The Chamber630 Board of
Directors took an important vote at their meeting held on the afternoon of June
25th at the Woodridge Municipal Center when they endorsed The Illinois
Turnaround agenda.
As with most ‘transformation
documents,’ the topic initiated great dialog and diverse opinions. Pros
and cons were recognized and discussed and the philosophy that adhered was
‘stop the dereliction.’
Some of the pros (aside from, ‘what
if this plan works and our State changes to one of booming economic development
and jobs, education reform, trust in government with a reason for business,
workers and our children to stay in Illinois?’) included causation in
workers’ compensation, (a business expense that is more than double the cost in
Indiana), empowerment of local voters with
choices regarding construction projects and their cost controls as well as
employment choices. It was duly noted that Indiana’s Right-to-Work law went into effect three years ago; since then they have
welcomed 39,600 manufacturing jobs and in the same timeframe, Illinois has lost
3,500. The State of Michigan adopted the law two years ago and they’ve
added 39,500 manufacturing jobs, while Illinois has lost 4,600.
Some cons included the reduction in LGDF (Local Government Distributive Fund)
or income tax and the property tax freeze which will greatly impact the manner
in which our municipalities conduct business and
their capacity of services.
In the end, the majority of
the Chamber630 Board voted to support the agenda acknowledging the pain,
recognizing that the pros outweigh the cons. All present acknowledged
that The Illinois Turnaround agenda is quite similar to Chamber630's Legislative Platform approved last March.
Further discussion included the possibilities of alternative methods of
accomplishing familiar results as well as other revenues that may aid in
the replacement of funding (for me, the ¼% sales tax that will ‘go away’ in 2016
comes to mind......does a tax really ever go away?).
Our new Governor was elected
by the majority to change the path of Illinois and as he said, "It's make-or-break time for the Land of
Lincoln." And I say, “Hold onto your hats, it’s going to be a bumpy
ride and our future is worth it.” God bless America.
If you are interested on
serving on the Board of Directors, please complete the Nomination Form and
return to Laura Crawford today. The deadline is June 30, 2015.
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