Full Text of HR0146 101st General Assembly
HR0146 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, It has become common for corporations to seek | 3 | | financial incentives from state and local governments in order | 4 | | to relocate or expand operations across the country; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, These incentives are funded by taxpayer money in | 6 | | the form of income tax credits, site-specific infrastructure | 7 | | improvements, and property and sales tax waivers; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, In one instance, the State of Nevada offered $1.3 | 9 | | billion in taxpayer-funded incentives that would allow a $50 | 10 | | billion electric automobile company to be free from sales tax | 11 | | for 20 years and free from property taxes for ten years; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Closer to home, very recently, the City of Chicago | 13 | | and the State of Illinois offered an almost $1 trillion dollar | 14 | | company more than $2 billion in taxpayer incentives to attract | 15 | | them to our state; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, In one extreme example, the State of Washington | 17 | | offered incentives possibly worth $8.7 billion to a top airline | 18 | | manufacturer; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, The pressure to offer the most generous incentive | 20 | | packages has led to a race to the bottom, pitting communities |
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| 1 | | against each other to the detriment of our tax base, our school | 2 | | districts, and essential government services; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, There is significant evidence that communities | 4 | | fail to recoup the costs of such incentives, even years after a | 5 | | corporation relocates; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Many times, these corporations begin to look for | 7 | | better deals elsewhere and attempt to extract further taxpayer | 8 | | resources from state and local coffers just as a community | 9 | | might begin to see long-term benefits; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, There are many struggling communities that cannot | 11 | | offer exorbitant incentives, despite having adequate | 12 | | infrastructure, a talented workforce, and other quality of life | 13 | | benefits; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, These giveaways of taxpayer money are more wisely | 15 | | spent to improve infrastructure, to invest in K-12 and higher | 16 | | education, and to offer workforce training for 21st century | 17 | | jobs; therefore, be it
| 18 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 19 | | HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 20 | | the General Assembly urges the government of the United States | 21 | | of America to enact a federal system limiting and regulating |
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| 1 | | the types of incentives that states can offer to poach | 2 | | companies from each other; and be it further
| 3 | | RESOLVED, That by doing so, local governments can instead | 4 | | invest money back into their local communities through | 5 | | beneficial programs, such as workforce training or higher | 6 | | education grants, rather than sending that money into the | 7 | | pockets of multi-billion dollar corporations; and be it further
| 8 | | RESOLVED, That strengthening our local governments further | 9 | | strengthens the economic condition of our State, placing | 10 | | Illinois firmly on the road to prosperity; and be it further
| 11 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 12 | | presented to the Governor of Illinois, the President of the | 13 | | United States, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Illinois | 14 | | Congressional Delegation.
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