HR0524 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0524 LRB102 20992 ECR 29899 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Proposed U.S. Internal Revenue Service-related federal legislation is rapidly moving through Congress that could endanger the privacy of middle-class Americans; and

WHEREAS, With the proclaimed goal of "taxing the rich," the proponents of this legislation are calling for new federal law that would order all banks and financial institutions in the United States to open their books to tax inspectors with respect to any account where either the total value of the account or the aggregate size of the account's transactions exceed $600; and

WHEREAS, The vast majority of financial accounts are of sizes, or activities, that fall over this limit; this $600 "bright line" would make life a lot darker for tens of millions of Americans who live in households that are not close to being considered well-off; and

WHEREAS, Nothing in this proposal would forbid the use of artificial-intelligence (AI) snoop software to trawl through millions of transactions looking for statistical anomalies that could be used to spark IRS enforcement actions; and

WHEREAS, This federal proposal, which is described as moving through Congress, would encompass not only accounts and transactions in banks but also accounts and transactions carried out by nonbank financial institutions; money transfers carried out through platforms such as PayPal, Venmo, and Cash App could be subjected to AI snooping; and

WHEREAS, With particular respect to the allegation that a policy change of this type would help "tax the rich," a major family of cash-transfer applications (apps) are specifically and deliberately oriented towards servicing the needs of working-class persons and households of modest means; electronically targeting these apps with AI software is not only irrelevant to the proclaimed goal of the proponents of this fast-moving congressional proposal but would be directly hostile to a very different group of Americans in very different circumstances; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge opposition to any change in federal law that would increase the accessibility of the financial transactions of Americans, including middle-class and working-class Americans, to electronic surveillance and AI snoop software; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we affirm all Americans should pay their taxes and affirm the adequacy of existing state and federal enforcement powers toward this goal; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we stand behind the financial privacy of all Americans as an element of the essential liberties of the people of this country; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be sent to the Illinois Congressional Delegation.