Whether it’s economic development incentives, improving the tax climate or fighting back against bad regulation, the Quad Cities Chamber is on the front lines fighting for QC businesses. Below are some highlights of the chamber’s advocacy work since January.
ONSHORE Act
The ONSHORE Act would be a first-of-its-kind competitive federal grant to provide investment in shovel-ready sites providing up to $10 million for anything from land assembly to final improvements. The chamber worked with Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa and Rep. Eric Sorensen of Illinois to introduce a bipartisan bill into the House. Since then, a smaller version has been included in the U.S. Senate’s Economic Development Administration Reauthorization which is eligible for debate.
Tax Policy
Lower taxes provide flexibility for employee salaries and capital investment that keep our region growing.
In Iowa, we successfully supported Gov. Kim Reynolds’ goal of accelerating and enhancing the 2021 Tax Cuts, meaning income tax will be lower for Iowa businesses.
On the Illinois side of the river, we advocated aggressively for an end to the state’s COVID-era cap on Net Operating Loss (NOL) deductions. Illinois is the only state — other than New Hampshire — to have a cap on NOL deductions. The final revenue package this year included an increase in the cap from $100,000 to $500,000, but continued the harmful policy.
Regulation
New costly regulations discourage investment and this year a bill was introduced to remove the “tip credit” in Illinois. This credit facilitates lower costs for restaurant customers, while still ensuring wages averaging nearly $30 an hour for tipped employees. Working in a coalition led by the Illinois Restaurant Association, we successfully defeated this proposal.
Local policy
Our team has leaned in on promoting a pro-business agenda in all communities across the Quad Cities. Most recently in the City of Davenport, our team advocated for cities to closely follow their adopted comprehensive plans when making zoning decisions to ensure developers and businesses have certainty when investing in the Quad Cities.
In East Moline, we worked to mitigate the impact of increased sales taxes on small business owners, successfully achieving a compromise that allows a 5% reduction in sales tax remittance when payments are made online, and on time.
Our team works tirelessly to protect and support our businesses, centered around the chamber’s vision of creating a prosperous regional economy where all can thrive.
If you want to get involved, visit quadcitieschamber.quorum.us/advocate/ to sign up for legislative alerts and join the Quad Cities Chamber’s pro-growth, pro-business coalition.
Ryan Sempf is executive director, government affairs, for the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce. He can be reached at [email protected].
