Full Text of HB2958 098th General Assembly
HB2958eng 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning economic planning.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 | | Economic Policy Planning Act. | 6 | | Section 5. Findings and purpose. The General Assembly finds | 7 | | that: | 8 | | (a) The State of Illinois does not currently have a | 9 | | comprehensive policy on economic development incentives. | 10 | | Instead, the State has a wide variety of incentives reducing | 11 | | specific State or local tax burdens that are provided mostly | 12 | | upon request by citizens and corporations. This creates an | 13 | | uncertain tax environment for businesses in Illinois and, as | 14 | | witnessed during the fall 2011 veto session, can leave the | 15 | | State vulnerable to competition from other states that have | 16 | | tried to entice businesses with financial incentives to | 17 | | relocate or expand outside of Illinois. | 18 | | (b) In Fiscal Year 2010, the State spent a total of | 19 | | $313,600,000 on tax incentives for businesses. According to | 20 | | 2009 Illinois Department of Revenue data, only 0.7% of the more | 21 | | than 450,000 corporations filing taxes in Illinois take | 22 | | advantage of these tax incentives. | 23 | | (c) The State of Illinois must develop a formal economic |
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| 1 | | development policy to guide the awarding of incentives. A | 2 | | transparent economic development policy would effectively curb | 3 | | economic brinksmanship by Illinois businesses by creating a | 4 | | predictable process for applying for and earning tax | 5 | | incentives. Such a policy needs to be in place before the State | 6 | | renews, expands, or creates any economic development | 7 | | incentives, and to guide policy makers in determining which tax | 8 | | incentives are most beneficial to the State. | 9 | | Section 10. Economic Policy Planning Commission. | 10 | | (a) There is created the Economic Policy Planning | 11 | | Commission. The Commission shall have 10 voting members | 12 | | appointed as follows:
| 13 | | One member of the General Assembly, who shall serve as | 14 | | co-chairperson, and one member of the public appointed by | 15 | | the President of the Senate;
| 16 | | One member of the General Assembly and one member of | 17 | | the public appointed by the Minority Leader of the Senate;
| 18 | | One member of the General Assembly, who shall serve as | 19 | | co-chairperson, and one member of the public appointed by | 20 | | the Speaker of the House of Representatives;
| 21 | | One member of the General Assembly and one member of | 22 | | the public appointed by the Minority Leader of the House of | 23 | | Representatives; and
| 24 | | 2 members appointed by the Governor.
| 25 | | The Director of the Department of Commerce and Economic |
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| 1 | | Opportunity, or his or her designee, the Director of the | 2 | | Department of Revenue, or his or her designee, the | 3 | | Secretary of the Department of Transportation, or his or | 4 | | her designee, the Executive Director of the Capital | 5 | | Development Board, or his or her designee, and the | 6 | | Executive Director of the Illinois Finance Authority, or | 7 | | his or her designee, shall serve as non-voting, ex-officio | 8 | | members of the Commission.
| 9 | | (b) The co-chairpersons may appoint such other individuals | 10 | | as they may deem helpful as non-voting members of the | 11 | | Commission. | 12 | | (c) The members of the Commission shall serve without | 13 | | compensation, but may be reimbursed for expenses from funds | 14 | | appropriated for that purpose. | 15 | | (d) The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity | 16 | | shall provide administrative support, together with meeting | 17 | | space, to assist the Commission in fulfilling its mission. | 18 | | (e) All appointments required by this Section shall be made | 19 | | within 60 days of the effective date of this Act. | 20 | | Section 15. Meetings. | 21 | | (a) The Commission shall conduct meetings, conference | 22 | | calls, or both, as the co-chairpersons shall direct, and shall | 23 | | conduct at least 2 public hearings, as the co-chairpersons | 24 | | shall direct, before filing its final written findings and | 25 | | recommendations as provided in Section 25 of this Act. |
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| 1 | | Additional public hearings may be held at the discretion of the | 2 | | co-chairpersons. | 3 | | (b) The public hearings shall be held at geographically | 4 | | convenient locations around the State. The locations, dates and | 5 | | times of the public hearings shall be determined by the | 6 | | co-chairpersons, on a schedule that is publicly announced in | 7 | | area newspapers, State buildings, websites, and other media no | 8 | | less than 2 weeks in advance of each hearing. All hearings | 9 | | shall be completed at least 2 months prior to the time for | 10 | | submission of the final written findings and recommendations as | 11 | | provided in Section 25 of this Act. | 12 | | (c) At the public hearings, the Commission shall allow | 13 | | interested persons to present their views and comments and to | 14 | | present any written literature, statements, articles, or | 15 | | comments. Based on attendance and time frames, the Commission | 16 | | may set limits for the time each speaker may comment. These | 17 | | hearings may be continued if all persons could not be heard. | 18 | | Section 20. Activities and purpose. | 19 | | (a) The Commission will conduct a thorough review of the | 20 | | current economic condition of the State of Illinois, which may | 21 | | include its natural resources, geography, infrastructure, | 22 | | businesses, workforce, and educational system, within the | 23 | | context of the national and international economy. | 24 | | (b) The Commission will also conduct a thorough review of | 25 | | relevant and available studies relating to the current economic |
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| 1 | | condition of the State of Illinois as compared to other states, | 2 | | and the nation, including those studies conducted by | 3 | | governments, universities, and reputable groups and | 4 | | institutions. The Commission shall also conduct a review of all | 5 | | laws and regulations relating to economic planning in the State | 6 | | of Illinois, other states, and the nation. | 7 | | (c) Through the public hearings required in Section 15 of | 8 | | this Act and otherwise, the Commission will gather information, | 9 | | review studies, evaluate testimony, and consider and summarize | 10 | | written comments received, and shall make written findings and | 11 | | recommendations as required in Section 25 of this Act.
| 12 | | Section 25. Report; legislation. | 13 | | (a) The Commission shall make its report to the General | 14 | | Assembly on or before December 31, 2014. The report of the | 15 | | Commission shall detail those findings and recommendations | 16 | | supported by a majority of the voting members. | 17 | | (b) The findings and recommendations shall include, but are | 18 | | not limited to:
| 19 | | (1) Specific goals and objectives for the economy of | 20 | | the State of Illinois, including but not limited to: target | 21 | | economic sectors, business retention or recruitment, | 22 | | geographic focus, job creation, blight mitigation, | 23 | | improving economically distressed neighborhoods, and | 24 | | environmental improvements. The goals and objectives shall | 25 | | be stated in measurable terms, so that they can be used to |
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| 1 | | provide context and accountability for the use of economic | 2 | | development incentives.
| 3 | | (2) Specified types of economic development | 4 | | incentives, including eligibility and qualifications for | 5 | | individual firms, maximum funding for particular programs, | 6 | | the jurisdictions that will use them and the extent to | 7 | | which those jurisdictions may use them.
| 8 | | (3) A clearly defined evaluation process for each type | 9 | | of economic development incentive, including, but not | 10 | | limited to:
| 11 | | (A) how a proposal measures up to established | 12 | | economic development criteria;
| 13 | | (B) a cost/benefit analysis;
| 14 | | (C) an evaluation of tax base impact, both in terms | 15 | | of increases in taxable value and, where a Tax | 16 | | Increment Financing District is proposed, the impact | 17 | | on all overlapping taxing jurisdictions;
| 18 | | (D) an analysis of the impact of a project on | 19 | | existing businesses;
| 20 | | (E) a determination of whether the project would | 21 | | have proceeded if the incentive is not provided; and
| 22 | | (F) the required documentation for demonstrating | 23 | | these criteria.
| 24 | | (4) Specific performance standards for each project | 25 | | receiving economic development incentives, to help gauge | 26 | | the effectiveness of both the specific economic |
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| 1 | | development incentives provided as well as the State's | 2 | | overall economic development program, together with the | 3 | | recovery of promised financial benefits, through clawbacks | 4 | | or linkage agreements, of recipients failing to fulfill | 5 | | their commitments.
| 6 | | (5) A process for ongoing and regular monitoring of the | 7 | | economic development incentives granted and the | 8 | | performance of each project receiving incentives, | 9 | | including the designation or creation of a State agency or | 10 | | other body to provide the monitoring. Ongoing and regular | 11 | | monitoring must include, at a minimum, the examination of | 12 | | performance standards relative to each economic | 13 | | development agreement, and the determination of whether | 14 | | the goals for each project have been achieved within the | 15 | | defined timeframe. | 16 | | (c) In addition to the report, the Commission shall provide | 17 | | to the General Assembly its recommendations in the form of | 18 | | legislation. The Legislative Reference Bureau shall provide | 19 | | drafting assistance to the Commission. | 20 | | Section 30. Repealer. This Act is repealed on December 31, | 21 | | 2015.
| 22 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 23 | | becoming law.
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