A press release from State Rep. Kent Gaffney:

Gaffney Hosts Business Round Table with Local Employers

Barrington, IL… Today in Barrington, State Representative Kent Gaffney (R-Lake Barrington) hosted a business round table to listen to the concerns of local employers.

The top concern with businesses in the Fox River Valley is Illinois’ anti-business climate coupled with the repeal of January’s massive tax increase.

Kent Gaffney

“Illinois businesses will continue to struggle as long as the tax increase is on the books,” said Gaffney.

“Business leaders from across my district made it loud and clear to me today that they want the tax hike repealed. The over-taxing and over-regulating of our employers are driving jobs out of Illinois.”

Representative Gaffney is a sponsor of House Bill 175 which would repeal the income tax hike. In January, Illinois Democrats passed a 67% income tax hike on individuals and 46% hike on corporations. Since the tax hike was implemented, many major corporations have threatened to leave Illinois. This has led to Governor Quinn offering to bail out large corporations while small businesses continue to struggle. Gaffney explained the Democrats’ flawed rationale behind their tax increase.

“The Democrats sold the public a bill of goods saying the tax increase would solve our problems,” said Gaffney. “This is absolutely not the case. Illinois does not have a revenue problem. It has a spending problem. To solve this fiscal crisis, we need to cut wasteful government spending, reform public pensions and get our economy back on track.”

Representative Gaffney is seeking to reform Illinois’ budget process through his work on the Budgeting for Results Commission. Gaffney, a State budget expert, is the only House Republican member of the Commission. He says Illinois’ budget process can be reformed and he offered a number of solutions:

•  Encourage job creation with incentives for Illinois employers
• Reform systems and programs such as workers compensation and public pensions
• Cut taxes by repealing the January tax hike

• Implement long-term planning by having a five-year budget outlook
• No new state programs, no new spending

One leader said their company has been extremely hurt by Illinois not reinstating the Net Operating Loss deduction. Representative Gaffney said he is a sponsor of HB 3811 which would reinstate the deduction and will fight for its passage.

“The House Republicans have introduced an omnibus jobs package that will help reduce the costs of doing business in Illinois,” said Gaffney. “Eliminating the tax increase is key, but we must look into other options such as the Research and Development Tax Credit and the Net Operating Loss deduction. These things will help Illinois create jobs today.”

Representative Gaffney says he will have the opportunity to work with legislative leaders on many of these issues during next week’s veto session.