Illinois House Floor Debate — December 12, 2011

Speaker Lyons: "Good afternoon, Illinois. Your House of Representatives will come to order. Members are to be asked to please be at your desks. We shall be led in prayer today by Lee Crawford, the pastor of the Cathedral Praise Christian Center here in Springfield. Members are asked… and guests are asked to refrain from starting their laptops, turn off all electronics, and please rise for the invocation and the Pledge of the Allegiance. Lee Crawford."

"Representative Kevin McCarthy, would you please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance." McCarthy – et al: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

"Roll Call for Attendance. Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, status of the Democrats."

"Thank you, Speaker and Members of the House. I have no excused Democrats to report today." 09700088.doc 1  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011

"Thank you, Leader. Representative Mike Bost, GOP."

Speaker Lyons: "Thank you, Representative. Representative McCarthy, would you like to be recorded as present? Thank you, Representative. Representative McGuire. Mr. Clerk, take the record. There's 116 Members responding to the… to the Roll Call, we have a quorum. We're prepared to do the business for the people of the State of Illinois. Mr. Clerk."

"Mr. Clerk, Agreed Resolutions."

"Representative Currie moves to the adoption of the Agreed Resolutions. All those in favor signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And the Agreed Resolutions are adopted. Mr. Clerk, the Adjournment Resolution."

Speaker Lyons: "Leader Barbara Flynn Currie moves for the adoption of the Adjournment Resolution. All those in favor signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And the Resolution is adopted. Mr. Clerk, on page 3 of the Calendar, under Senate Bill-Second Reading is Senate Bill 400. What's the status on that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Leader Barbara Flynn Currie on Floor Amendment #2."

"Thank you, Speaker. May we… may we adopt the Amendment and then discuss the Bill on Third-Reading?"

Speaker Lyons: "The Leader moves for the adoption of the Amendment. All those in favor signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. The Amendment is adopted. Anything further, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading and read the Bill."

"Leader Barbara Flynn Currie on Senate Bill 400."

"Thank you very much, Speaker and Members of the House. When President Gerald Ford was in the White House the Congress and the President created an Earned Income Tax Credit. It was meant to help low-income working families. It's important to stress the point that these are working families. This is the Earned Income Tax Credit, it is not a give away. President Ronald Reagan signed an expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit and at the time he called it… he called it the best antipoverty, best profamily, best job creation measure to come out of Congress. Illinois’s Earned Income Tax Credit limit is set at 5 percent of the federal credit. This measure would expand the percentage so that in 2012 it would go to 7.5 percent of the Federal credit and in '14 and beyond it would be 10 percent of the Federal credit. This is important to do because our low-income working families are pinched. They're pinched by high state, sales, property and income taxes and in fact, as a share, as a percentage of their income, they are paying 3, 4, and 5 times as much as their more affluent neighbors. Most of the states that have an Earned Income Tax Credit are at least 15 percent. Wisconsin is higher than that and our… even our neighbor Indiana is much higher than Illinois today. Illinois, in fact, is tied for second lowest in the nation in the generosity of the benefit, but the important 09700088.doc 5  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011 thing to note is that this is really a measure designed to keep people at work and to reward them when they are, in fact, working. In terms of what this would do for Illinois families to go from 5 percent to 10 percent would mean that a single mom with one child, earning a minimum wage $12,800 a year, her $285 in state tax receipt this year would go when we are at 10 percent down to 131. A single mother with two kids, a family of three at 20 thousand right now would be paying 480. We would be able, doubling the EITC, to bring her down to 259, more than half the amount that she owes. According to a study by the Brookings Institution, every dollar a family saves through the EITC translates into a $1.58 of activity in the local economy. This is not money that people are going to sit on; it is money that they are going to spend. Increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit can increase economic activity. It can boost our economy as well as helping individuals who do definitely need our help. There's a second provision in Senate Bill 400 and that is that it will increase the standard exemption. Today that is $2 thousand. We exempt $2 thousand of everybody's income before we calculate what they owe. This would, in 2012, take that number to $2,050 and thereafter would index the standard exemption to inflation so people would not find that they're… the value of their standard exemption is reduced over time even as the Consumer Price Index increases. I'd be happy to answer your questions, and I would appreciate your bipartisan support for passage of this measure. When we created the state EITC in the year 2000, the vote in this floor was 09700088.doc 6  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011 unanimous. When we made it refundable in the year 2003, the vote in both chambers, again, was unanimous. This is a business-friendly, family-friendly, antipoverty program and I am happy to answer your questions, and would appreciate your support."

"Doorman, please take action on the… actions being done up in the… in the gallery. Please, doorman, security. Leader Currie, we're going to get back to business on the House Floor. Did you conclude your remarks? Leader Currie, are you finished?"

"I'm waiting for…"

"Okay. We have three speakers in response. Chair recognizes Gentleman from Crawford, Representative Roger Eddy."

"Majority Leader awaits your questions, Roger."

"Absolutely, it was my pleasure."

"I don't think so, Representative. And I'm certainly aware of no court case in which someone has challenged the Earned Income Tax Credit in the State of Illinois, which we adopted in the year 2000. So, I think there is not an issue there at all. This is…"

"For a family of four it can range up to about $45 thousand a year. You do know that it is one of the credits that becomes less valuable at higher levels of income. So, it is most useful for people who are at the lower end of the economic spectrum."

"At… at the highest level the value of the Earned Income Tax Credit is negligible."

"But at lower levels I think I read some of the differences it would make for families at various levels of the income program. So, a single mom, one child, $12,800 a year her tax bill would go down by well more than half if we were to go to 10 percent of the federal credit from 285 to 131."

"I don’t have the figure, but I can… I think 47 thousand you would not qualify. And remember that 45 thousand is for a family, I believe, of four so, the limit for a family of two would be a good deal lower."

"That is correct."

"Well, right now about two and a half million people qualify, and ask for, and get the Earned Income Tax Credit. I don't know what that number might be in future years, but that's what it is today."

"And… and from state and local property taxes which for a very low-income earners in Illinois are four and five times proportionally more than they are for people who are more affluent."

"Of course those individuals would qualify for the increase in the standard exemption."

"From 2000 to 2050 in…in fiscal '12 and then to… to match the Consumer Price Index in 2013 and beyond."

"’Course it would depend on what the Consumer Price Index does, but our… our estimates are that in 20… in fiscal '13 when it goes to $2,050 that the cost of the state would be 20… about 20 million and that it would double at the point it goes to the CPI. But that estimate, who knows, the CPI could turn out to be negative in which case there would be no… no benefit."

"I believe it’s 20 million in the first year and 40 million thereafter, is what our estimates are showing."

"For the increase in the standard exemption."

"If there is an increase in the standard exemption depending on what happens to the Consumer Price Index."

"Representative David Harris." Harris, D.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Question of the Sponsor."

"Representative Currie awaits your questions, Representative." 09700088.doc 12  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011 Harris, D.: "Leader… Leader, as I understand that this is Bill number one of a two-Bill package. Is that right?"

"That would be accurate." Harris, D.: "And with some modification these two Bills put together are pretty much the same as the single Bill that was defeated two weeks ago."

"Correct." Harris, D.: "So, instead of one Christmas tree we are now looking at two Christmas trees that are more expensive put together than the one."

"I don’t think this Bill is a Christmas tree, Sir, but I think I might agree with you when it comes to the next Bill on the agenda." Harris, D.: "Well, I think that such as the nature of Springfield that we end up having two Bills instead of one in the two… two Bills that do pretty much the same thing and the two end costing more than one. Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, on November the 16 the Chicago Tribune ran a large editorial that read this: ‘It ain't easy being broke.’ And underneath that it said, 'Illinois wants to take care of its leading employers, but what can it afford?' And that, Members of the House, is the key question. What can we afford? The State of Illinois is in an extremely difficult financial situation. This House, however, this House led the way in passing a budget for fiscal year '12 filled on a conservative revenue estimate. We built a budget that was meant to spend less than what our revenues were going to be. And then… and then we passed House Resolution 158 that says we will use any excess 09700088.doc 13  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011 revenues to pay down our old bills. And according to recent estimates from COGFA and from the Office of Management and Budget we may have 250 to as much as 600 million dollars above what we budgeted which we can use to pay down old bills. But that's only a start. We must maintain this type of fiscal budgeting discipline for several years into the future in order to get out of the hole that was dug. Now, we were negotiating Amendment #3 to Senate Bill 397, which unfortunately, I believe, unfortunately was not called two weeks ago. And then when we negotiated that the questions were always asked, when talking about certain provisions, what can we afford and how can we best allocate any financial resources we have. As we look ahead to next year, we already have mounting financial obligations. We know that our pension payment alone is going to increase by $500 million and the Medicaid hit could be double that. So, there was a challenge on drafting the legislation that could aid businesses as well as individuals. Let me say, that if this House truly wants to pay us tax relief, then we ought to lower the income… personal income tax immediately. But when it came to individuals, consideration was given to how much could be allocated to the Earned Income Tax Credit and an increase in the personal exemption for income tax purposes. Now, I sit on the Revenue Committee; I look at numbers that come in and how much revenue is the state going to get in. It is worthwhile to keep in mind that each $100 increase in the personal exemption reduces revenues to the state by roughly $50 million. We are fortunate right now to live in a low 09700088.doc 14  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011 Consumer Price Index environment but it is not hard to imagine that the CPI goes up to 5 percent a year or more. Five percent a year, each year, means a minimum of $100 increase in the personal exemption each and every year, which means that each and every year 50 to 60 million dollars comes off the top in terms of state revenue. Let's look at the Earned Income Tax Credit. We negotiated an Earned Income Tax… this Bill increases it eventually to 10 percent. We negotiated an Earned Income Tax Credit that goes up to seven and a half percent. At seven and a half percent a single mother with one child earning $12 thousand would see her tax bill next year reduced to $208 from 285. That is a 27 percent reduction in tax bill. At seven and a half percent a married couple with three children earning $30 thousand would see its tax bill reduced to 625 from 799 dollars a 21 percent reduction. So, there was genuine relief for low wage earning individuals at seven and a half percent. Now, many on my side of the aisle seem to be uncomfortable with the Earned Income Tax Credit. I would like to remind my fellow colleagues that this is a tax credit for low-income wage earners. My friend, this is not welfare. This is for people who have jobs and who are productive members of society. We, on this side of the aisle, should not shy away from the Earned Income Tax Credit. At the same time we should ask the question, how much can we afford? That’s the initial question that we started with. Personally, I believe this Bill goes too far in terms of future revenue lost which is going to make it harder for us to fund those basic state services that we 09700088.doc 15  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011 need to fund. I think that things will be even tighter for budgeting in the future and it's going to be even harder to get out of the mess that we are in. However, the powers that be, when they put the package together, said that this is a better package than what we had before. Therefore, I support the Bill and I encourage each and every one of you to do the same. Thank you."

"Representative John Bradley."

"I would… I rise in support of this piece of legislation as companion Bill to Senate Bill 397. I'd like to compliment Leader Currie for her leadership on this, Representative Harris, Leader Cross, for putting this total package together. And I would encourage everyone even though it's not everything that everybody wanted; it's a significant step in the right direction to create balance for the overall process that we're trying to accomplish here. And I would encourage everyone to make an 'aye' vote."

"Representative Mike Fortner."

"Representative Dwight Kay."

"Sponsor yields."

"It would be… it would be from 5 percent of the federal tax credit to 10 percent over time. 7.5 percent in the first year, 10 percent in the second and I just… in 09700088.doc 17  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011 answering your question, let me just reiterate that we are set tight for second lowest in the percentage we offer people of… in terms of the federal credit, that we are the second lowest."

"It is from 5 to 10 percent, Sir; you may do the math."

"And it would bring us not nearly to the middle of the pack when it comes to the proportion of the federal tax credit we allow low income wage earners to use in calculating their Illinois credit."

"Well, actually a family of four at 50 thousand is not entitled as I… as I understand it."

"To anything. And at 45 thousand, may be the limit today, the amount would be quite minimal. I… I got some numbers on some people at slightly lower levels of income. So, for example a family of five at $30 thousand a year today would be paying almost $800 in taxes and if we were 09700088.doc 18  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011 to go to 10 percent their tax bill would come down almost $200 to 600. But as you can see from that number, the value of the credit becomes a lot smaller as the value of the earnings increases. So, here we're at 30 thousand and you go from 799 to 600. So, I'm sure that if you get as… as high as 40 or 42 or 44, the value is not going to be so great because you don't get as much out of the Earned Income Tax Credit to begin with."

"What was the… I'm sorry what was the number…"

"Family of four at 50…"

"Okay."

"Okay. At $50 thousand they should get nothing from the Earned Income Tax Credit."

"They would get a bit of an increase in the standard exemption."

"I don't have those figures."

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah. They would… they would still not be eligible for help under the Earned Income Tax Credit unless there is a change… yeah…"

"…unless there's a change at the federal level."

"But they would be entitled to an increase in the standard exemption, assuming there is an increase in the CPI."

"And for the middle class what we are doing is a lot less than we're doing for some very wealthy businesses in the State of Illinois. The value of increasing the standard exemption and increasing the value of the Earned Income Tax Credit is maybe a little more than half as much as the dollars that another Bill, if we support it, will bestow upon businesses in the State of Illinois." 09700088.doc 20  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011

"Individual tax relief is a smaller, by far, portion of the overall package that we earlier heard about that is support for business relief."

"I'm sorry. Is what?"

"I do not think we are broke, and as I say, if you’re concerned about the state of our… of our Treasury, you might be a lot more concerned about the vote you’re asked to offer on the next Bill because that's going to have a much greater ability to deplete the Treasury than is this."

"The… the reality is, that the reports on how the Earned Income Tax Credit is used suggest that more then 60 percent use it for periods of under two years, very few families use that credit for longer than that. There is… because the value of the credit declines as income increases, there is real incentive to get off the program altogether."

"And study after study shows exactly that. This is an incentive to work not disincentive to move up the… the promotional ladder."

"Well, the… the standard exemption, we're estimating that cost at about $20 million a year, once we're in, but obviously that’s an estimate. If there is no increase in the cost of living, there would not be an increase in the standard exemption, a very small CPI would presumably bring that $20 million cost down."

"Representative Mike Tryon."

"Sponsor yields."

"It would be my view that we are… we're seeing some signs of renewed help in the economy, we are phasing in the increase and just the Members of the chamber should understand, this is not a new issue. We have been working on increasing, expanding, making a greater incentive of the Earned Income Tax Credit since 2000. And the fact that we are now able to do so, I think is exciting news for our low-income workers, and I think that that may prove a real shot in the arm for the economy." 09700088.doc 23  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011

"But these, remember, are workers. These are people who are out earning wages. It's the Earned Income Tax Credit. If there is a problem down the road, we're a continuing Body; we can come back and solve it. Again, I would remind the Body that the dollar amounts involved in individual tax relief under this proposal, are very significantly less, very much less substantial than what you'll be offered in the next Bill on the Calendar."

"Leader Barbara Flynn Currie to close."

"Thank you, Speaker and Members of the House. We've talked about how the state is broke; we've talked also on this floor about how we need to roll back an income tax increase and you know what, Speaker and Members of the chamber, I don't get it. I don't get it. On the one hand the very people who are telling us that the state is broke, are telling us we should reduce the level of taxation. I think that the proposals in Senate Bill 400 are sensible, humane and in fact, can help our economy. Low-income earners in Illinois today get an advantage of… the maximum they can get today is $283. We talk about our competition, we talk about states like Wisconsin, the maximum there is $1,926 for the same family, 283 in Illinois, 1,926 in Wisconsin. The Indiana tax credit is set at 9 percent, we are at 5. I would urge that putting money in the pockets of hardworking, low-income earners in fact will spur our economy, may help us out of our doldrums. And I would say that applying the Consumer Price Index increases to the value of the standard exemption doesn't mean that in the future years we'll be taking more money than we should be taking out of our citizens’ pockets. I urge your 'yes' vote."

"Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, moves for the passage of Senate Bill 400. This Bill will require 60 votes for passage. All those in favor signify by voting 'yes'; those oppose vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted 09700088.doc 25  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011 who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Kay, Thapedi. Mr. Clerk… Representative Thapedi, want to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there are 67 Members voting 'yes', 49 Members voting 'no', 0 voting 'present'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Mr. Clerk, on page 3 of the Calendar, under Senate Bill-Second Reading, we have Senate Bill 397. What's the status on that Bill, Mr. Clerk?"

"Representative John Bradley on Floor Amendment #7."

"I move for the adoption of this Amendment and then debate the Bill on Third."

"Representative Bradley moves for the adoption of Floor Amendment #7. All those in favor signify by saying 'yes'; Those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, the 'ayes' have it. And the Amendment is adopted. Anything further, Mr. Clerk?"

"Third Reading and read the Bill."

"Representative John Bradley." 09700088.doc 26  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members of the House. This is the culmination of months of hard work by the Revenue & Finance Committee in conjunction with the Senate and the Governor's Office. This is the first part of an ongoing process that we're engaged in, in trying to reform the Tax Code in Illinois. We had intended in taking up these issues in the spring next year, and we still intend to do things in the spring, but the timing of two longstanding Illinois corporations who had weathered the economic downturn would weather the economic storm but were in need of adjustments in order to continue to remain in Illinois, made the timing of this vitally crucial at this point. So, in crafting the previous legislation, Senate Bill 400 as well as Senate Bill 397, we tried to create a balanced approach to the issue of tax relief in Illinois, to not just provide tax relief to large corporations which is… was vitally important in order to keep those jobs, those vital jobs, those families in Illinois, but to provide relief to small and middle-class businesses, to working families and the middle class, the strong middle class, in the State of Illinois. So, Senate Bill 400 in conjunction with Senate Bill 397 is the results of those efforts. It's very similar to the Bill that Representative Harris and I negotiated over the previous holidays. It's broken into pieces, obviously. There's been an adjustment to the estate tax; there's been the inclusion of Champion Labs directly for downstate. There have been adjustments in the EITC and the previous Bill, but overall, we have tried to provide relief for farmers, for small family farms, for small businesses 09700088.doc 27  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011 through the net operating loss in the estate tax, through the expansion of vital economic developmental tools, through the expansion of the sunsets, and to retain the jobs at Sears and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, as well as providing relief to the middle class through the personal exemption. This Bill, although somewhat larger than the previous Bill that was put forth by the Revenue Committee, still lives within the means of the state and the balancing we do in trying to pay the backlog of bills and at the same time provide tax relief at this moment of time. An important aspect of this Bill, which cannot be overlooked and which was the insistence of the downstate caucus, Democrats, Representative Harris, working together with myself and others in making sure that there was no impact on fiscal year 12. So, the Resolution that was passed by this chamber earlier this year that said that we are going to dedicate any and all surpluses in fiscal year '12 to the payment of back bills remains in place. Whether that surplus ends up being 250 million or 800 million, depending on the estimates that we receive, that money will go towards the back payment of bills. By lowering the total cost of this package to under 300 million in year one of the program to under 350 million in years two and three of the program we have freed up 5 to 600 million dollars in future budgets, which is also included in this legislation, to pay our providers that are waiting on payments. So, we haven't done this in a microscope; we haven't done this in a vacuum, we've done this in the context of trying to create a fiscally responsible package which retains jobs 09700088.doc 28  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011 for longstanding Illinois companies, which provides relief to the middle class, which provides relief to the working poor, which provides relief to small businesses, to small family farms, and retains the jobs that are vitally important to the State of Illinois. I would ask for an 'aye' vote."

Speaker Lyons: "The Chair recognizes Representative David Harris." Harris, D.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Question of the Sponsor."

"Sponsor yields." Harris, D.: "So this is… this is Bill two of the two-Bill package which is more expensive than the one-Bill package, right?"

"Correct." Harris, D.: "And the Live Theater Tax Credit is in there at $2 million versus $1 million?"

"Correct." Harris, D.: "And there are sunset provisions in there on a range of tax credits and deductions that are not now going to expire. They're going to remain in place, correct?"

"Correct." Harris, D.: "There's one in there for the credits to hire ex- felons as I understand, for ex-felons."

"Correct." Harris, D.: "However, it's in there because we want to give certainty to businesses that these tax credits and deductions are not going to expire, correct?"

"Correct." 09700088.doc 29  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011 Harris, D.: "Thank you. Mr. Speaker, to the Bill. Before I address the legislation I want to tell my colleagues that for over 30 years I have had an associate membership interest in the Chicago Board of Trade which was held for investment purposes. This has always been shown on my statement of economic interests. About 5 years ago the Chicago Board of Trade was purchased by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the CME Group. While I do not believe that the membership interest poses a conflict of interest any more than being a hospital board member, voting on Medicaid issues poses a conflict, I will vote ‘present’ so as to avoid the appearance of any conflict. Let me also state that I own no stock in the Chicago Mercantile Exchange or CME Group. To the Bill. Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, this legislation offers significant benefits to two large corporations in our state. Now, many in this chamber will ask and say, well, if you can help the big guys, what is it to stop other corporations from coming to Springfield and seeking tax benefits? The simple answer to that question is nothing. Nothing will stop Abbott Labs from coming to Springfield and saying give us help or we will move up to the land we own in Wisconsin. Nothing will stop Walgreens from saying… coming here and saying give us help or were going to move from Deerfield, Illinois to Brookfield, Wisconsin. Nothing will stop Aon or Horace Mann from coming here saying give us help; we're going to leave Chicago or Springfield and go to Indianapolis. We cannot stop them from doing that no matter how hard we may try. Even if we had a good tax climate, and I'm the first one to 09700088.doc 30  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011 say that we do not have a good tax climate, there is nothing we can do to stop a large corporation from pitting state against state by saying it's simply thinking about moving. You probably heard the reports that Ohio was offering Sears almost $40 million to move to Ohio. So, if a state should come here and do that, it is our job to fairly evaluate, is it a good idea or not to grant benefits. So, let's evaluate the Sears proposal and the CME proposal. Now, there are many on my side of the aisle that say if only we had not increased the corporate income tax, we wouldn’t be here. These two companies wouldn’t be here today if we hadn’t increases the corporate income tax. My friends, I completely disagree with that. Sears is asking for two things; extension of its EDA and $15 million a year in tax credits. Well, what is an EDA? It's nothing more than a fancy TIF, and the Sears TIF is expiring in 2013. This House almost routinely extends and approves TIF extensions. Permit me to remind you that in the spring we voted to extend TIFs in Dixon and Lansing, in Markhum, in Bensenville, in Moline, and in Lawrenceville. Sears is asking for an extension of their TIF. So, I contend that they would have been here anyway, even without a tax increase. As for the $15 million in EDGE credits, that is a small price to pay for keeping more than 4 thousand jobs and the economic impact of those 4 thousand jobs in the northwest suburbs and in our state. Let's keep in mind that Sears in 2010 paid $129 million in sales and use taxes and $800 thousand in income and franchise taxes and despite the fact… despite the fact that we got a little bit of a 09700088.doc 31  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011 lecture from the distinguished Gentleman from McHenry County about how Sears could get the tax credit and still lower the number of employees they have now, let's remember we did this same thing in the spring with Motorola Mobility. We gave them $109 million in EDGE tax credit and technically they could lower the number of employees that they have. But the EDGE tax credits work; they're a good idea. Companies don’t get the tax credits unless they meet the requirements of the tax credits and the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, believe it or not, does a really good job of monitoring compliance with those tax credit requirements. There have been a large number… a large number of corporations who have been granted tax… EDGE tax credits that don't get those tax credits because they haven't met the requirements that they agreed to. And along with MMI I should… along with Motorola Mobility I should add that we had granted $19 million in tax credits to Continental Tire for those folks in southern Illinois. Okay. So, let's look at the CME. Again, I contend that we would be here today handling the CME issue even if the corporate tax credit… or excuse me, even if the corporate tax increase had not passed. John Deere, Navistar, Allstate, lots of other large corporations in Illinois do not pay much income tax in this state because of how we apportion corporate taxes. Taxes are apportioned on the revenue that they generate in Illinois. Revenue from a tractor or a combine harvester sold in Iowa doesn't get taxed under Illinois corporate income tax, but because the CME's computers are located in Aurora and that is where the 09700088.doc 32  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011 large percentage of their buy and sell trades are matched up, most of the revenue is subject to Illinois income tax even though the buyer and the seller might be operating on the East Coast and the West Coast. And then you throw in something known as the throw-out rule in our corporate tax system, and CME it gets especially hard hit by that and I wont go into the throw-out rule. It's somewhat… somewhat very technical. But CME has a legitimate problem that would have brought them to this Legislature even without a tax increase because they cannot get regulatory relief from the Department of Revenue which is where they ought to start. There is one aspect, though, of the legislation that I would ask this chamber to keep in mind. We are putting in this legislation that the CME group would be taxed at 27.54 percent, permanently. Why is that a magic a number? It's a number made up by the Department of Revenue to which CME has agreed. CME has offered no data whatsoever that I have seen to say that 27.54 percent is the correct number. Maybe it should be 21 percent, or maybe it should be 34 percent. Now, if you think a major corporation will agree to allow itself to be taxed at a rate higher than it think it should be taxed, you’re smoking funny cigarettes. I am not suggesting that you vote against this Bill. I think both of these corporations deserve our assistance. What I am suggesting though is this House keep in mind and we put the Department of Revenue on notice that that 27.54 percent tax rate should not be set in stone and that it should be reevaluated at some point in the future. They should come to us and say we have data to support the tax rate you are 09700088.doc 33  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011 taxing at us. So, not withstanding the… the increase cost of… of two Bills rather than one, I believe that this legislation warrants your support and I hope you will vote for it. Thank you for your patience."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have 11 people wishing to speak and because of the seriousness of the issue, I'm certainly going to allow the debate to go on as long as I can, but I would ask you to please be considerate and try to stay within the 3 to 5 minute time frame. Democrats and staff, I'd ask you to please… Leader Tom Cross is going to speak. The last time I was in this Chair I made a promise I would never let him speak over the crowd noise. So, I'd ask everybody to give him the same respect that we give Speaker Madigan when he's on the floor. So, I'd appreciate silence on the floor. Staff take your conversation to the rear of the chamber. Leader Tom Cross."

Speaker Lyons: "Thank you Members of the chamber. Representative Roger Eddy."

"Sponsor yields."

"Correct."

"Correct."

"It's a… it's a change in the apportionment formula. So, Illinois has the single sourcing formula for apportionment. So, if a traditional manufacturer sells a truck or a tractor outside of this state, that's not taxed for income tax purposes. Everything that CME does, because the electronic data center is in Aurora, because the floors are in Chicago, is getting taxed regardless of whether or not those transactions are actually Illinois transactions. There are two different ways to look at that, and this was a negotiation I wasn’t a part of, but it was between various groups from the state as well as the Mercantile Exchange and there were two different ways basically to try to sort that out, to have a more fair system. You could do it on population, or you could do it on census data. Population would have been a lower number, so they chose the census data information to try to determine exactly a more fair apportionment method and that’s how they arrived at the 27.54 percent."

"We're… we have challenges with regards to this specific industry in terms of coming up with a fair apportionment method. We're going to try this. Now, there are risks either way, right? It may be that this number is high, and that’s a possibility. It's a possibility that we may, in the future, decide that it is low, but this is the best that could be done in this window that we had to try to resolve this issue before the first of the year."

"And… and the joint Senate and House Revenue Reform Commission Committee is still functioning. It's our intention to continue to work into the spring to work through whatever issues we weren’t able to address in this fall Session." 09700088.doc 40  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011

"With an additional 5-year carryover, so effectively ten."

"That's a consistent theme in all the hearings that we've had around the state, from top to bottom and we tried to address those temporarily by the extension of all these 09700088.doc 41  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011 sunsets. I don't disagree with you that there may, personally me speaking for myself, there may be a better process by which to go about that. I think that's something else that we look at in the spring."

"I…"

"Representative Dunkin. Three to five minutes, Representative, if you can."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"

"Sponsor yields."

"Representative, first of all, I'm impressed that you have the tax incentive for the theater credit. It's very similar to the film tax credit. It affords or creates an atmosphere where someone who is interested in production they look at tax incentives in various states and they select a state based off of various reasons. Tax incentives are certainly one, and the plus part of it is the state doesn't lose out at all, for the most part, because just like the film tax credit they have to spend a certain threshold and then that’s when our tax credit actually kicks in. They do that by hiring an individual, paying an individual $25 thousand, have to spend over $100 thousand for a commercial or a television or… or movie production and the… and this is somewhat similar to the film with the theater tax credit, so that’s the good part of this Bill. My question to you is what is the solvency… the projected solvency estimate… estimate of Sears and CME?"

"Well, as far as I know their solvency is okay. We should note that if there were a situation, god forbid, where these longstanding Illinois companies, who have survived the economic downturn, who are still here were to get into that situation, it would actually reduce or eliminate the cost to the state. So, for instance, the EDGE credit is not going to continue if Sears isn’t around; the EVA is not going to continue if Sears isn't around. If the 09700088.doc 44  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011 CME is not around, we stand to lose, even after this adjustment, 85 to 100 million dollars of tax revenues, if they're not around even after this adjustment. So, that's the situation we find ourselves in is that we lose the jobs, the families are impacted, be devastating to the regions in which these companies are located, the revenue to the state in terms of the EDGE credit would no longer be a liability."

"So, there is a commitment with the tax committee or the Revenue Committee to come back and assess all of the larger companies, the smaller companies, the mid size companies as well."

"With regards to the EDGE credit, it's in the Bill. If they leave the state, they shut down, it goes away."

"So, what's the threshold for a company to benefit from the EDGE credit? Do they have to have certain number of employees, have a certain revenue base?"

"Yeah. There… that’s something that is of personal interest to me, and something that the committee is going to be looking at in the spring. In terms of, is there some fiscally responsible way for us to expand the EDGE credit to a broader base of Illinois businesses. We haven't been able to get that worked out yet, we haven't been able to figure out exactly how to administer that yet, but I think that at some point in the future we've got to consider the possibility of providing this type of relief to a broader range of Illinois businesses including small and mid-size businesses."

"Was there a third company to…" 09700088.doc 45  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011

"There's a champ…"

"…enter into this legislation?"

"…there's a Champions Lab which is down, I believe it's in one of the Representatives over there district, and so it's not in my district, it's north…"

"But it's in our state."

"Yeah. But it's in our state. And that's a unique situation because not only are they looking at retaining jobs, but they're actually looking at relocating jobs from other states. So, before I… before they turn off my microphone, let me just say I appreciate your leadership on the issue of live theater. I appreciate your commitment to the arts in the State of Illinois and I'm happy that this is part of the legislation."

"I am, too, and to the Bill. Thank you, Mr. Sponsor. Ladies and Gentlemen, you know, I've been here for 10 years and one thing that I'm clear on is that our state is not great just because we say it's great. It's great because we have an incredible and diverse labor force. We have a very impressive professional set of young people, older people that are season from Caro, Illinois, all the way up to Rockville, Illinois and companies actually feel good about not only moving to the State of Illinois but staying here. I don't know the numbers, but I think all of us should avail ourselves to some of the recent… over the recent 8 to 12 months of how many new companies actually moved to the State of Illinois, in spite of this economy. I think we've really, in some cases, been over the top with beating ourselves up because some of the major corporations grab 09700088.doc 46  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011 the headlines, but there are a number of small and mid- sized companies that have recently moved to our state, and that we're enjoying their revenue generation, their employment of our citizens. Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, they can't come close to some of the attributes that our state has. We have a diversity of look, Great Lake up north, the Shawnee Forest down here, fantastic hotels, major colleges and universities that are second to none. So, we also have to be conscious of sort of who's playing who, just because a state or Governor outside of our state entertains some of the companies here, doesn't necessarily make fiscal sense for some of these major corporations to just up and leave. So, we have to be exceptionally conscious and aware that sometimes, some companies, yeah, some of them may be playing games. Do we want to have any job loss in the State of Illinois? Absolutely not. What's the barometer for measuring who's serious or not, whose numbers makes sense or not? I don't have that answer. But this is a state that I am very proud to live in because I know of all of, just like many of you, some of the attributes and assets that we possess here in the state. So, I'm looking forward, Mr. Chairman, for you and your committee and others who are not on the committee to really assess the Tax Code and make sure that it's fair for those small businesses, for the mid-size businesses, for those emerging businesses, and the large corporations. It's not a Democrat or Republican issue whether jobs are sustained here in the state. All of us are pro-business in our district, in our cities, and in our state, but doing the 09700088.doc 47  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011 right thing sometimes require an extra step. So, I applaud you, Representative, and Representative Harris, and the other Leaders to at least take a serious look at what it is that we need to be projecting or trying to understand going forward. I would encourage an 'aye' vote as well as my colleagues. Thank you."

"And if we keep our remarks between three and five minutes, I'm sure it'd be appreciated by all Members and still be able to get your point across. Next speaker is Representative Jack Franks."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm really concerned about the business climate here in Illinois. I think it's uneven, I think it's unfair, it's disjointed, and it favors the powerful over those with fainter voices. We have small companies that can't get their tax overpayments back from the state. Just last week in McHenry County, we had two different companies trying to spend $350 million to give additional health care where the state says the most critical need in the state is in southern McHenry County and in northern Kane. And we can't even allow companies to spend $350 million and put people to work because of our… our archaic system here in Illinois. Now I want to acknowledge like the others have the incredibly hard work of Representative Harris and Representative Bradley and express appreciation for their Leadership, but Ladies and Gentlemen, we have been summoned to Springfield at the behest of corporations threatening to relocate and displace thousands of Illinois workers. We have been told that these incentives are vital towards retaining their jobs. In 09700088.doc 48  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011 short, we have been told to act now or pay the penalty. Now, to fully comprehend how we got here we must look at where we've been. We've allowed a business tax avoidance scheme, that, at its best, is… is an ineffective economic development strategy, which is a zero sum game and at its worst, it's politically corrupting. Now, this year alone the Governor has pledged more than $246 million in EDGE incentives to 43 companies to create 1,715 jobs and to retain (6460 jobs). Now, of course, those numbers fail to reflect up to the 30 percent of the workforce reduction permitted in fine print in many of these EDGE tax incentive agreements. So, this really isn't a retention of workers, rather it's a state subsidy to fire taxpaying Illinoisans with their own tax dollars. Now, this was done to get around the clawback provisions that we had passed years ago in response to what happened in Harvard with Motorola, when they have gotten about $43 million from the state and we said we're not going to allow that to happen again and if you promise to create and retain jobs, you're going to have to do that. But what the Governor cleverly did is simply said the retention is lower than what you have now which I think goes around the whole spirit of the Law we had passed before. You look at Motorola Mobility, they were awarded $47 thousand, over $47 thousand per job. Navistar and other firms were also… get this exclusive VIP arrangement that allows them to retain their employee's state income tax withholding. Another is a Russian steel company. They were pledged… we're paying $61 thousand per employee for 70 jobs, totaling more than 4.2 million. Again and again the 09700088.doc 49  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011 state is doling out incentive packages one by one without transparency, without accountability, and without demonstrating whether they are good deals for the Illinois taxpayer. Now, the Governor did all of this without the Legislature. I'm wondering why he needs us now. Now, I requested the opportunity to vote on a package that did… that did not include Sears, and unfortunately, that did not happen. So, the proposal before us allows Sears to retain $15 million of the withholding taxes collected from their employees for the next 10 years at a cost of approximately of $150 million. But just this month, Standard & Poor's put Sears debt deep into junk territory. This is following 19 straight periods of sales declines, according to Crain's. Fitch has downgraded Sears to B or five levels below investment grade. Now, according to the analyst, Sears would have to bring in over a billion and a half dollars during this holiday season just to cover its responsibilities, but last year they did less than 950 million. It's clear that Sears will have to fire employees, and close stores to meet its obligations. So, we must question whether this is a good investment since we've been relegated to doing this company by company. So, instead of capitulating to corporate demands, what we really ought to be doing is taking efforts to level the playing field for all businesses trying to succeed and we really ought to stop the burden shifting. And since we're giving away revenues from the latest tax hike, why don’t we get rid of the tax hike altogether? This proposal would give back around $350 million. Now, the entire corporate tax increase 09700088.doc 50  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011 that we passed last year was around 750 million. We're not that far apart but I think at least then our small businesses that can't afford lobbyists will see some relief. Now, these are the type of questions that we need to be asking with a healthy dose of… dose of skepticism. Our Tax Code is badly in need of revision and I hope that’s the take away we get from this whole ordeal. So, we need to craft a system that benefits all Illinois businesses instead of the chosen few, a system that's predictable and avoids the case by case absurdity. Now, Representative Harris said something interesting about the Illinois Department of Revenue and how they should look at this number to see whether it's correct, the twenty-seven and a half percent for CME. I… I believe that should this Bill… Bill fail, that the Governor by Executive Order could cut the CME tax rate on his own, because if they're being over taxed unfairly that’s something that should be fixed. But Ladies and Gentlemen, we need to come together and to work on a… on a project that is fair for all of our businesses. And I'll be submitting legislation this coming month to overview how we give… overhaul, rather, how we give these tax credits and these EDGE credits. I'm as concerned as all of you are that it isn't fair to the taxpayers and hopefully, we'll get on this as soon as we get back in January. So, thank you."

"Representative Zalewski, three to five minutes, Representative."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Sponsor yield?"

"Sponsor yields." 09700088.doc 51  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011

"Representative, first of all, a lot of the main points of this Bill have been covered. I commend you for the work you and Representative Harris did on this particular Bill for the second year in a row."

"And… and you, as well, as a Member of the committee."

"Thank you. For the second year in a row though you've given up your holiday season to tackle some of the biggest issues that face this state. And I think you should be commended for it. There's a specific aspect of the Bill though that I… I think requires some clarification and it deals with the tax tribunal that the stat… that the Bill sets up. Can you explain briefly where the idea came from?"

"Yeah. It came out of the hearings that we had over the summer. And there's concern that Illinois could have a more business-friendly approach with the way that we handle tax disputes. And so, this is an ongoing movement in the United States. And we didn’t want to tie the hands of the state or the Department of Revenue too strongly in terms of doing this, but we did want to send an important message and take an important step in saying that we're looking towards the creation of these. We're going to sit down in a bipartisan way as we did with this Bill, work together with the Governor's Office, the administration, the Department of Revenue, try to craft a more fair process for Illinois businesses."

"So, what… what I think the… the concern is expressed among us at the Department of Revenue and some other individuals is… is that we're not entirely sure what the problems are with the existing process for appealing a tax 09700088.doc 52  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011 issue before the Department of Revenue. Is… is there a specific problem that occurs when this… when a business says… says I… I don't necessarily owe what… what the Department of Revenue says I owe?"

"The way I would envision this is a process, a discussions and potential hearings where we would go through this in a more deliberate and thoughtful approach over a longer period of time, as we have more time, and work towards a solution. So, what this does is it creates a framework, but it doesn't tie our hands in terms of saying we have to this or we have to do that."

"What… what the Bill says… the language of the Bill says is… is it basically is only two paragraphs that says at some later point that the Department of Revenue will set forth rules, promulgate rules, appoint staff, and deal with this new tax tribunal. I think that's the concern that a lot of us have is that with just two paragraphs in… in a Bill such as important as this, that we're leaving a lot to the imagination. It would be my suggestion, and I'd be happy to work with you in… in the spring, for the… the Revenue Committee to take an active role in setting up that process so we can ensure that the… that while businesses are given a fair shake by the Department of Revenue that this tax tribunal doesn't, in fact, impede the state's ability to collect unpaid taxes."

"Well, Representative, I think that’s a great suggestion and I think that the Revenue Committee needs to be the central roll in this, working with the Senate. Maybe we do it in the context, or I would hope we would do it in 09700088.doc 53  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011 the context of the Joint House Senate Revenue Joint Committee and I would, for my part, recommend that you leave that effort within our Body."

"Well, again, Representative, thank you. I plan to support your Bill and I appreciate you taking time to answer my questions."

Speaker Lyons: "Representative Dwight Kay. Three to five minutes please, Sir."

"I call them as I see them, Dwight."

"Certainly, always… always in order."

"This is the Bill that we're going to vote on. We've already bifurcated the structure and so we're going to vote on this. Your Leader, myself, others have done this in a compromise bipartisan manner. So, it's our intent to have a vote on this today."

"I thought it was… I thought it was…"

"…I thought it was a polite southern Illinois no." 09700088.doc 54  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011

"Dwight, you got three to five minutes, that’s fine Sir."

Speaker Lyons: "Did you have a question for the parliamentarian?"

"No… no that was it."

"Oh, Okay. Okay go ahead."

"Three minutes, five minutes, we'd appreciate it."

"Well, as the support of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce, the Manufacturers' Association, the Retail Merchants Association, Mid-West Truckers Association, Taxpayers Federation would suggest the estate tax is directly targeted for small business particularly family farms. The net operating loss is specifically targeted for small business by capping it at 100 thousand. The tax tribunal is specifically targeted for small business by creating a more fair process through the mechanism that the Representative previously discussed. The R&D credit will not necessarily 09700088.doc 55  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011 just help big business; it will potentially help small businesses. So, either you would argue that there is as much or more for small business in this package as for big… big business."

"And so you… you, if anyone, would appreciate the impact of a $9500 tax rebate on net operating loss…"

"…or… or estate tax."

"It'd be helpful."

"Well, as was mentioned previously, by the expiration of the Bonus Depreciation Program, which is a one-year program, that there will be money come back on the books for the state in the next several years and that will… by eliminating the amount of the cost of this program, we would use that additional revenue coming back on the books to pay for majority of this program."

"I don't think you can depreciate things twice. So."

"Not under this proposal."

"I answered…"

"I answered…"

"I answered you question, Representative." 09700088.doc 57  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011

"I… I have… you did not give me the benefit of showing…"

"…that to me before your questions, counselor."

"That was two years before I was born."

"I was born."

"We're in the process of doing that, as I mentioned earlier." 09700088.doc 58  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011

"Representative Crespo, three to five minutes please, Sir."

"Thank you, Speaker and Members of the House. Number one, I want to congratulate Representative Bradley and Harris for putting this together. I was very intimately involved with this Sears component and it was a lot of heavy lifting, so what… what they are able to accomplish is really remarkable. So, thank you very much. And… and, to the Bill. Let's put things in perspective a little bit. Hear all this discussion about the business climate in Illinois, but folks, it's just the competitive nature of the world we live in. I was reading the Chicago Tribune editorial on Sunday and… and they make reference about the competition between states and they… they referenced a study by the University of Iowa that states that incentives and credits alone cost $50 billion a year nationwide. States are competing against states; we’re not the only one. Do I wish we had a better business climate, absolutely, But we’re not the only one. Now, I'd like to talk about Sears a little bit. Because I do reside in Hoffman Estates, I'm not going to defend Sears. They're big boys; they can take care of that themselves. But let… let me deal with the facts. In addition to the 6 thousand jobs, 09700088.doc 60  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011 there are another 47 businesses that were sprung up in the last 5 years adjacent to the Sears headquarters, outside of the EDA that created approximately a thousand more jobs and produced an additional $3.5 million in taxes for all the taxing bodies. More than 100 thousand people visit the campus every year, many supporting the local businesses accruing 30 thousand nights per year at nearby hotels and 18 thousand annual airline tickets in and out of O'Hare for Sears associates alone. Now, I have been talking to Sears for quite some time. Once we heard about some of the offers that were being made, I did tell Sears we will not offer you the most; we will offer you the best proposal. Once you take into account all the tangibles, intangibles, infrastructure, transportation, the work ethic of the people that live in this state, it will definitely be the best offer. I feel confident that if this Bill passes the House and the Senate and the Governor signs it that Sears will strongly support us in front of their board. Finally, we talk about numbers, we talk about Sears, we talk about what we need to do. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is about people. I have met some of these folks that work at Sears. They're paying close attention to what we're doing today. These are people with families that really care, they are really concerned. So, I ask you please join me; let's stop playing with fire and do the right thing and please support this legislation. Thank you."

"Thank you, Representative. Mike Tryon, three to five minutes, Mike."

"Sponsor yields."

"Correct."

"Correct."

"Yeah. That was negotiated in order to wrap up the EDA."

"I… I think that would've…"

"…I think that would effectively end the EDA."

"Yeah."

"Sears… Sears would be forfeiting all their benefits and the EDA would wind up." 09700088.doc 62  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011

"Representative Sullivan, three to five minutes, Ed." 09700088.doc 64  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011

"Sponsor yields."

"Yes."

"Yes."

"I agree with the first two. The third one is the amount of money that goes to Hoffman Estates. It doesn't actually go to Sears."

"Representative Gaffney." 09700088.doc 65  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011

"Sponsor yields."

"Yes."

"Yes. I… Could you repeat the question, please?"

"Sears."

"Yes."

"Representative Barickman."

"Representative Fortner. Three to five minutes, Mike."

"Sponsor yields."

"Right."

"I agree that they were intended to be broad-based and to target small and mid-sized businesses including family farms."

"Yeah."

"We… we…"

"Yeah. We tried…"

"We tried to when we put this package together, when Representative Harris and I working with the Revenue Committee and Leader Cross, the Senate, Governor tried to put this together, we tried to stay about a third, a third, 09700088.doc 70  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011 and a third, right? Third big business, third small mid- sized business, third working families."

"The… the recurring things that we heard in the hearings that we conducted throughout this state was fairness, consistency, and predictability. We've attempted to do that with this package." 09700088.doc 71  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011

"Thank you."

"Our final speaker will be Representative Chris Nybo, and then Representative Bradley to close."

Speaker Lyons: "Thank you, Representative. Representative Bradley to close."

"Thank you."

"John, Representative Harris's name was used in debate. David, I'm assuming that’s what you're calling us on." Harris, D.: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker… and my name was used…"

"So, Representative Harris." Harris, D.: "…my name was used in debate and I do… I appreciate the courtesy of the House is expressed in… in mentioning my name. But I just want to be clear in one point. Rep… the chairman and I worked on Amendment #3, which was very close, I think a better package then Amendment #7, which is what is contained in this Bill. I didn't have anything to do with Amendment #7, but I appreciate everyone's comment 09700088.doc 72  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011 about …about the fact that we negotiated the Bill. Thank you, Mr. Chair."

Speaker Lyons: "Thank you, Representative. Representative Bradley to close."

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Members of this Body. Thank you for your patience today. As the previous Leader suggested we don't have any easy issues in front of us and this is not the first, but it’s a continuation of this Body's desire and necessity to tackle difficult issues. Whether it be workers' comp, whether it be unemployment, whether it be a balanced budget, whatever the case may be, we are taking on difficult issues. We didn't choose to be in this situation. We can choose not to be competitive with other states, but the reality is that this is the world in which we live. The loss of Illinois manufacturing jobs, the loss of United States manufacturing jobs in Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky, Wisconsin, to other countries with cheap labor, with no pollution controls, who don't have the same attitude toward human life and the dignity of people that we do has caused us to lose some of that. So, we've turned to high-paying jobs, we've turned to high-tech jobs, we've turned to white-collar jobs and there's a constant battle going on among the states for these jobs. And so we have an opportunity with this piece of legislation, this jobs piece of legislation, to keep thousands of employees and families in Illinois and it's not jobs in the abstract. These are people. These are people that go to work and pay their taxes and get up in the morning and take care of their family. That's what this is about is the people that 09700088.doc 73  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011 work at those companies and the vendors that work for those companies and the families they represent and yes, in the meantime, we're going to give relief to the middle class and we're going to give the relief to the working poor and we're going to give relief to the family farm and we're going to give relief to small business and medium size business and we're going to do it in a way that we can still pay a substantial amount of our backlog of bills. Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, I ask you, stand with me on this difficult issue, make the difficult decisions. Let's move forward as a state, let's do what we have to do, let's pass this Bill, and let's move forward."

"Representative Bradley moves for the passage of Senate Bill 397. This Bill requires 60 votes. All those in favor signify by voting 'yes'; those opposed vote 'no'. The voting is open. Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Colvin, Smith, like to be recorded? Mr. Clerk, take the record. On this Bill, there were 81 Members voting 'yes', 28 Members voting 'no', 7 voting 'present'. This Bill, having received the Constitutional Majority, is hereby declared passed. Representative Don Moffitt on a point of personal privilege, Don."

"Thank you, Representative. Representative Dave Winters, what purpose do you seek recognition, David?"

"State your inquiry."

"You never know, Dave, you never know."

Speaker Lyons: "We will… we will be adjourning, Representative."

"To the call of the Chair. Representative La Shawn Ford, for what purpose do you seek recognition, Sir?"

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just would like the Body to wish my seatmate, Representative Rita Mayfield a happy birthday."

"Rita, happy birthday and many, many, happy, healthy more. And now, seeing no further business to come before the House, on behalf of Speaker Madigan and Leader Tom Cross, we have the holiday season in front of us. Have a Merry Christmas, have a Happy Hanukah, enjoy those holidays. They go past quickly, and stop and smell the roses. All those in favor of adjournment signify by saying 'yes'; those opposed say 'no'. In the opinion of the Chair, 09700088.doc 75  STATE OF ILLINOIS 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE 88th Legislative Day 12/12/2011 the 'ayes' have it. And allowing perfunctory time for the Clerk the House stands adjourned. Happy holidays, everyone."