By TIM ALEXANDER
Illinois Correspondent

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s four-day bus tour last week promoting health care and education initiatives to be funded by a gross receipt tax (GRT) on businesses was met with protest by county Farm Bureau leaders across the state.

At stops in cities such as Rockford, Moline, Galesburg, Peoria and several others, Blagojevich’s plan was lambasted by county Farm Bureau reps concerned the plan would adversely affect small businesses.

Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) director Jim Anderson confirmed to news sources that the organization is “not against education or healthcare” but is worried the GRT will affect more than big businesses. In Danville, IFB reports, the governor’s entourage was greeted with an anti-GRT banner as it passed the Vermillion County Farm Bureau office.

IFB, the Illinois Soybean Assoc. (ISA) and the Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Assoc. (IFCA) are calling on their members to attend one of several scheduled “tool shed meetings” which began today (April 11) with a 9 a.m. meeting at the LaSalle County Farm Bureau hosted by State Sen. Gary Dahl.

Sen. Dale Righter will host a meeting on Thursday, April 12 at 8 a.m. at the Coles County Farm Bureau, 719 Lincoln Ave. in Charleston. Lighter will also host a second tool shed meeting on Monday, April 16 at the Champaign County Farm Bureau building, 801 N. County Fair Drive, Suite A, in Champaign. A time for the meeting was not included in a recent ISA news release.

“ISA encourages our members in these districts to attend the tool shed meetings and express your concerns over the proposed GRT,” said Rebecca Richardson, director of operations for ISA. “This is your chance to voice your opinion and discuss the potentially negative impact the GRT will have on your business.”

In a news release, the IFCA outlined changes made by Blagojevich to the GRT and service charge proposal which the organization says “makes the situation even more dire for Illinois agriculture.” The changes included raising the exemption from $1 million to $2 million, the GRT from .05 percent to .85 percent and the service charge from 1.8 percent to 1.95 percent.

“With these changes, the impact to agriculture has worsened significantly, nearly doubling what we estimated the cost of ag inputs would be compared to the original proposal,” the IFCA said in a news release.

“For example, the increased input cost per acre for corn is now $5.24 compared to $3.31 under the first proposal. The impact on your business’s GRT obligation is also nearly double what it was.
The Governor and his staff are aware of the impact on agriculture; IFCA and other ag groups held a press conference two weeks ago in Springfield outlining the impact and members of the Governor’s cabinet also met with IFB’s board two weeks ago where the IFB’s opposition was made clear.”

IFCA urged their members to contact their legislators and make their objections to the GRT proposal heard. The organization said those interested in learning more about the proposal may contact them at 309-827-2774 for more information.