Walsh Calls On Colleagues To Reject Rauner Corporate Agenda, Ban State Investment In Offshore Tax Havens

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. Larry Walsh Jr., D-Joliet, is urging his colleagues in the House to override Governor Rauner’s veto of legislation that forbids the state to contract with or invest in corporations that are hiding profits overseas to avoid paying state taxes.

“Working families across Illinois are struggling and feel that they are part of a rigged economic system that benefits corporations and millionaires at the expense of the middle-class,” Walsh said. “This measure helps level the playing field by ensuring the state is not investing any taxpayer dollars in corporations gaming the system by stashing their profits overseas and shirking their responsibility to pay their fair share.”

Walsh’s proposal, House Bill 3419, brings Illinois into a similar practice used by the federal government since 2003 by restricting the state from contracting with or investing state funds in “expatriate corporations” that avoid paying taxes by stashing profits overseas. Additionally, the proposal requires the Illinois Investment Policy Board to investigate and identify a list of “expatriate corporations” and report the list to the state by April 1, 2018.

“The elaborate tax-evasion schemes that these corporate CEOs come up with place a greater tax-burden on working families,” Walsh said. “I encourage my colleagues to help me hold these corporations accountable for their actions by voting to override Gov. Rauner’s misguided veto.”

For more information, please contact Walsh’s full-time constituent service office at 815-730-8600.