A bill that doles out dollars in tax credits and incentives undermines any efforts to bring in revenue for Illinois, Rep. David Harris (R-Arlington Heights) said in the House on Wednesday during debate on House Bill 160.
“Sure there are things in here which we want to do, but what is the other side? "Harris said. "If all of the sudden we pass all this, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, great economic activity will come to Illinois that will make up for all the lost revenue? It isn’t going to happen. These proposals need to be put in a total package. They need to be put in a package which includes both tax credits as well as a consideration of tax revenue.”
HB160, sponsored by Rep. Michael Zalewski (D-Riverside), would create the Keep Illinois Business Act and offer businesses a variety of incentives for operating in Illinois, including tax credits, tax exemptions, grants and loans.
But if the business moves even one job out of state, the incentives would be invalidated and any money that was provided would have to be returned.
“Let’s look at what we’ve got: We’ve got a $14 billion backlog of bills, and we want to increase economic growth," Harris said. "I understand that. I buy it. Good objective. Good ideas. The difficulty is [that] you do it in a vacuum and the two things don’t connect."
Harris’ main point of contention was that providing tax exemptions and credits doesn’t guarantee economic prosperity because it doesn’t necessary lead to an increase in revenue.
“These are giveaways that reduce revenue to the state of Illinois, and I really question … if there will be really enormous economic activities that make up for these tax credits,” Harris said. “Let’s look at the bill as a whole. I just think it is a bad way to approach tax policy and how we do things and how we structure our tax credits, as well as the other provisions that are considered in this bill.”
HB160 passed 63-50.
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