Tell the Illinois Senate: Vote No on the Megaprojects Giveaway (HB 910)

The Megaprojects bill, which hands huge tax breaks to private real estate developers for so-called "megaprojects," passed the Illinois House (HB 910), and it is a mess. This legislation, as currently written, is an attack on community college budgets. The legislation would triple the tax giveaways to major projects and extend those breaks for up to 40 years. It puts this in place without meaningful investment in our community colleges and K-12 schools. And while the House was busy approving this Megaprojects giveaway, they declined to even vote on a constitutional amendment that would tax annual incomes over one million dollars. Springfield is seemingly ready to bend the rules for wealthy developers, but somehow can't find the money for our students, educators, and staff.

We should be honest about what is REALLY happening. The Governor is using the Chicago Bears as the vehicle to push through megaprojects legislation that is a gift to billionaires. The Bears have been dangling Indiana as a threat, holding Illinois hostage to extract a sweetheart deal, and the Governor sees that pressure as his opening to get a pet project into law. The Bears are not really the issue. Under HB 910, a "megaproject" is anything over $100 million. That sounds like a fortune to a regular person, but in commercial development, $100 million buildings are common across Illinois. 

The Bears have become the excuse to open the door to a much wider wave of corporate giveaways that will hurt our colleges directly. Think Amazon fulfillment centers, which are popping up all over the state, including in the communities Local 1600 colleges serve. Think datacenters eating up energy and water. Think Walmart Supercenter and SuperTargets expanding across the state. Every project like that could now qualify for decades of tax breaks. 

The idea that big projects require special tax dispensation is simply false. Wrigley Field and the United Center both pay full property taxes, and somehow those projects are still going. 

This megaprojects bill wouldn’t hurt so much if Springfield was actually funding our colleges and our members. The proposed state budget cuts community colleges by 2-3% (in real terms). Our colleges have been underfunded for decades. We are seeing staffing cuts as tuition keeps climbing. Students need more counselors, more support staff, and more resources than lawmakers are willing to provide. Retirement benefits for Tier 2 employees are reduced. None of this gets better when the state hands more money to corporate developers and billionaire team owners.

Ironically, Illinois state leaders act like Illinois is broke, but the truth is that we are not broke. Our state's economy tops $1.22 trillion, which would rank us as the 24th largest economy in the world if we were a country. (We would rank near Switzerland and Poland.) The money is there. Legislators have choices to make. They act like there's nothing they can do. And, let's not forget, the ultra-wealthy already pocketed an estimated $8 billion in federal tax cuts under the Trump administration. Now the ultra-rich want to dodge their share at the state and local level too. The average taxpayer coughs up their share, our colleges get cut, and the ultra-rich build their stadiums. There are better options on the table, like fixing Illinois' outdated revenue structure, closing corporate and luxury loopholes, and rolling back the Trump-era corporate breaks.

If any Megaprojects bill moves forward, it has to meet a basic standard. School districts and community colleges must be kept whole, meaning our institutions actually benefit from the value these projects generate rather than getting cut out of the tax base for 40 years. And there must be equity in the bargaining process, so that the local taxing bodies most affected by these developments have a real seat at the table. Anything less is a giveaway dressed up as economic development.

So here's what we need from you. Contact your State Senator and tell them to vote NO on HB 910, the Megaprojects giveaway. You can send a message in about 30 seconds through this action page. Every dollar going to Megaprojects developers and billionaire team owners is a dollar not going to our classrooms, our students, and our communities. The Senate vote is coming, and they need to hear from us before it does.