HR0212 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0212 LRB101 11663 MST 58262 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The Illinois General Assembly has been asked to consider the imposition of a privilege tax on the transfer of financial assets when this transfer takes place on a market platform that is domiciled within the State of Illinois; and

WHEREAS, Transactions on market platforms domiciled in Illinois play an essential role in creating and stabilizing a global market and global market prices for debt securities and interest, financial instruments, currencies, and essential commodities of all sorts, including foodstuffs, motor fuel, and energy; and

WHEREAS, The financial securities that are traded in Illinois-based financial transaction platforms or enjoy market value based upon those platforms are used by millions of Illinois workers to save for pensions and retirement; and

WHEREAS, The CME Group, a market platform domiciled in Chicago, and the transactions carried out on its financial exchanges would be affected by this tax; and

WHEREAS, The CME Group, as a direct entity, pays $50 million in annual taxes to Illinois, prior to and independently of the taxes paid by and on behalf of the thousands of professionals and workers whose jobs are tied to the financial trading markets of Illinois; and

WHEREAS, The estimated 100,000 jobs connected directly or indirectly to Illinois financial markets create income tax revenue from wage taxes withheld, sales tax revenue from goods purchased, and other tax and fee revenues essential to the budget of the State of Illinois and its local governments; and

WHEREAS, While an overwhelming subset of the people who hold these jobs are men and women who live and pay taxes in Illinois, the market platforms themselves are electronic ones, and the great majority of the transactions that take place on these platforms can take place anywhere within the United States or anywhere within any of the other nations governed by a financial Rule of Law, with a speed determined by the excellence of electrical engineering; and

WHEREAS, The State of Illinois should protect these platforms and keep these jobs; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we support the continued health and operation of the financial transaction markets of Illinois and oppose the concept of a privilege tax on financial transactions; and be it further

RESOLVED, That any tax of this type will be passed on to burden the savings activities of people all over the world, including Illinois workers saving for retirement; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, the President of the Senate, the Minority Leader of the Senate, the Mayor of the City of Chicago, and the chief executive officer of the CME Group.