In remarks delivered to hundreds of agriculture leaders and FFA students who were in Springfield for Illinois Agriculture Legislative Day on April 9, State Senator Andrew Chesney (R-Freeport), Republican Spokesperson for the Senate Agriculture Committee, called on Governor JB Pritzker to prioritize the elimination of the estate tax, which Chesney said is “ripping apart family farms in Illinois.” Chesney spoke at the rally at the invitation of Illinois Director of Agriculture Jerry Costello.
“One of the biggest fights we have in the State of Illinois is what the regressive estate tax is doing to family farms,” said Chesney. “Illinois is one of only 12 states that has an estate tax, so for children who one day want to take over their family farm, their greatest hurdle by far is the regressive estate tax.”
Chesney went on to urge the Governor to work with legislative Democrats to ensure that The Family Farm Preservation Act (filed as House Bill 2677 and Senate Bill 1688) is pushed through the General Assembly with broad, bipartisan support this year. Both bills would eliminate the estate tax for most small, family-owned farms.
“You simply cannot say you support family farms and then allow a regressive estate tax to be in place in the State of Illinois,” Chesney said. “As Republicans, we are going to fight hard in the Senate and House to repeal the estate tax to save family farms. When today’s young people want to take over their family farm one day, they deserve to be able to do so without a system in place that makes it nearly impossible from a financial standpoint.”
Click here to view Senator Chesney’s remarks at the Agriculture/FFA rally on April 9.
