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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois has a strategic interest in | ||||||
| 3 | developing the best possible economic development strategy to | ||||||
| 4 | create the most jobs for the least amount of taxpayer money, | ||||||
| 5 | particularly as the State suffers from a relatively high | ||||||
| 6 | unemployment rate; and
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| 7 | WHEREAS, One of the programs that the State of Illinois | ||||||
| 8 | currently administers is the EDGE (Economic Development for a | ||||||
| 9 | Growing Economy) tax credit program that authorizes the | ||||||
| 10 | Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to | ||||||
| 11 | craft agreements with for-profit companies to reduce or | ||||||
| 12 | eliminate State corporate income taxes in exchange for the | ||||||
| 13 | companies hiring and retaining Illinois employees; and
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| 14 | WHEREAS, There is no statutory cap on the amount of EDGE | ||||||
| 15 | tax credits that can be awarded to companies by the Department | ||||||
| 16 | of Commerce and Economic Opportunity; and
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| 17 | WHEREAS, According to the Chicago Tribune, the Department | ||||||
| 18 | authorized $161 million of EDGE tax credits in 2011; and
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| 19 | WHEREAS, The Department reported in June of 2013 that 82 | ||||||
| 20 | separate agreements were reached that include in the aggregate | ||||||
| 21 | the creation of 3,581 jobs and the retention of 15,215 jobs; | ||||||
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| 1 | and
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The Department does not report the cost per job | ||||||
| 3 | for each of those 82 separate agreements; and | ||||||
| 4 | WHEREAS, The Department does not report the annual amount | ||||||
| 5 | of tax credits that were authorized as part of their annual | ||||||
| 6 | report; and | ||||||
| 7 | WHEREAS, It is of crucial importance for policymakers to | ||||||
| 8 | understand whether the cost of the EDGE tax credit program in | ||||||
| 9 | the aggregate and each of these agreements is justified based | ||||||
| 10 | on the job creation and retention benefits generated from the | ||||||
| 11 | agreements; therefore, be it
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| 12 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 13 | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 14 | the Auditor General is directed to conduct a program audit of | ||||||
| 15 | the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to | ||||||
| 16 | examine the operations and management of the Department as it | ||||||
| 17 | relates to the administration of the EDGE (Economic Development | ||||||
| 18 | for a Growing Economy) tax credit program and to report the | ||||||
| 19 | findings to the Illinois General Assembly; and be it further
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| 20 | RESOLVED, That the Auditor General answer the question in | ||||||
| 21 | his report whether the job creation and job retention benefits | ||||||
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| 1 | from the EDGE tax credit program is worth the cost to | ||||||
| 2 | taxpayers; and be it further | ||||||
| 3 | RESOLVED, That the Department of Commerce and Economic | ||||||
| 4 | Opportunity fully cooperate with the audit and turn over any | ||||||
| 5 | materials requested by the Auditor General; and be it further | ||||||
| 6 | RESOLVED, That the Auditor General is further directed to | ||||||
| 7 | commence this audit as soon as possible and, upon completion, | ||||||
| 8 | distribute a report in accordance with Section 3-14 of the | ||||||
| 9 | Illinois State Auditing Act; and be it further | ||||||
| 10 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
| 11 | delivered to the Auditor General and to all 4 legislative | ||||||
| 12 | leaders of the Illinois General Assembly.
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