Illinois House Gives Thumbs Down To Tax Breaks For CME, Sears

By aaroncynic in News on Nov 30, 2011 3:00PM

The Illinois House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to kill the bill which would have given CME Group, CBOE and Sears Holdings more than $100 million in tax breaks. The house voted 99-8 with 6 members abstaining.

Opponents of the bill highlighted the top heavy nature of the package, which gave huge tax incentives to the large holding corporations while not giving very much to the average Illinois resident. Rep. Will Davis (D-Homewood) told the Sun Times:

“It’s unfortunate in this case low-income individuals have to suffer as a result. Not that I don’t care about CME and other groups. But I don’t think people in my district are working there.”

Republican State Senator Chris Lauzen (R-Aurora) said during the floor debate “The little guys, the small businesses, continue to pay. The powerful, the politically connected, come for their bailout."

According to Reuters, Sears was not pleased with the vote and reiterated their threat to move their headquarters from suburban Hoffman Estates. A spokesman said in a statement, “Our timeline for making a decision about our future by the end of the year has not changed.” Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) said this doesn't mean the bill's future is entirely over. Cullerton told the Sun Times:

“The effective date of the bill is June 1, so we’d have plenty of time. I think Sears and CME would realize their provisions passed both chambers, not to fear, and we’ll work out the EITC [earned income tax credit] thing between the House and Senate when we come back.