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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, It has become common for corporations to seek
3financial incentives from state and local governments in order
4to relocate or expand operations across the country; and
 
5    WHEREAS, These incentives are funded by taxpayer money in
6the form of income tax credits, site-specific infrastructure
7improvements, and property and sales tax waivers; and
 
8    WHEREAS, In one instance, the State of Nevada offered $1.3
9billion in taxpayer-funded incentives that would allow a $50
10billion electric automobile company to be free from sales tax
11for 20 years and free from property taxes for ten years; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Closer to home, very recently, the City of Chicago
13and the State of Illinois offered an almost $1 trillion dollar
14company more than $2 billion in taxpayer incentives to attract
15them to our state; and
 
16    WHEREAS, In one extreme example, the State of Washington
17offered incentives possibly worth $8.7 billion to a top airline
18manufacturer; and
 
19    WHEREAS, The pressure to offer the most generous incentive
20packages has led to a race to the bottom, pitting communities

 

 

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1against each other to the detriment of our tax base, our school
2districts, and essential government services; and
 
3    WHEREAS, There is significant evidence that communities
4fail to recoup the costs of such incentives, even years after a
5corporation relocates; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Many times, these corporations begin to look for
7better deals elsewhere and attempt to extract further taxpayer
8resources from state and local coffers just as a community
9might begin to see long-term benefits; and
 
10    WHEREAS, There are many struggling communities that cannot
11offer exorbitant incentives, despite having adequate
12infrastructure, a talented workforce, and other quality of life
13benefits; and
 
14    WHEREAS, These giveaways of taxpayer money are more wisely
15spent to improve infrastructure, to invest in K-12 and higher
16education, and to offer workforce training for 21st century
17jobs; therefore, be it
 
18    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
19HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
20the General Assembly urges the government of the United States
21of America to enact a federal system limiting and regulating

 

 

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1the types of incentives that states can offer to poach
2companies from each other; and be it further
 
3    RESOLVED, That by doing so, local governments can instead
4invest money back into their local communities through
5beneficial programs, such as workforce training or higher
6education grants, rather than sending that money into the
7pockets of multi-billion dollar corporations; and be it further
 
8    RESOLVED, That strengthening our local governments further
9strengthens the economic condition of our State, placing
10Illinois firmly on the road to prosperity; and be it further
 
11    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
12presented to the Governor of Illinois, the President of the
13United States, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Illinois
14Congressional Delegation.