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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The family farm is the historic heart of American | ||||||
| 3 | culture; through World War I, most of the men who defended | ||||||
| 4 | America were sons of American farms, and some our country's | ||||||
| 5 | most beloved holidays, led by Thanksgiving, celebrate the hard | ||||||
| 6 | work and productivity of the American family farm; and
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| 7 | WHEREAS, In America and in Illinois, the family farm is | ||||||
| 8 | currently under serious threat from a wide variety of global | ||||||
| 9 | trends and factors; and
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| 10 | WHEREAS, A fast-moving proposal is making its way through | ||||||
| 11 | the U.S. Congress that would impose a step-up tax on the | ||||||
| 12 | capital gains enjoyed by an estate at the time of probate; this | ||||||
| 13 | proposed tax hike would cover a wide variety of capital | ||||||
| 14 | assets, including farmland and farm infrastructure; and
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| 15 | WHEREAS, Owners of American family farms, whose farms are | ||||||
| 16 | treated as probate assets, would have to pay this tax when the | ||||||
| 17 | owner of the farm passes away; and
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| 18 | WHEREAS, In contrast to family farms and with respect to | ||||||
| 19 | farm assets owned by corporations and trusts, the corporation | ||||||
| 20 | or trust would not, as an entity, have to pay capital gains | ||||||
| 21 | taxes under this defined set of circumstances; and
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| 1 | WHEREAS, The implications of this tilted playing field, | ||||||
| 2 | with respect to the future of the family farm in America and in | ||||||
| 3 | Illinois, are obvious; therefore, be it
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| 4 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
| 5 | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 6 | we oppose any plan or suggestion to impose a step-up tax on | ||||||
| 7 | capital gains upon probate assets; and be it further | ||||||
| 8 | RESOLVED, That we believe that this tax, if imposed, would | ||||||
| 9 | be a "double death tax" imposed on top of existing estate taxes | ||||||
| 10 | upon the assets of people who have passed away; and be it | ||||||
| 11 | further | ||||||
| 12 | RESOLVED, That we stand behind the family farms of the | ||||||
| 13 | United States and Illinois as foundational units of the | ||||||
| 14 | American way of life and believe that the public sector should | ||||||
| 15 | do everything it can to defend the American family farm rather | ||||||
| 16 | than take deliberate steps to damage and destroy it in the | ||||||
| 17 | vestiges of space where it remains; and be it further
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| 18 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
| 19 | delivered to U.S. Senators Richard Durbin and Tammy Duckworth | ||||||
| 20 | and all members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation.
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