Progressives, conservatives push to eliminate 'corporate welfare' with stalled measure

(The Center Square) – A bill that’s not advancing would, according to proponents, make the grant administration process more equitable. A state senator called Senate Bill 2791 a "good bill."

Senate Bill 2791 never made it out of the Spring legislative session, but proponents say it would even the playing field for small businesses seeking grants in Illinois, by requiring that at least 50% of the dollar value of all economic incentives that are awarded are channeled toward businesses with 50 or fewer full-time employees.

State Sen. Andrew Chesney, R-Freeport, is drawing attention to the measure that’s currently sitting in committee. Recently, Gov. J.B. Pritzker enacted and touted the tax incentives for the electric vehicle and quantum computers industries.

"We certainly don’t want grants allocated to big, wealthy corporations and we have seen that and that’s been met with some resistance from the Republican-side of the aisle. It’s unique, where you’ve seen conservative Republicans and progressive Democrats both speak out against what we would argue is corporate welfare,” said Chesney.

Democrats like state Sens. Mike Simmons, D-Chicago, and Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago, have sponsored the measure. Chesney explained how he is generally skeptical of grants, but because Illinois continues to have high taxes and over regulation there has to be protections in place.

"I think we should lower the cost of business across the board rather than businesses having to figure out a very complicated grant process and wait for their acceptance or denial,” said Chesney.

The Illinois Policy Institute recently revealed that small businesses are the only job creators that are adding jobs actively to the state’s economy. Since the pandemic, businesses with fewer than 20 employees have added nearly 170,000 jobs, which makes up all the net jobs growth in the state in that time.

“There’s thousands of grants that are issued by the state of Illinois and some of the concerns that Republicans and some Democrats have had is that we certainly don’t want grants allocated to big, wealthy corporations,” said Chesney.

One grant program announced by the governor is the ”New Stores in Food Deserts Program.” Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration said it will offer competitive grants to encourage the establishment of new grocery stores in USDA-defined food deserts. Paired with the Equipment Upgrades Program, the initiatives cost the taxpayer $20 million. Chesney said Republicans and Democrats agree on this issue.

"My preference would be to lower the corporate state tax and lower regulation and allow Illinois to be more-favorable to small business. Absent of that, we have to have a program in place where small businesses are getting a fair crack at the overall grant-pie,” said Chesney.

The measure is in the Rules Committee and may resurface during the fall veto session.

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