Business tax re-write?
Thursday, June 23, 2011 at 4:54PM 
[From a General Assembly press release]: Illinois Senate President John Cullerton and House Speaker Michael Madigan announced today a joint House-Senate Revenue Committee review of the state’s business tax structure in the months ahead.
This joint effort will be led by State Rep. John Bradley and State Sen. Toi Hutchinson.
Speaker Madigan said he expects the review to involve key groups and leaders representing businesses big and small throughout the state.
“I see this as a timely opportunity for critics and advocates alike to participate in the process and offer their views on what the state’s business policies should be,” Madigan said.
Input would be sought from groups such as the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, Illinois Retail Merchants Association, National Federation of Independent Business, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, Illinois Construction Industry Committee and the Civic Committee of The Commercial Club of Chicago.
President Cullerton said there’s a growing sense of urgency regarding the need to reform the state’s current business tax structure, a system often derided in the media as so filled with loopholes that it resembles Swiss cheese.
“We need to take a holistic approach to business taxes as opposed to the continued piecemeal policies that often pit one business against another,” Cullerton said.
The issue of tax policy continues to garner headlines as breaks and exemptions for major businesses have come under scrutiny from both the media and within the business community. CME Group Executive Chairman Terrence Duffy and Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman have been among the business leaders who’ve expressed concerns with the state’s existing business tax structure.
In addition, the Associated Press recently reported that more than $100 million worth of state tax exemptions for numerous companies will expire over the next three years.