The Voice of Trucking in Illinois

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 ILLINOIS TRUCKING THIS WEEK

January 30, 2015

LEGISLATION TO REPEAL TRUCK FEES INTRODUCED IN SPRINGFIELD;

WOULD SAVE TRUCK OWNERS UP TO $400/TRUCK/YEAR

Illinois Trucking Association Legislation initiated by the Illinois Trucking Association that would repeal the Commercial Distribution Fee (CDF) on truck registrations was introduced this week at the State Capitol.  The CDF amounts to a 14.35% sales tax on the cost of a truck license plate, which is paid by all trucking companies that pay Illinois license plate fees either directly or through the International Registration Plan (IRP).  All of the money collected for the CDF goes into the state's general revenue fund, not into the road fund.

 

Senate Bill 662, sponsored by Sen. Martin Sandoval (D-Chicago), was introduced in the State Senate.  House Bill 371, sponsored by Rep. Rita Mayfield (D-Waukegan), was introduced in the Illinois House.  The Illinois Trucking Association urges you to contact your State Senator and your State Representative immediately and ask them not only to support SB 662 and HB 371, but ask them to sign on as a cosponsor of the legislation as well.

 

The Illinois Trucking Association will be leading the charge once again in Springfield to finally repeal the CDF and save truck owners up to $400 per truck per year, but we need your help to move the legislation this year in the General Assembly.  For more information, please contact ITA Executive Director, Matt Hart, by calling the ITA offices or email him at matt@iltrucking.org.

 

 

ITA/TIPAC BOXING NIGHT - FEBRUARY 11, 2015

Illinois Trucking Association presented by CIT Group, Inc

Have you made your reservation yet for Boxing Night?  Come on out February 11, for good food, 500 of your closest trucking industry friends, and 8 bouts of Golden Gloves boxing.  Cocktails start at 6 PM, Dinner is served at 7PM, and Boxing begins at 8PM.  Click here to view video highlights from a recent Boxing Night.
 

For more information on the 2015 Boxing Night click here or contact Janet at the ITA Offices by email (janet@iltrucking.org) or by phone (630-654-0884 or 217-789-6017).

 

 

ITA FLEET SAFETY AWARDS NOMINATIONS NOW OPEN

Are you proud of your trucking company's safety record?  The ITA wants to honor all of the safe fleets for their safety achievements with our annual Fleet Safety Awards, presented by Great West Casualty.  The Fleet Safety Awards are awarded each year at the ITA Safety Maintenance Conference.

 

Click here to download the nomination form or find the form on our website at www.iltrucking.org/events.html.  For more information on the fleet safety awards, contact ITA Safety Director, Linda Blisset, at linda@iltrucking.org.

 

ATA STATE LAWS NEWSLETTER

(courtesy of Bob Pitcher, American Trucking Association) 

 

 

 

January 30, 2015

Written and edited by Robert C. Pitcher

 

 

44 State Legislatures Have Convened - All fifty state legislatures will meet this year, and 44 of them have already begun their sessions by the end of January.  Nevada, Oklahoma, and Oregon will start next Monday, Alabama and Florida the first week in March, and Louisiana not until the middle of April.  This year's sessions may be unusual in certain respects, since the Republican Party, following last fall's elections, is now in control of 68 of the 99 state legislative chambers, the strongest showing in some 85 years.  Moreover, in 30 states the governor and both legislative houses are Republican.  In eleven others, all are Democrats; only nine states are split.  But just how the 2015 sessions will be different, we decline to predict. 

 

IRS Taxpayer Advocate's Report Issued - Nina Olson, the Taxpayer Advocate of the federal Internal Revenue Service, issued her office's annual report to Congress earlier this month.  The report is usually worth a look, because it's a quite unbiased summary of what's wrong with IRS's dealings with taxpayers on the one hand, and with Congress's dealing with IRS on the other.  This year, the report makes clear just how bad both these areas have become.  Taxpayer service this filing season, according to Ms. Olson, will be at a real low, with IRS only able to answer some 43 percent of the phone calls it will get from taxpayers needing help - and those 43 percent will have to wait an average of a half hour to get an answer.  And this year IRS will only undertake to answer "basic" questions, not the tough ones.  The report notes problems with other aspects of the IRS-taxpayer relationship as well.  Some of the troubles, especially those related to taxpayer service, are partly Congress's fault, the report goes on, since over the last five years IRS's budget has been cut by 18 percent, at a time when the agency's workload (think health care!) has been significantly increased.  The report recognizes that IRS actions and practices may have annoyed some in Congress, but it points out the dangers that the low levels of service and the extraordinary complexities of tax administration have on voluntary compliance.  The report is altogether another warning that the Nation's tax system is in serious trouble.  For more details, see here:  http://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/.

 

If-Only Department - The Federal Aviation Administration, the branch of the U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates airplanes and airports, has adopted an amendment to its policy that clarifies that revenues from state and local taxes on aviation fuel must be used for purposes related to aviation.  This is pursuant to federal statute (49 U.S. Code sections 47107(b) and 47133), which limits the use of airport revenues if the airport has received federal assistance funds - and any sizable airport will have.  There is a grandfather clause that exempts state and local aviation fuel taxes in effect before 1988, but the FAA notes in its rule that some airports seem to have been using revenues from fuel taxes enacted after this for purposes unrelated to aviation.  The rule gives those states and localities three years to stop.  The FAA notice is in the Federal Register of November 7, 2014 (page 66282); the policy amendment took effect December 8.  If only....

 

                                                  


The State Laws Newsletter is published by the American Trucking Associations, Suite 210, 950 North Glebe Road, Arlington, Virginia 22203-4181. The Newsletter is copyrighted, but ATA permits reprinting the content with attribution. For more information, contact ATA's Bob Pitcher by e-mail at bpitcher@trucking.org.

 

 

 

ITA CALENDAR OF EVENTS

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FEB 11 - ITA/TIPAC Boxing Night- Ashton Place, Willowbrook
MAR 3-5 - ITA Call on Washington - Washington, DC
MAR 18 - ITA Call on Springfield - Springfield
APR 22-23 - ITA Safety Maintenance Conference - Champaign
JUNE 3 - ITA Southern IL Golf Outing - Murphysboro
JUNE 5-6 - IL Professional Truck Driving Championships - Pheasant Run Resort
JULY 17-18 - Illinois Technicians Competition - UTI/Hilton in Lisle, IL
JULY 23 - ITA Annual Golf Outing - Orland Park, IL
SEP 17-19 - ITA Annual Meeting - Marriott Hotel & Conference Center, Normal, IL

 

All information contained herein is proprietary and for the expressed use of Illinois Trucking Association members.   Any re-use of this material is acceptable as long as credit is provided in writing or verbally to the Illinois Trucking Association.

Matt Hart 
Executive Director
Illinois Trucking Association
7000 S. Adams, Suite 130 / Willowbrook, IL 60527 / Phone: (630) 654-0884
932 S. Spring St. / Springfield, IL 62704 / Phone: (217) 789-6017
  
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