Make the voice of small and mid-market business folks heard!

Email your Legislators our SBAC 2013 Policy Agenda and request their support directly from our our SBAC site below:

http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/50355/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=9921

Dear Representative,

As a constituent and small business advocate, I write to ask you to co-sponsor HB 65, a bill that reduces the fees associated with the formation and operation of limited liability companies to mirror those charged to Illinois corporations. The flexibility provided by LLCs make them the right choice for many small and mid-market businesses. Formation as an LLC also encourages entrepreneurs to invest their time and money into viable business enterprises. Our state’s fee structure must not arbitrarily penalize small and mid-market businesses for choosing the best structure for their companies.

Presently, the fee for filing as an LLC in Illinois is three times higher than filing as a corporation and ranks among the highest in the nation. Indeed, it costs $500 to form an LLC in Illinois. It costs only $150 to create a corporation. Not only is the Illinois LLC filing fee excessive, but the costs of maintaining and modifying an LLC are arbitrarily higher than those associated with Illinois corporations. Each year an LLC must pay an annual fee of $250 to the state. Corporations pay a much lower annual fee. To register a corporate name, one must pay $50.00. It is $300 to register the name of an LLC. This disparity even extends to folks intending to dissolve their business. It costs $100 to dissolve an LLC, as opposed to only $5 for corporations.

We must create a business environment that stimulates small business and entrepreneurship. This will create jobs in Illinois and begin to combat the perception that Illinois is not a friendly place to operate a small business.

Would you co-sponsor and support HB 65? Please let me know if you will.

Thank you for your consideration and anticipated support.

Sincerely,

MEMBER

In a perfect world, states would not offer tax incentives to lure companies away from their neighbors. In reality however, this happens all the time. Accordingly, Illinois awards EDGE Tax Credits to companies who threaten to leave the state or as an incentive for businesses to come into Illinois. Last year, approximately 65 million dollars in tax relief was provided to such companies. Many of our members are concerned because 1) the capital outlays generally required to obtain EDGE Tax Credits prevent the majority of small businesses from having a fair chance to receive them 2) the sole discretion for awarding and monitoring these credits rests with one governmental agency.

The SBAC has drafted legislation to eliminate the general requirement that small businesses invest 1 million dollars in infrastructure or equipment to obtain an EDGE Tax Credit. Indeed, many small businesses that employ many folks have no need for such a capital expenditure. The bill also ensures that appropriate mechanisms are in place to monitor these credits and confirm they are having the appropriate economic impact on the State to justify awarding the credits. At the present time, one State agency is responsible for awarding the EDGE Tax Credits and monitoring whether they effectively promote growth and jobs in Illinois.

The SBAC's proposed legislation will create an independent board charged with issuing the EDGE Tax Credits, ensuring that they are awarded in a consistent manner, and evaluating how the credits impact job creation and the long-term benefits to the state. This would not create a new level of bureaucracy. Rather, it would simply transfer these duties to a more independent agency.

The SBAC is working with the City of Chicago's Innovation Delivery Team to draft local legislation that will eliminate archaic regulations that cost small businesses money. For instance, apparently, you cannot purchase spray paint at a local hardware store in some areas of Chicago because of the old graffiti problem. Hence, folks go to other stores to get their spray paint and everything else they need. After meeting with the City of Chicago's team, we look forward to working on legislation to eliminate a number of these rules that impact small businesses and fail to serve a public purpose.

Along with this, we are looking at launching a monthly networking event in less affluent Chicago neighborhoods. We would bring SBAC members into the local communities to empower local merchants and professionals.