HR0912 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0912 LRB097 20936 GRL 68041 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, In the spring of 2012, the retail prices of motor fuels in Illinois have touched or hit record levels; and

WHEREAS, On March 26, 2012, the average sales price of gasoline-based motor fuel in Illinois was $4.29 per gallon; and

WHEREAS, These retail prices include the substantial burden of motor fuel excise taxes, State sales taxes, local sales taxes, and environmental remediation taxes, which have been added to the underlying burden of worldwide crude oil prices; and

WHEREAS, The current global price of crude oil is in excess of $120 per 42-gallon barrel, driven upward by political upheavals in the Middle East and adjacent regions of the Eastern Hemisphere; and

WHEREAS, The high price of motor fuels threatens prospects for Illinois employment and economic recovery by diverting consumer spending from discretionary purchases to motor fuel; demand for motor fuel is highly price-inelastic, as once people take up residence in a house, they are tied in to a pattern of driving to and from the places where they work, shop, and visit their relatives and friends, and cannot easily change their patterns; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge Governor Pat Quinn to take action immediately to comprehensively lower the price of motor fuel in all geographic regions of Illinois on a time frame adequate to prevent Illinois falling into renewed recessionary conditions; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge Governor Quinn and President Barack Obama to take immediate steps to reverse their current policies regarding the price of motor fuel and to cooperate on new policies to increase motor fuel supplies in Illinois, reduce pressure on Illinois motor fuel prices, and inform the Illinois public of the steps being taken to reduce price pressure on motor fuel; and be it further

RESOLVED, That, based upon the current political upheavals in the Middle East, consequent disruptions to the world supply of crude oil, and negative consequences of these disruptions to the fragile U.S. economic recovery, we urge President Obama and the United States Department of Energy to release part of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve for summer 2012 refinery throughput and consumer end-use; and be it further

RESOLVED, That, based upon the current record or near-record price of motor fuel in Illinois, we urge the President of the United States and the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency to suspend implementation of all federal Clean Air Act non-attainment rules that affect the chemical composition and market price of motor fuel sold in the Chicago, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri metropolitan areas; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we commend our neighbor country, the nation of Canada, for its aggressive work in expanding crude oil production from one of the largest under-utilized sources of fossil fuels in the world, the oil sands deposits of the province of Alberta, which possess estimated reserves of 1.7 trillion barrels of bitumen, from which crude oil can be manufactured; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we call upon United States oil refiners to continue their work to rebuild their refineries to refine bitumen-based crude oil into consumer petroleum products and commend the example provided by Canada to those United States policymakers who have the power to decide upon policies that govern the drilling, exploitation, and enjoyment of crude oil resources here in the United States; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we direct the Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability to conduct an objective, non-political examination of our policy of charging "ad valorem" Illinois sales taxes on motor fuel, thereby raising these prices well above world spot market prices for gasoline, and to report its findings to the Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, the Illinois House Republican Leader, the President of the Illinois Senate, and the Illinois Senate Republican Leader, and for this study to be concluded and the report transferred no later than September 30, 2012; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to the President of the United States, the Secretary of the United States Department of Energy, the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Governor of Illinois, and the executive director of the Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability.