Full Text of SR0587 99th General Assembly
SR0587 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois Film Production Services Tax Credit | 3 | | was established in order "to preserve and expand the existing | 4 | | human infrastructure for the motion picture industry in | 5 | | Illinois" and "to promote and encourage the training and hiring | 6 | | of Illinois residents who represent the diversity of the | 7 | | Illinois population"; the credit is calculated as a percentage | 8 | | of salaries paid to Illinois residents and payments made to | 9 | | Illinois vendors, with an additional credit available when the | 10 | | production company employs residents of high-poverty or | 11 | | high-unemployment areas; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Forty Acres and a Mule Filmworks, owned by | 13 | | renowned filmmaker Spike Lee, who is perhaps best known for his | 14 | | honest and compelling treatments of race in America, including | 15 | | "Do the Right Thing" and "Malcolm X", has applied for a Film | 16 | | Production Services Tax Credit for eligible expenses it expects | 17 | | to incur while producing the motion picture "Chiraq"; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, Lee's film will be set in the Southside Chicago | 19 | | neighborhood of Englewood, a predominantly African-American | 20 | | community where unemployment stands at 21.3%, significantly | 21 | | above the national, State, and city averages; the production is | 22 | | expected to employ nearly 3,000 extras, 100 crew members, and | 23 | | 20 interns, most of whom will be residents of Englewood and |
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| 1 | | surrounding neighborhoods; contracts for services with local | 2 | | vendors will also benefit the homeowners, businesses, | 3 | | churches, and schools whose properties will make up 90% of the | 4 | | film's locations; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, Illinois law requires companies applying for the | 6 | | Film Production Services Tax Credit to file diversity plans | 7 | | that include specific hiring goals for minority individuals and | 8 | | women and goals for contracting with vendors certified as | 9 | | disadvantaged business enterprises; the applicant must | 10 | | demonstrate a good-faith effort toward achieving those goals; | 11 | | and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, The production of "Chiraq" not only promises to | 13 | | employ, train, and impart valuable job experience to residents | 14 | | of a community buffeted by unemployment, depressed property | 15 | | values, and a chronic lack of investment, but to shine a | 16 | | spotlight on the scourge of violent crime that helps perpetuate | 17 | | the cycle of poverty and economic neglect and claims the lives | 18 | | of hundreds of fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, and | 19 | | brothers and sisters each year in Chicago; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, Communities such as Englewood need better | 21 | | statistics, not better semantics, a commitment to people, not | 22 | | perceptions, and a focus on public safety and the public good, | 23 | | not merely public relations; the name "Chiraq" is a shocking |
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| 1 | | but honest acknowledgement of the fear, pain, and hopelessness | 2 | | too many Illinoisans experience daily; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, Spike Lee seeks to depict in art the human toll of | 4 | | violence in high-poverty neighborhoods and communities of | 5 | | color and to challenge society's acceptance of the unacceptable | 6 | | in its forgotten corners, a commendable goal in and of itself; | 7 | | therefore, be it
| 8 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL | 9 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the Department | 10 | | of Commerce and Economic Development to award an Illinois Film | 11 | | Production Services Tax Credit to Forty Acres and a Mule | 12 | | Filmworks, as long as it meets the requirements of the tax | 13 | | credit program, in the belief that the filming of "Chiraq" in | 14 | | Chicago will result in a positive economic impact on the State | 15 | | in general and on disadvantaged, high-unemployment communities | 16 | | in particular; and be it further
| 17 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 18 | | delivered to the director of the Illinois Department of | 19 | | Commerce and Economic Development and the director of the | 20 | | Illinois Film Office.
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