Legislation Seeks to Block Secrecy With Economic Development Deals
![The Illinois state Capitol in Springfield.](https://cdn.route-fifty.com/media/img/cd/2022/01/06/illinoisstatecap2RF01062022/860x394.jpg?1641502850)
The Illinois state Capitol in Springfield. GETTYIMAGES.COM/ DenisTangneyJr
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Bills put forward in at least three states aim to ensure there's transparency around tax breaks and other incentives.
State agencies and local governments in Illinois would be barred from entering into economic development deals where the terms cannot be revealed publicly because of nondisclosure provisions, under a bill that a state lawmaker there filed this week.
Lawmakers in Florida and New York have introduced similar legislation in the past year or so. State Sen. Robert Peters, a Chicago Democrat, is the lead sponsor on the Illinois bill. In an announcement, he said it is meant to curtail practices that enable businesses to reach favorable arrangements with governments without the public knowing the details.
“Public money deserves public scrutiny,” Peters said in a statement. “Keeping the government contracts that our governments enter into a secret allows states and local governments to be played against one another. Taxpayers deserve basic transparency from their economic development agencies.”
The bill covers deals involving things like tax incentives, payments in lieu of taxes, tax abatements, loans, grants and tax rebates, as well as bonds and notes. It says that agreements and contracts in these areas can't contain language that keeps the details confidential or that prevents governments from disclosing or discussing the terms.
Illinois state Rep. Will Guzzardi, a Democrat, is spearheading the bill in the House.
Good Jobs First, a watchdog group that tracks government subsidies to companies, applauded the legislation. "Every incentive deal should be fully disclosed at least 90 days before it is approved,” the group's executive director, Greg LeRoy, said in a statement.
“Tech giants, electric-vehicle makers, and micro-chip manufacturers alike should be held to public account," he added.
Bill Lucia is a senior editor for Route Fifty and is based in Olympia, Washington.
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