate research which in turn will limit America’s international competitiveness.
But, it’s not too late to make a difference! The Senate is voting to pass its version of the bill Thursday, so let your senator know you oppose the proposed legislation. The Science Policy Group at the University of Illinois and the Graduate Employee Organization are asking you to join us and hundreds of other students in contacting legislators to implore them to vote against the current tax legislation. Calling your Senator takes just a couple of minutes but may change the vote in Washington.
View the University’s official stance on HR1 here. How to call your representative here. Example script: “Good afternoon, my name is [*] and I’m a constituent of [Senator] calling from [address]. I’m calling to urge [Senator] to vote “no” on tax reform bill H.R. 1. Thank you for your time and I hope you have a great day.”
The Senate will have a floor vote on Thursday. If you would like to voice your opinion about the tax legislation to your senators:
- Call the US Capitol switchboard at
- (202)-224-3121Press “1” to reach the Senate. Say the name of the state of your permanent address.
- Choose the senator you’d like to speak to about your opposition for the tax bill.
- If you’re nervous or don’t know exactly what to say, this script may give some inspiration: “Good afternoon, my name is [*] and I’m a constituent of [Senator] calling from [address]. I’m calling to urge [Senator] to vote “no” on tax reform bill H.R. 1. Thank you for your time and I hope you have a great day.“
