SPRINGFIELD – Smaller businesses will once again be able to benefit from a tax credit for creating new full-time jobs under a plan announced by Senator Ram Villivalam and Representative Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz (D-Glenview). 

“Small businesses make a community vibrant and unique, and this encourages them to seek out more employees,” said Villivalam, a Chicago Democrat. “This tax credit was introduced during the recession, and it should not have been allowed to lapse under the previous governor.”

The proposed legislation would provide small businesses with a tax credit worth $5,000 per new employee making at least $15 an hour and working 35 hours per week. A total of $75 million in tax credits will be awarded, with the credit set to sunset after six years.

“This legislation will spur economic development and help create jobs,” said Elliot Richardson, president of the Small Business Advocacy Council. “Small businesses drive our economy and support local communities. Passing this important bill will send the right message to Illinois entrepreneurs, empower the small business community and foster economic growth.”

The legislation will be Senate Bill 3498. 

Originally published in News India Times, January 7, 2020. 

Illinois State Senator Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago), who represents the 8th District, has been appointed Chair of the Special Committee on Supplier Diversity in the Illinois Senate.

Villivalam is the first Indian-American elected to the Illinois General Assembly, and first Asian-American elected to the Illinois State Senate.

In his new appointment, Villivalam will work with members of the committee, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration, and stakeholders to evaluate and propose solutions to improve the diversity of the transportation and infrastructure work that is done in the state of Illinois, a Jan. 3, 2020 press release from the Indian-American State Senator’s office said.

The Special Committee on Supplier Diversity is primarily responsible for overseeing public and private sector organizations and ensuring that they offer diverse opportunities to small businesses and job growth for minority, women, and veteran-owned businesses.

“I look forward to expanding opportunities for women, minority, and veteran owned businesses around the state,” Villivalam said in a statement. “Supplier diversity is an issue I’ve been working on in the legislature and in my district. My work will prioritize equity while strengthening our economy, two critically important jobs of our state government,” he added.

Read more ...

SKOKIE - Governor JB Pritzker and State Senator Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago) announced a $503,000 grant to Skokie School District 73.5 at a press conference on Monday. This grant is intended to offset district costs, allowing the administration to levy less in property taxes from residents.

“With this grant, the state and the district are working together to provide critical property tax relief to residents,” Villivalam said. “Governor Pritzker, myself, and my colleagues recognize that our residents are facing burdensome property taxes. Illinois is on a path to providing more equitable funding to our schools through state resources, which will take pressure off of property taxes in the long-term. In the meantime, it is our duty to provide short-term, fiscally responsible property tax relief to residents whenever possible.”

Senator Villivalam was appointed to the Property Tax Relief Task Force in August 2019. The Task Force was charged with utilizing a racial and economic equity lens to identify the causes of increasingly burdensome property taxes across Illinois, reviewing best practices for relief, and making recommendations to assist in short-term and long-term reform.

“While this is a one-time grant, my colleagues and I are committed to finding and funding sustainable property tax relief measures,” Villivalam said. “The final recommendations of the Property Tax Relief Task Force will be reported out shortly, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to enact the recommendations we’ve provided.”

SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago) issued the following statement today in response to Governor Pritzker’s State of the State address:

“I commend Governor Pritzker on his commitment to enact sweeping ethics reforms in this legislative session. I am encouraged by his bold reform agenda and fully support his efforts to end the self-dealing practices of corrupt politicians and to start holding elected officials in Illinois accountable. We have a significant amount of work to do to restore public faith in their state government but I pledge to work with the Pritzker administration and members on both sides of the aisle to get these reforms done. The people of Illinois deserve to have lawmakers who are held to the highest ethical standards and rid the cloud of corruption that has hung over Springfield for too long. I’m ready to tackle this issue which is long overdue.”