The H.E.A.L. Act

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Jazmin J. Robinson

Welcome! I’m Jazmin J. Robinson (she/her), 39 years old, I'm a Democrat, Mexican-American, and I’m running for U.S. House of Representatives in Illinois’ 7th District.

I grew up in both Chicago and Plainfield, Illinois, and earned my B.A. in English from DePaul University.

For over a decade, I’ve worked in corporate America as a Senior Human Resources (HR) Leader with one goal: making workplaces fairer for employees. I’ve designed, built, and managed benefits, compensation, retirement, payroll, and leave programs both nationally and globally. In HR, I’ve advocated for employees to ensure they receive equal and competitive pay, negotiated with healthcare providers to secure better benefits, and developed policies that supported people through major life changes.

Having seen firsthand how other countries invest in their citizens by providing life-changing benefits like education and health care inspired me to create a bipartisan policy for the United States: the H.E.A.L. Act.

The H.E.A.L. Act: stands for Health Care, Education, Access to our Government and Fair Markets, and a Living Wage. It provides free high-quality health care, education (including childcare and higher education). Bans PAC & Super PAC money and lobbyist influence to ensure Government represents the will of the people and not special interest groups. Breaks down monopolies that raise cost for all of us and hurts small business. And a living wage with credits for small businesses to help them through the transition. The H.E.A.L. Act is essentially a benefits package I created for the American people, just like I’ve done for employees throughout my career. It's funded by fair taxes on the ultra-wealthy and large corporations. My goal is simple: to build a government that works for everyday people.

I’m also an improv and comedy performer at places like Second City, iO, and Annoyance Theaters, where I’ve built teamwork, listening, and communication skills. My career blends accountability, fairness, and creativity — exactly what’s missing in Congress.

Illinois' 7th Congressional District

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Join me to build an America by the people, for the people.

What is the H.E.A.L. Act?

The H.E.A.L. Act is a people‑first plan that gives every American a fair chance to thrive by tackling the root cause of the affordability crisis. It stands for high-quality Health Care, Education, Access to Government & Fair Markets, and a Living Wage.

Choice in Health Care: You can keep your private or employer‑sponsored insurance or enroll in the free high-quality public plan. The public option covers doctor visits, hospital care, mental‑health care, prescriptions, IVF and gender‑affirming care. Enrollees pay no premiums or deductibles [3] . Those who stay with private insurance see their costs fall because the public option negotiates lower prices across the board.
Education & Childcare: Free high-quality childcare and pre‑K (childcare costs in Chicago are about $30,000 to $35,000 per child per year [4] ), before‑ and after‑school programs that keep kids safe and engaged while parents work, and tuition‑free public colleges and trade schools (current in‑state tuition averages about $27,000 per year [5] ).
Access to Government & Fair Markets: One person, one vote—end the Electoral College and use ranked‑choice voting for federal races. Replace lifetime seats with 10‑year public elections, ban Super Pac, PAC, and lobbyist money and replace it with public funding and real‑time financial disclosures, require congress to disclose quarterly reports and hold town halls, fill open seats fast. Everyone’s first $30,000 of income is tax‑free, and tax rates only rise for any income over 1 million annually. We break up monopolies because they raise cost for all of us from groceries to housing and this will ensure that small businesses can compete and markets stay fair.

Living Wage: Wages rise to match the cost of living—about $15–$18/hour in rural areas and $25–$30/hour in big cities [6] . Employers, not taxpayers, pay for this, and small businesses get credits to help with the transition.

How Does the H.E.A.L. Act Benefit You?

Families can save up to $95,600 per year!

Tax Reform: First $30,000 you earn is completely tax-free, saving you about $1,600 per year.
Health Care: The free high-quality public plan saves Americans ~$1.8 trillion a year now spent on private premiums and out-of-pocket costs; the average family saves about $25,000–$32,000 per year [3] . Those who stay with private or their employer insurance sees their costs fall because the public option negotiates lower prices across the board.
Childcare and Education: Free high-quality childcare and pre‑K, before- and after‑school programs saves families about $30,000 to $35,000 per child per year [4] ). Tuition‑free college and trade schools saves families about $27,000 per year [5] ).

Retirees benefit from stronger health care, more doctors, nurses, and caregivers, plus dental, vision, and hearing is covered under the public high-quality health care option.
A better-educated workforce improves services for everyone, from health care to home repair.
A fairer economy: A living wage lifts workers out of poverty. Most people will also pay less in taxes under the H.E.A.L. Act because it cuts taxes for low- and middle-income households while asking the ultra-wealthy and big corporations to pay their fair share. Breaking up monopolies lowers prices across the board, from groceries to housing, and helps small businesses compete and grow.
Voice and transparency: These reforms put power back in your hands. Ranked-choice voting gives voters more choices and makes elections fairer. Banning PAC and lobbyist money stops special interests from blocking common-sense laws like raising the minimum wage or passing gun safety reforms. Congress must release real-time reports, hold regular town halls, and fill open seats quickly. Every government action and campaign donation becomes fully transparent, so your voice finally matters more than special interests.

How Much Will It Cost?

The plan’s annual cost ~$2.4 to $3.1 trillion per year, breakdown below:

Universal health care: ~$2.2–$2.8 trillion [10].

Childcare, before-and after‑school & summer programs: ~$100–130 billion [11].
Tuition‑free public colleges & trade schools: ~$70–85 billion [12].
Living wage supports and small business credits: ~$40–80 billion.

Government reforms & access: ~$3–7 billion.

Historical Precedent & Economic Rationale

The H.E.A.L. Act’s tax measures are rooted in American history. During Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) and Dwight D. Eisenhower’s (R) presidencies, the top income tax rate was above 90% [1] and corporate tax rates exceeded 50% in the 1950s [1]. Despite these high rates, the U.S. economy boomed, creating the middle class, building the interstate highways, GI Bill, and space program. Studies show lowering corporate taxes does not spur growth [9]. This shows our tax plan is not radical but rooted in bipartisan history.

My Proposed Tax Plan

Taxes are gradual, you don’t pay the higher rate on all of your income, only on the dollars above each bracket; for example, if you earn $40,000, the first $30,000 is tax-free and only the next $10,000 is taxed at 10%, so your total tax is just $1,000, not 10% of the full $40,000.

0% on income up to $30,000
- (Currently 10-12%)

10% on income from $30,001 to $60,000
- (Currently 12-22%)

15% on income from $60,001 to $120,000
- (Currently 22-24%)

25% on income from $120,001 to $250,000
- (Currently 24%-32%)

35% on income from $250,000 to $1 million
- (Currently 32-37%)

50% on income from $1 million to $10 million
- (Currently 37%)
60% on income from $10 million to $1 billion
- (Currently 37%)
100% on income above $1 billion
- (Currently 37%)
- Applies to realized and unrealized gains; credit given when assets are sold to avoid double taxation.

How Do We Pay for It?

Funding comes from existing government health spending and fair taxes on big business and the ultra‑wealthy which would raise ~$4.6 to 4.7 trillion per year. The ~$1.6 to 2.2 trillion per year in excess funds would go to reducing the U.S. national debt. A high-level breakdown is below along with a detailed funding breakdown further down.

$2.36 Trillion – Already spent (Medicare, Medicaid, ACA, VA, etc.) redirected into H.E.A.L. Act while fully grandfathering all current benefits for existing recipients.

$315 Billion – Employer 3% contribution, lower than today’s premiums.

$1.43-1.49 Trillion – Fair taxes on corporations & ultra-wealthy (corporate 50%, millionaire/billionaire brackets, Wall St. fees, inheritance reform).

$200 Billion – Lower drug prices & cut waste.

$300 Billion – Replace Sales tax with Value-Added Tax (VAT) a modern, loophole-proof sales tax collected at each step of production and essentials (food, medicine, public transit, etc. are taxed at 0%).
$1.6 to 2.2 trillion - These excess funds would go to reducing the U.S. national debt.

Implementation Timeline

Year 1: Pass the H.E.A.L. Act; adjust tax brackets; create the VAT and new corporate tax rate; enact 3% employer payroll contribution; initiate drug negotiation; update Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) and Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT); end the step-up in basis rule; launch billionaire minimum tax; start transparency rules and fast special elections; write ranked‑choice voting laws; begin constitutional changes.

Year 2: Enroll first wave of public option participants; expand childcare/pre‑K programs; provide small‑business credits; begin tuition‑free community college pilot programs; implement mark-to-market tax; build and test ranked‑choice voting; set up public funding and real‑time money reporting; send the constitutional changes to the states.

Year 3: Open universal public option; extend tuition‑free status to 4‑year institutions; implement living wage nationwide; implement ranked‑choice voting in federal elections; launch public funding and real‑time reporting.

Year 4 and beyond: Complete phased rollout of VAT; continue to monitor program outcomes; adjust policies based on feedback data and independent evaluations.

How Do We Pay for It? - Detailed Funding Breakdown

Below is the full breakdown of where the funding comes from, with references included.

~$2.36 trillion - Redirect current government health care spending (Medicare, Medicaid, ACA, etc.) and tax subsidies for employer health insurance into the free public plan [19] while fully grandfathering all current benefits for existing recipients.
~$315 billion - Employers pay a 3% payroll tax for workers on the public plan (there is no new payroll tax on employees). This replaces the much larger premiums many businesses currently pay to private insurers [13].
~$850 billion - During most years from 1951 to 1969, the top corporate income‑tax rate was 50% or higher. It dipped to 48% from 1965 to 1967. I propose to restore the top corporate rate to 50% [2][7][14].
~$155–$215 billion - Restore fair tax rates for the ultra-wealthy, while keeping taxes low for everyone else. In 1944–45 and again from 1951 to 1963, the top personal tax rate on very high incomes was above 90%. This was a marginal rate, which means it applied only to the dollars above the cutoff, not to someone’s whole income. In 1951, the cutoff for a single filer was $200,000—about $2.49 million in 2025 dollars. In 1963, the cutoff for married filing jointly was $400,000—about $4.22 million in 2025 dollars [8].

~$2.6 trillion - A one-time patriotic reconstruction contribution from billionaires (since this is a one-time contribution it was not included in the total amount above) [15].

~$300 billion - A national Value‑Added Tax (VAT) of up to 9.8% replaces state sales taxes. VAT is a modern, loophole-proof sales tax collected at each step of production. Essential goods—groceries, medicines, children’s clothing, public transit and home energy—are taxed at 0%. States receive their share (50% based on population, 30% on consumption, 20% on prior sales tax) automatically and constitutionally, ensuring no state loses revenue [17].

~$70 billion - Closing tax loopholes (ending carried interest loophole, off‑shore tax dodging) and strengthening IRS enforcement against high-income tax evasion [16].

~$200 billion - The H.E.A.L. Act gives the government the power to negotiate prescription drug prices directly and reduce administration costs saving ~$200–400 billion per year [18].

~$120 billion - Expand the Financial Transactions Tax (FTT) to 0.2%. The FTT is a tax on wall street trades (stocks/bonds; derivatives) and would mostly affect high-volume speculative trading and have minimal impact on ordinary investors. This will not impact retirement savers, they will be exempt [20].

~$70 billion - Expand the Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT) from 3.8% to 6.5% for the wealthiest investors and extend it to cover income from pass-through business (which some wealthy people currently reclassify to dodge this tax). Wealthy individuals will pay a somewhat higher tax on their investment profits, especially those currently avoiding payroll taxes by using S-corporations and partnerships; a fair fix that levels the playing field between wage earners and investors [21].

~$57 billion - End the step-up in basis rule, a tax loophole that currently lets ultra-wealthy heirs avoid capital gains taxes on inherited assets. For example, if your great-aunt bought stock for $1 million that’s worth $5 million when you inherit it, you can sell it for $5M and none of that $4M gain is taxed under this loophole. This mainly benefits ultra-wealthy families and encourages endless tax deferral (“buy, borrow, die” strategy). By ending step-up in basis, those unrealized gains will be taxed once (either at death or when eventually sold by heirs) [22] [23].

~$110 billion - Mark-to-market tax on ultra-wealthy gains, this means that very wealthy household (those worth over $100 million) will pay taxes each year on their unrealized capital gains-effectively treating the annual increase in their stocks and other assets as income (because it is income, just not yet sold) [24].

~$65 billion - Billionaire minimum income tax would ensure ultra-high-wealth households (net worth over $100 million) to pay at least 25-30% of their true income each year in taxes, including unrealized gains. Currently, many billionaires pay effective tax rates under 10% (some as low as 0% in certain years) by not selling assets and using tax loopholes [25].