What's Going On At Springfield 



(Continued from page 31) ,_ 



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almost $30,000,000 per year and would 

 allocate a portion of this fund to the 

 high school districts of the State. yThe 

 Association has opposed this in/rease 

 in the distributive fund, at least until 

 it could be shown that the moneys 

 are available without an increase in taxes. 

 It does not appear that the State dis- 

 tributive fund can be increased from 

 the present $13,000,000 per annum 

 unless heavy additional State taxes are 

 -imposed. 



The Association is sponsoring legis- 

 lation which would empower the State 

 Tax Commission to make a reassess- 

 ment of any class of property in any 

 county or assessment district in case 

 the local officials refuse to make a 

 reassessment when ordered by the 

 Tax Commission. There have been 

 instances in recent years in which 

 farm property was shown to be un- 

 fairly assessed but in which the local 

 assessment officials refused to carry 

 out the request of the State Tax Com- 

 mission for revision of the assessment. 

 Under the proposed legislation in the 

 case of such a refusal on the part of 

 the local o£Ficials, the State Tax Com- 

 mission could go into the county or 

 assessment district and make the re- 

 assessment and have it substituted for 

 the original assessment. 



The Association is also sponsoring 

 an amendment to the Revenue Article 

 of the State Constitution which will 

 permit the General Assembly by a two- 

 thirds vote of each House to broaden 

 the tax base and impose new taxes 

 which are more equitable and more 

 nearly based on ability to pay, such as 

 an income tax. In order to protect 

 farm and home owners, the amend- 

 ment restricts taxes upon real property 

 to 1% of the fair cash value except for 

 the payment of indebtedness. 



The Association has supported a bill 

 which would place a tax upon dis- 

 tributors of "filled milk'" in this State. 

 Filled milk is made by extracting the 

 butterfat from whole milk and substi- 

 tuting cocoanut oil or some other but- 

 terfat substitute. It sells in competi- 

 tion with evaporated and condensed 

 milk. The tax is at a rate which would 

 bring the price of this milk about in 

 line with the price for condensed milk. 

 The manufacture and sale of filled milk 

 constitutes a serious threat to the dairy 

 industry in that unless some restrictions 

 or taxes are placed upon it, many of 

 the manufacturers of condensed milk 

 are going to substitute cocoanut oil for 

 butterfat in their product. This bill 

 has passed the House and is now in 

 the Senate. 



JUNE. 1937 



The Association is also supporting 

 legislation sponsored by the milk pro- 

 ducers' groups of the State in provid- 

 ing minimum sanitation requirements 

 for fluid milk sold for human consump- 

 tion in the State. In a number of 

 cities quite exacting standards and sani- 

 tation requirements have been set up 

 by ordinance. Many of these ordi- 

 nances emphasize the equipment and 

 facilities on the farm rather than the 

 quality of the product delivered. The 

 bill before the legislature lays down a 

 minimum of requirements for the dairy 

 farm and stresses the quality of the 

 product delivered to the milk plant or 

 to the consumer. 



Numerous bills have been introduced 

 in the present session of the General 

 Assembly which would require licenses 

 from the State to engage in various oc- 

 cupations or work. For instance, one 

 bill would require all persons doing 

 any painting to secure a State license. 

 The bill as introduced would have pre- 

 vented a farmer from painting his own 

 buildings unless he had first secured 

 a license from the State. Certain qual- 

 ifications were laid down for all ap- 

 plicants for a license. An amendment 

 sponsored by the lAA has been adopted 

 to permit an individual to paint his 

 own property or have the painting 

 done under his immediate supervision 

 without securing a license. This bill 

 has passed the House and is now in 

 the Senate. 



There are a number of similar bills 

 which would seriously affect farmers 

 and their right to do some of the work 

 which they ordinarily do for them- 

 selves. These other bills are being 

 watched. 



In accordance with the resolution 

 adopted at the Chicago annual meet- 

 ing, the lAA has supported in principle 

 bills which would consolidate the ad- 

 ministration of old age pensions, blind 

 relief and supervision of poor relief 

 in a division of the State Department 

 of Public Welfare. In case of a town- 

 ship or other governmental unit carry- 

 ing its own relief load without use of 

 State or Federal funds, there would be 

 no supervision by the State or any 

 other agency. However, in the case of 

 a township or governmental unit using 

 State or Federal funds, the State De- 

 partment would have the right to 

 supervise the administration of these 

 funds by the local administrative of- 

 ficer. The requirement that each town- 

 ship or other governmental unit shall 

 levy a tax of 30c before it can qualify 

 for State funds is not disturbed by this 

 legislation. 



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608 SO DEARBORN CHICAGO ILL 



33 



