HR0833 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0833 LRB097 20031 GRL 65349 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, It is essential that the State of Illinois resumes the task of creating new jobs and attracting new capital investment; Illinois was the highest-unemployment state in the Midwest with a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 9.8% at the end of 2011; and

WHEREAS, Former State and federal policies, such as the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981, created accelerated depreciation schedules and tax credits for the purchase of capital machinery and infrastructure, including heavy trucks; many of these benefits, although created by federal law, also affected Illinois tax law through the interconnection of federal and state definitions of taxable income; and

WHEREAS, Because some of these laws have expired, and the State of Illinois has "decoupled" itself from others, many of these depreciation schedules and tax credits are no longer available to Illinois taxpayers; and

WHEREAS, Investment in heavy trucks and other transportation equipment creates many jobs, not only by stimulating employment in the manufacture of trucks and truck components themselves, but also by enhancing the just-in-time delivery capabilities of a wide variety of Illinois manufacturers and service providers, and in creating jobs for those who drive the trucks themselves; and

WHEREAS, Key existing federal and state capital-goods tax incentives, such as the so-called "bonus depreciation" law, are scheduled to expire and sunset at the end of 2012, and are not currently scheduled to be an incentive for decisions involving American investment in 2013 and following years; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge Congress to enact a comprehensive new program to amend federal tax laws to enact incentives to encourage the purchase and lease, in 2013 and following years, of heavy trucks, machinery, capital goods, and other essential elements of the private-sector infrastructure of the United States; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge our fellow legislatures of the Great Lakes states of the United States, including Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin, to join with us in urging Congress to prioritize this policy; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the President pro tempore of the United States Senate, and the respective Speakers and presiding officers of the House of Representatives and Senate of Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin.