Full Text of SR0167 95th General Assembly
SR0167 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| SENATE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, Governor Rod Blagojevich is proposing the largest | 3 |
| tax increase in the history of Illinois; and
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| WHEREAS, Governor Rod Blagojevich wants to raise $8 billion | 5 |
| by imposing a new Gross Receipts Tax upon all businesses within | 6 |
| Illinois; and
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| WHEREAS, The Governor would impose the Gross Receipts Tax | 8 |
| at a rate of 0.85% on goods and 1.95% on services; and
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| WHEREAS, Only five U.S. states currently impose a Gross | 10 |
| Receipts Tax, each of which is lower than the Governor's | 11 |
| proposed rates; and
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| WHEREAS, Three of these five states impose the gross | 13 |
| receipts tax as a substitute for an income tax or sales tax, | 14 |
| rather than in addition to these two other taxes; and
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| WHEREAS, The Tax Foundation, an independent, nonpartisan | 16 |
| tax research group that has been evaluating tax policy since | 17 |
| 1937, warns that the Gross Receipts Tax is poor tax policy | 18 |
| which leads to harmful tax pyramiding and damages the | 19 |
| performance of state and local economies; and
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| WHEREAS, The proposed tax would fall most harshly upon | 2 |
| start-ups, struggling firms, and low-profit-margin businesses; | 3 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, Illinois is currently ranked by Forbes Magazine as | 5 |
| the 44th worst state in the nation in which to conduct business | 6 |
| and Illinois ranks 43rd out of the 50 states in job growth over | 7 |
| the last four years, trailing all of our neighboring states; | 8 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, Agriculture, Illinois' primary industry, will be | 10 |
| devastated by the pyramiding effect as seed, fertilizers, farm | 11 |
| chemicals, equipment and machinery, and elevator services will | 12 |
| all be taxed, and the full burden will be borne by the farmer; | 13 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, This stealth tax will be woven throughout the | 15 |
| fabric of our economy, increasing prices for consumers on all | 16 |
| types of goods and services including healthcare, utilities, | 17 |
| and gasoline; and
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| WHEREAS, The new $8 billion tax burden imposed under the | 19 |
| Governor's plan represents $600 each year for every man, woman | 20 |
| and child in Illinois; and
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| WHEREAS, That increased tax burden equates to $2,400 for |
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| every family of four, or an additional tax burden of almost | 2 |
| $200 per month; and
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| WHEREAS, the Joint Hearing of the Senate Education and | 4 |
| Revenue Committees
attracted more than 500 witnesses in | 5 |
| opposition to the proposed Gross Receipts Tax, representing a | 6 |
| wide spectrum of the business community; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL | 8 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we oppose the Gross | 9 |
| Receipts Tax proposed by the Governor of Illinois; and be it | 10 |
| further
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| RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be presented to | 12 |
| the Governor of the State of Illinois.
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