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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The Illinois General Assembly has been asked to
3consider the imposition of a privilege tax on the transfer of
4financial assets when this transfer takes place on a market
5platform that is domiciled within the State of Illinois; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Transactions on market platforms domiciled in
7Illinois play an essential role in creating and stabilizing a
8global market and global market prices for debt securities and
9interest, financial instruments, currencies, and essential
10commodities of all sorts, including foodstuffs, motor fuel, and
11energy; and
 
12    WHEREAS, The financial securities that are traded in
13Illinois-based financial transaction platforms or enjoy market
14value based upon those platforms are used by millions of
15Illinois workers to save for pensions and retirement; and
 
16    WHEREAS, The CME Group, a market platform domiciled in
17Chicago, and the transactions carried out on its financial
18exchanges would be affected by this tax; and
 
19    WHEREAS, The CME Group, as a direct entity, pays $50
20million in annual taxes to Illinois, prior to and independently
21of the taxes paid by and on behalf of the thousands of

 

 

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1professionals and workers whose jobs are tied to the financial
2trading markets of Illinois; and
 
3    WHEREAS, The estimated 100,000 jobs connected directly or
4indirectly to Illinois financial markets create income tax
5revenue from wage taxes withheld, sales tax revenue from goods
6purchased, and other tax and fee revenues essential to the
7budget of the State of Illinois and its local governments; and
 
8    WHEREAS, While an overwhelming subset of the people who
9hold these jobs are men and women who live and pay taxes in
10Illinois, the market platforms themselves are electronic ones,
11and the great majority of the transactions that take place on
12these platforms can take place anywhere within the United
13States or anywhere within any of the other nations governed by
14a financial Rule of Law, with a speed determined by the
15excellence of electrical engineering; and
 
16    WHEREAS, The State of Illinois should protect these
17platforms and keep these jobs; therefore, be it
 
18    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
19HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
20we support the continued health and operation of the financial
21transaction markets of Illinois and oppose the concept of a
22privilege tax on financial transactions; and be it further
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, That any tax of this type will be passed on to
2burden the savings activities of people all over the world,
3including Illinois workers saving for retirement; and be it
4further
 
5    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
6delivered to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the
7Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, the President
8of the Senate, the Minority Leader of the Senate, the Mayor of
9the City of Chicago, and the chief executive officer of the CME
10Group.