Full Text of HR0344 95th General Assembly
HR0344 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, We, the members of the Illinois House of | 3 |
| Representatives, are bound by our constitutional oath to | 4 |
| "provide for the health, safety and welfare of the people" of | 5 |
| Illinois, and we recognize this can best be done by having the | 6 |
| lowest possible tax burden and by maximizing the number and | 7 |
| diversity of jobs and opportunities in Illinois, to make | 8 |
| Illinois competitive, fiscally sound, and economically | 9 |
| productive; and
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| WHEREAS, A free, stable, and growing economy, low tax | 11 |
| rates, and low prices for Illinois consumers, leads to the | 12 |
| creation of the maximum number of new Illinois jobs, whereas | 13 |
| higher tax rates and higher prices of goods and services for | 14 |
| Illinois consumers would actually destroy Illinois jobs; and
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| WHEREAS, There are essential public functions that are | 16 |
| legitimately filled by government, which derives its just | 17 |
| powers from the consent of the governed, including the power to | 18 |
| tax the people of Illinois at the minimum rate necessary to | 19 |
| fulfill these essential functions; and
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| WHEREAS, Whenever Illinois taxes are higher than the | 21 |
| minimum needed to carry out essential public functions, that | 22 |
| government is moving away from the health, safety, and welfare |
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| of the people of Illinois, no matter what the motivations are | 2 |
| of the people that raise these taxes; and
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| WHEREAS, A proposed Gross Receipts Tax may soon be imposed | 4 |
| upon all Illinois goods and services sold by the private sector | 5 |
| within Illinois at a rate of up to 1.95%; and
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| WHEREAS, The proposed tax would be imposed upon all | 7 |
| businesses regardless of whether they make a profit, and would | 8 |
| fall most harshly upon start-ups, struggling firms, and small | 9 |
| businesses; and
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| WHEREAS, This proposal is poor tax policy, criticized by | 11 |
| economists and economic development experts across the nation | 12 |
| as exactly the direction Illinois should not go if we hope to | 13 |
| enjoy a growing economy; and | 14 |
| WHEREAS, This proposed Illinois Gross Receipts Tax, the | 15 |
| highest gross receipts tax rate in the nation, would be imposed | 16 |
| repeatedly upon the entire value of an Illinois good or service | 17 |
| each time it changes hands as it moves through the economic | 18 |
| process; and | 19 |
| WHEREAS, An example of this "pyramiding effect" can be seen | 20 |
| in agriculture, Illinois' primary industry, where the seeds, | 21 |
| the fertilizers, the farm chemicals, the machinery, and the |
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| elevator services used by an Illinois grain farmer are all | 2 |
| scheduled to be taxed, and the full burden of all of these | 3 |
| taxes would be borne by the farmer; and | 4 |
| WHEREAS, Inputs used by many other Illinois industries and | 5 |
| professionals would also be taxed repeatedly under the "pyramid | 6 |
| effect"; and | 7 |
| WHEREAS, Much of the cost of this new tax, if it is | 8 |
| enacted, will be indirectly passed on to consumers of Illinois | 9 |
| goods and services, thereby creating a significant increase in | 10 |
| these costs and giving Illinoisans an incentive to buy | 11 |
| elsewhere, thereby destroying more Illinois jobs; and | 12 |
| WHEREAS, The better-trained a worker is, and the more | 13 |
| specialized the work that he or she does, the harsher the tax | 14 |
| would be upon his or her workplace; and | 15 |
| WHEREAS, The proposed Illinois Gross Receipts Tax is | 16 |
| precisely what a tax ought not to be in the modern economy, | 17 |
| and, if implemented, it would have a destructive effect upon | 18 |
| Illinois by repeatedly taxing specialized work and services; | 19 |
| and | 20 |
| WHEREAS, Only five U.S. states currently have a gross | 21 |
| receipts tax, and all of them levy this tax at a rate much |
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| lower than 1.95%, which would be by far the highest GRT tax | 2 |
| rate in the nation; and | 3 |
| WHEREAS, Three of these five states use their (much lower) | 4 |
| gross receipts taxes to replace their income tax or their sales | 5 |
| tax, rather than trying to implement a gross receipts tax on | 6 |
| top of these two other taxes; and | 7 |
| WHEREAS, The neighboring and comparable State of Indiana | 8 |
| repealed its Gross Receipts Tax in 2002 for many reasons | 9 |
| including those described here; and | 10 |
| WHEREAS, House members and motivated local citizens have | 11 |
| held hearings throughout Illinois on the proposed Gross | 12 |
| Receipts Tax, and testimony and comments have been gathered | 13 |
| from a diverse variety of workers, consumers, farmers, and | 14 |
| small businesspeople, and the vast majority of these Illinois | 15 |
| citizens have told Springfield that they fervently oppose the | 16 |
| proposed new tax; therefore, be it | 17 |
| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 18 |
| NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 19 |
| oppose the Gross Receipts Tax proposed by the Governor of | 20 |
| Illinois; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be presented to |
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| the Governor of Illinois.
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