By TIM ALEXANDER
Illinois Correspondent

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Farmers can exhale a sigh of relief after an amendment to an Illinois Senate bill – which would have ended the sales tax exemption for agricultural products – was voted down, according to Mike Levin, director of issues management and analysis for the Illinois Soybean Assoc. (ISA).
Levin and the ISA issued an action alert to members in March urging them to contact their state representatives and tell them to oppose HCA #1 to Senate Bill 4, which proposed to sunset all sales tax exemptions in Illinois.

“Exemptions related to agriculture include sales tax exemptions for seed, fertilizer, agricultural equipment, breeding horses, livestock and (other items),” Levin said last week. “In my opinion the legislation deals with the much bigger issue of the budget crisis that is ongoing in the state of Illinois.”

The amendment, introduced in the House Revenue and Finance Committee by Majority Leader Barbara Currie (D-25th), was defeated, Levin announced.
“This amendment has failed for the time being, and we consider it to be pretty much dead at this point. I will say that we are always concerned and will maintain our diligence on this issue,” he said. “We know this could potentially come up once again in various ways, considering the state’s budget concerns, and we are very cognizant of that.”

SB 4, introduced into the Illinois legislature by Sen. Gary Forby (D-59th) and passed by the Senate, “had nothing to do with agriculture in general,” said Levin. “In moving to the House side, it was then put up in committee. Representative John Bradley (D-117th) introduced the amendment looking at doing away with the sales tax exemption for agricultural items.”

The same amendment was introduced in committee by Currie, Levin indicated. Since the amendment failed to pass, the ISA’s action alert has been called off.