December 21, 2011                          

Moline, IL...State Representative Rich Morthland released the following statement regarding the recent closure of a dozen polling centers in Rock Island County:

"Voting patterns change with the weather and the County Clerk means to tell us that these closures will not affect voter turnout? This is just another means of gerrymandering.

"It is a little too coincidental that Rural Township is also a significant Republican voting area and the County Clerk, though supposed to be a neutral election authority, is a Democrat. The locations of polling places, however, should not be a partisan consideration.

"If necessary, I stand poised to take legislative action on this matter. I stand with the 739 registered voters of Rural Township and support keeping their polling center open."

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Springfield, IL... In an effort to improve Illinois' jobs climate and provide meaningful tax relief, State Representative Rich Morthland (R-Cordova) voted to pass a jobs package on Monday.

Senate Bill 397 passed the Illinois House with a vote of 81-28-7 and passed the Senate Tuesday on a vote of 44-9-0. The bill now goes to Governor Quinn for his signature.

"It became clear that we would not have the opportunity to vote on a perfect bill, but because of House Republicans' persistence, we passed a bill that provides real, broad-based relief for large and small employers all across Illinois - not just preferential treatment for a few," said Rep. Morthland. "While this bill offers necessary reform, our next move must be to repeal the income tax increase."

"Democrats passed a 67 percent income tax increase late in the final hours of the lame-duck session in January," added Morthland. "Their tax increase is killing jobs and driving businesses out of Illinois. To get our economy back on track, we must repeal the tax hike."

Along with increasing the individual and corporate income tax during the lame-duck session, Democrats allowed the Research and Development tax credit to expire. Senate Bill 397 will extend the R & D tax credit for five years, with an additional five year carry forward. The R & D tax credit is an important tool for manufacturers such as John Deere and Caterpillar.

Senate Bill 397 also increases the estate tax exemption from $2 million to $4 million over a two year period, lessening the tax burden on family farmers and small businesses. Another key provision included from the House Republicans' Jobs Package is the reinstatement of the Net Operating Loss Deduction. This gives business the ability to carry their losses forward in a tough economy.

"Increasing the estate tax exemption will help our family farmers keep their farms in the family," said Morthland. "This legislation also extends the sales tax exemptions and credits for renewable ethanol and biodiesel fuels, which will also help Illinois agriculture."

The provisions of the bill are supported by the Illinois Manufacturers' Association, the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, Midwest Truckers Association, Caterpillar Inc., the National Federation of Independent Business and the Illinois Farm Bureau. For more information about Senate Bill 397, please contact Rep. Morthland's Moline District Office at 309-762-3008 or via email at repmorthland@gmail.com.

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Springfield, IL...State Representative Rich Morthland (R-Cordova) filed legislation today that will close the pension loophole that allowed two teachers union lobbyists to earn huge state pensions once they served a single day as substitute teachers.

A Chicago Tribune/WGN-TV investigation found that two lobbyists with no prior teaching experience were allowed to count their years as union employees towards state teacher pensions after subbing for a single day in 2007.

"These guys were lobbyists masquerading as teachers," Morthland said. "They took advantage of a pension loophole that allowed them to receive a teacher's pension after subbing for just one day in the classroom. That's a slap in the face to hard working teachers across Illinois. We need to block this loophole so lobbyists cannot weasel their way into a pension plan for which common sense dictates they should not qualify."

According to the Tribune report, Steven Preckwinkle, the political director of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, and fellow IFT lobbyist David Piccioli were the only people who took advantage of a small pension window opened by state lawmakers just a few months earlier. The law allowed union officials to get into the Teachers' Retirement System and count their previous years as union employees after quickly obtaining teaching certificates and working in a classroom. Preckwinkle and Piccioli could collect nearly $3 million in pension payouts, based on their union salaries and years of union credit.

"Illinois' pension systems face serious financial problems, with more than $85 billion in unfunded liability," Morthland said. "So while these lobbyists' pensions may only be a drop in the bucket, they are stinking up the whole bucket. What they did was shameful and I intend to put a stop to it."

Morthland's legislation, House Bill 3870, would require Preckwinkle and Piccioli to make their entire pension contributions immediately in order receive their teacher pensions. The legislation is an effort to prevent the lobbyists from receiving the pensions they earned through the previously-established pension loophole.

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Moline, IL...State Representative Rich Morthland (R-Cordova) has filed legislation offering sales tax exemptions for Illinois farmers. House Bill 3817 exempts the sales tax imposed on fence posts, fencing, and farm gates. House Bill 3818 exempts the sale tax imposed on baling twine, baling wire, plastic bags, plastic sleeves, and plastic sheeting

Representative Morthland, a seventh generation Illinois farmer, explained that farmers cross the Mississippi River to Iowa to make agricultural supply purchases because Iowa has a more favorable tax structure.

"Every time a farmer crosses the river to buy agricultural products, the State of Illinois loses employment potential and revenue opportunities on all of the purchases made that currently do not qualify for the sales tax exemption," Morthland said.

Morthland's legislation requires that the purchaser certifies the items will be used for farm production.

"Sales taxes on agricultural production goods act like a cumulative value added tax which, incidentally, Illinois rejected under Rod Blagojevich," Morthland said. "Some people will look at this like, 'it's just fence materials and twine,' but to the Illinois farmer who buys in bulk, these taxes can be burdensome."

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