PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - MARCH 13, 2006

Illinois Tax Monster in Disguise?
DuPage Considers Benefits of Possible County Tax

LAKE BLUFF, IL (MARCH 13, 2006) -- DuPage county board members, not content with the enactment of county-wide authority to ban smoking in unincorporated areas of Illinois, are already greedily anticipating a county tobacco usage tax too, through our Illinois state legislature. "DuPage considers benefits of possible county cigarette tax" (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/west/chi-0603010293mar01,1,465517.story).

Illinois counties should not receive that power without a public vote. Cook is the only home rule county in Illinois. According to the Illinois Constitution, it currently takes a referendum to empower an Illinois county with home rule authority. With the exception of Cook County, in the past voters have rejected attempts by Illinois counties to enact this authority which then allows counties to enact additional taxes and ordinances, over and above the municipalities and state.

If DuPage is given home rule authority by our Illinois Assembly, it will open all Illinois residents to a new layer of additional county taxes state-wide, following the example Cook County has already set. Expanded county authority to enact new taxes is not a part of SB2400 or HB4338, amending the Illinois Clean Air Act-Home Rule. Home rule for counties would allow very broad taxing authority and some greater regulatory authority. There can't be limited home rule, and a home rule referendum would lose if put up for a vote.

County home rule can be tricky. Section 4(a) of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution says that "Any county may elect a chief executive officer as provided by law." Section 6(a) provides that "A County which has a chief executive officer elected by the electors of the county and any municipality which has a population of more than 25,000 are home rule units." Shifting to executive-style county government, then, is a route to home-rule status. Under Section 7 of Article VII, the General Assembly could, by law, confer upon all, or upon certain categories of, counties and municipalities the authority to pass various kinds of legislation and work other mischief. (Conferring power takes a simple majority vote in the General Assembly; limiting the power of home rule units takes a 3/5 majority in each chamber.

Quoting the Center for Governmental Studies, Northern Illinois University, at http://www.geneva.il.us/pdfdocs/30year.pdf:

".......Do county voters support home rule? No. Nine counties held a total of eleven referenda between 1972-76 to adopt home rule. All failed by substantial margins. In the aggregate, county voters rejected home rule by a margin of 3-1. No county has attempted such a referendum since 1976.....

....At the time of the November 2000 elections, Illinois had 147 cities and villages and one county (Cook) with home rule powers...."

This decision should be taken to the voters as our Illinois Constitution intended.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Garnet Dawn Scheuer
Illinois Smokers Rights

454 Rockland Avenue
Lake Bluff, IL 60044

Phone: 847.234.8634
http://www.illinoissmokersrights.com
garnetdawn@comcast.net

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