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Landmark legislation requires accountability for publicly traded corporations
“This legislation will provide a crucial tool to evaluate the need for corporate tax breaks and incentives,” said Senate President Cullerton. “Publicly traded corporations already tell shareholders how their investments resulted in losses and profits. The people of Illinois deserve the same transparency.” The Illinois Corporate Tax Disclosure and Responsibility Act will require publicly traded corporations and their subsidiaries to disclose certain tax information if they do business in Illinois. The information would then be available to the public two years after the end of the tax year. After which, the information will be made available through a searchable internet database created by the Secretary of State. For example, information would not be available for businesses in tax year 2012 until January 1, 2015. This delay is a safeguard against revealing proprietary corporation information that could erode competitiveness.
The “One Nation, One Dream” agenda is a continued commitment to immigration reform. This includes a pledge to work for healthcare and education for new Americans and support for immigrant workers and entrepreneurs in their vital role in the recovering Illinois economy. “I was honored to be part of the ICIRR rally today at the Capitol,” said Senator Delgado, Chairman of the Senate Public Health Committee. “The issues they are fighting for in Springfield, including ALLKids, health care access for everyone, and the continued support of immigrant integration programs are important to me and the people of my district.”
Under nursing home reforms adopted in 2010 under Senate Bill 326, 3 hours of nursing and personal care is required for those needing skilled care. However, the law does not require any direct care from registered nurses. Senator Collins and others are calling on JCAR to administer rules that require 20 percent of this time to be from registered nurses. “In 2009, The Chicago Reporter found that the amount of direct care received from RN’s was the factor most highly correlated with nursing home ratings” said Senator Collins. “They also found that patients at majority white homes often had care provided by RN’s while majority African-American homes frequently had only LPN’s providing care. “
“The State absolutely has to take this step,” said Martire. “It is (crucial) that … the state go to this graduated rate structure so that we can finally modernize taxation in Illinois and make it fair.” Illinois is currently one of seven states that collect income taxes as a flat percentage of taxpayers’ income. This means that every taxpayer, from those making $10,000 a year to those making over $1 million, currently pay the same percentage of their income to fund things such as education, health care and public safety. A progressive income tax system, also called a graduated income tax, institutes lower tax rates for lower wage earners with upper wage earners paying an increased percentage. |
SPRINGFIELD - Senate President John J. Cullerton has filed legislation to reveal to the public how much publicly traded corporations doing business in Illinois are paying in taxes.
This week, a coalition of downstate legislators launched a new online petition—found at 
Illinois State Senator William Delgado (D-Chicago) spoke this week to members of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) who were at the Capitol promoting their 2012 legislative agenda.
Senator Jacqueline Collins recently joined AARP, Jane Addams Senior Caucus, and the Community Renewal Society in calling on the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) to adopt new guidelines that increase direct nursing care for seniors in nursing homes. 