Tax-break Expansion Plan Raises Concerns, Shrugs
From the Associated Press
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is pushing to give small companies equal access to tax breaks that big corporations have, but the proposal has been met with skepticism in the state's business community, including about what effect it actually would have.
The plan takes aim at special EDGE credits — tax breaks a small number of big companies like Sears Holding Corp. and OfficeMax have sought by going directly to the General Assembly with threats to leave the state. EDGE credits are the state's primary means of luring or keeping companies and jobs, but they're usually administered by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and include performance standards. Companies that have gone straight to the General Assembly want to cut their own deals with perks not available to other companies.
Madigan's plan would make the tax credits available to businesses with fewer than 100 employees, and target credits at areas of high poverty and unemployment. But some small business owners say such credits might have little impact on their decisions, and executives are raising objections to a provision that would require them to reveal private information.
Experts say Madigan's legislation is at least partially an exercise in election-year politics, by catering to a constituency friendlier to Democrats. Neither Madigan's staff nor the state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity has estimated yet what the plan could cost.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Associated Press
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is pushing to give small companies equal access to tax breaks that big corporations have, but the proposal has been met with skepticism in the state's business community, including about what effect it actually would have.
The plan takes aim at special EDGE credits — tax breaks a small number of big companies like Sears Holding Corp. and OfficeMax have sought by going directly to the General Assembly with threats to leave the state. EDGE credits are the state's primary means of luring or keeping companies and jobs, but they're usually administered by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and include performance standards. Companies that have gone straight to the General Assembly want to cut their own deals with perks not available to other companies.
Madigan's plan would make the tax credits available to businesses with fewer than 100 employees, and target credits at areas of high poverty and unemployment. But some small business owners say such credits might have little impact on their decisions, and executives are raising objections to a provision that would require them to reveal private information.
Experts say Madigan's legislation is at least partially an exercise in election-year politics, by catering to a constituency friendlier to Democrats. Neither Madigan's staff nor the state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity has estimated yet what the plan could cost.
Read more in our daily News Update...