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Students To Rally At Capitol To Oppose Tax Break For Sears

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Illinois State Capitol

Illinois State Capitol buillding in Springfield (AP Photo)

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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CBS) – Staff, parents and students from School District 300 in the northwestern suburbs were headed to Springfield on Monday to tell lawmakers they oppose extending existing tax incentives to keep Sears headquarters in Hoffman Estates.

As WBBM Newsradio’s Nancy Harty reports, Sears is considering moving its corporate headquarters out of Illinois, with a tax incentive package from the state set to expire next year.

District 300 spokeswoman Allison Strupeck said students have an excused absence – with parental permission – to rally in Springfield, asking lawmakers not to extend the tax incentives.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Nancy Harty Reports


The General Assembly is set to consider legislation that would extend Sears’ economic development area for another 15 years. When the tax break was established in 1989, Sears was threatening to move to North Carolina, prompting the state to establish tax breaks for the company to move from the Sears Tower to Hoffman Estates.

Extending the tax breaks beyond next year would take away $14 million a year from School District 300, so the district has organized a rally of about 600 students, parents, teachers and staff at noon Monday at the Illinois Capitol building.

“Make sure that the state legislators see the faces and hear the voices of the people who would be so devastated if Amendment 3 of Senate Bill 540 is approved,” Strupeck said.

Although the District supports trying to keep Sears in Hoffman Estates, Strupeck said the state should come up with a new plan that doesn’t place such a large financial burden on the school district.

“There should be a win-win alternative plan that more equitably spreads the financial responsibility of keeping Sears here across the entire state,” Strupeck said.

The fall veto session officially begins on Tuesday and some lawmakers are already in Springfield to prepare. A few legislative committees also are scheduled to meet on Monday.

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  • Durrr

    Hey, what a great idea! Let’s remove ALL incentive to keep big companies here in Illinois. We don’t need those jobs anyway. I’m sure they will find another state that will accommodate them. Eventually maybe we can drive ALL big companies out of here!!!

  • fread

    If any company in America deserves a tax break it is sears. They are the only company that supports employees called to active duty in the military by continuing pay and benefits to families. Look it up.

  • bserius

    Ok,,,, Madiganistan has could then send the jobs to Wisconsin

    How about closing down 1/2 of the 848 school district offices

  • j

    The FBI and DEA fabricate evidence, steal from suspects and use murder to close those bad cases.
    At the corner of Calaveras and N. Park Victoria in Milpitas California two corrupt DEA allmost caused the death of an elderly lady while they where harrassing a suspect.
    The elderly lady was crossing the street about 15 yards ahead of the suspect’s car that was going west bound on Calaveras after having just pulled out of the Shell station. One of the DEA in the bus stop near the Shell station tried to gain the attention of the suspect thereby almost causing the car to hit the elderly lady. The other DEA was at the Shell station.
    They have also recently, on several occasions, entered my home while I was not there so that they can get better access to my vehicle and loosen steering linkages, remove wheel weights, tamper with breaks, tamper with transmission linkages, etc… Every time I detect that they have entered my home, dog looks like he is not feeling well. Why take my insolence out on a dog?
    They are also shooting BB guns at my car while driving. One instance they shot a BB gun at my car in a very busy intersection of highway 101 while I was traveling 55+ mph.
    The DEA is part of the problem and not solution. Apart from being the proxy force for the DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency) and the NSA, they have been a failure since Nixon’s inception. The DEA could benefit from a large buget cut and employee rift to remove the corrupt ones.

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