As the Illinois Senate prepares to act on a proposed tax break to keep CME Group Inc. and CBOE Holdings Inc. in town, the price to the cash-short Illinois treasury is becoming clearer: at least $90 million, and by some accounts even more.
The pending bill, sponsored by Senate President John Cullerton, stalled yesterday but could come up for a vote when the Senate Executive Committee meets at 3 p.m. Tuesday. Senate Republicans weren't yet behind the measure, but it's hard to see them staying off very long.
Mr. Cullerton may well need GOP votes, because the cost of cutting the corporate-income tax for the two highly profitable companies could be a tough sell to Democratic lawmakers who have been busily cutting state services that affect their constituents.
Mr. Cullerton's office says the break would save CME $60 million and CBOE around $6 million. In addition, to lure Downstate votes, the measure also contains a clause that would revive the recently expired corporate tax break for research and development, costing another $25 million to $30 million or so.
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