taxing commodity traders a really small amount would raise $6 billion per year for Illinois

The presentation that was both the most hopeful and had the most specific plan was "Making Finance Work for the 99%: The Campaign for a Speculative Sales Tax in IL", the last session I attended. Unfortunately, the attendance was weak.

Bill Barclay, of Chicago Political Economy Group and Democratic Socialists of America, and Susan Hurley, of Chicago Jobs with Justice, made the case for applying a $1 tax on futures transactions. (It's really $2 since it's one from the seller and one from the buyer.) Since this minimum transaction is over $30,000, it's a very small tax percentage wise. And since various fees are already $8-95 per transaction, it's not much of a change from the point of view of the cost of conducting business.