SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — Illinois House Republicans argue lawmakers need to pass legislation during the final month of session to save struggling family farms.
House GOP leaders filed a plan to create a new income tax credit for land owners who sell or rent their agricultural assets to beginning farmers, but the bill was never heard in the Revenue and Finance Committee.Â
Rep. Wayne Rosenthal (R-Morrisonville) also said Illinois should eliminate the estate tax or raise the tax exemption to help save family farms from double taxation.
"Under current law, only 16 states charge an estate inheritance tax and 34 states do not charge any such tax," Rosenthal said. "Here's another example of Illinois being at or near the bottom of a list that we should not be on if we want to encourage growth in our number one sector."
A bipartisan bill to eliminate the estate tax failed to pass out of the General Assembly last year. Gov. JB Pritzker recently said any changes to the estate tax would create a hole in the state budget.
"I know firsthand what their unfair estate tax means to my family and to every other family farm in Illinois," Rosenthal said. "This isn't just a tax. It's a threat to our way of life. Unlike monetary assets that can be moved, land cannot. So, our family farms are penalized."
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