FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                                                       May 28, 2007

SPRINGFIELD, IL-- State Senator Chris Lauzen (R-Aurora) says Illinois' agriculture community would be seriously damaged if a new budget proposal is approved by the General Assembly.

Under a proposal pushed by Governor Blagojevich, the state's sales tax exemption on farm inputs, including feed, seed and fertilizer, would be repealed for farmers with a gross income over a certain amount. The proposal could cost agriculture producers $27 million in new taxes.

"Illinois farmers and agricultural businesses are again being threatened with a massive tax increase," Lauzen said. "This proposal, the so-called closing of a tax loophole, would be devastating to farmers in my district and to agriculture across Illinois."

Lauzen explained that the "Ag Tax" is practically identical to a proposal from 2004, in which Gov. Blagojevich proposed a massive tax increases on Illinois farmers coupled with major funding cuts to the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

"This proposal wasn't good in 2004, and it isn't good now," Lauzen said. "This would place a terrible burden on our state's number one industry and place our agriculture community at a substantial disadvantage to neighboring states because they can't change their prices to reflect the increased costs of production this would cause."

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