HR0328 LRB097 11821 GRL 55107 r
1		HOUSE RESOLUTION
2		WHEREAS, In the spring of 2011, the retail prices of motor
3		fuels in Illinois have touched or hit record levels; and
4		WHEREAS, On May 4, 2011, the average sales price of
5		gasoline-based motor fuel in Illinois was $4.31 per gallon; and
6		WHEREAS, These retail prices include the substantial
7		burden of motor fuel excise taxes, State sales taxes, local
8		sales taxes, and environmental remediation taxes, which have
9		been added to the underlying burden of worldwide crude oil
10		prices; and
11		WHEREAS, The current price of crude oil is in excess of
12		$110 per 42-gallon barrel, driven upward by political upheavals
13		in the Middle East and adjacent regions of the Eastern
14		Hemisphere; and
15		WHEREAS, The high price of motor fuels threatens prospects
16		for Illinois employment and economic recovery by diverting
17		consumer spending from discretionary purchases to motor fuel;
18		demand for motor fuel is highly price-inelastic, as once people
19		take up residence in a house, they are tied in to a pattern of
20		driving to and from the places where they work, shop, and visit
21		their relatives and friends, and cannot easily change their

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1		patterns; therefore, be it
2		RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
3		NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
4		we urge Governor Pat Quinn to take action immediately to
5		comprehensively lower the price of motor fuel in all geographic
6		regions of Illinois on a time frame adequate to prevent
7		Illinois falling into renewed recessionary conditions; and be
8		it further
9		RESOLVED, That we urge Governor Quinn and President Barack
10		Obama to take immediate steps to reverse their current policies
11		regarding the price of motor fuel and to cooperate on new
12		policies to increase motor fuel supplies in Illinois, reduce
13		pressure on Illinois motor fuel prices, and inform the Illinois
14		public of the steps being taken to reduce price pressure on
15		motor fuel; and be it further
16		RESOLVED, That, based upon the current political upheavals
17		in the Middle East, consequent disruptions to the world supply
18		of crude oil, and negative consequences of these disruptions to
19		the fragile U.S. economic recovery, we urge President Obama and
20		the United States Department of Energy to release part of the
21		U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve for summer 2011 refinery
22		throughput and consumer end-use; and be it further

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1		RESOLVED, That, based upon the current record or
2		near-record price of motor fuel in Illinois, we urge the
3		President of the United States and the Administrator of the
4		United States Environmental Protection Agency to suspend
5		implementation of all federal Clean Air Act non-attainment
6		rules that affect the chemical composition and market price of
7		motor fuel sold in the Chicago, Illinois and St. Louis,
8		Missouri metropolitan areas; and be it further
9		RESOLVED, That we commend our neighbor country, the nation
10		of Canada, for its aggressive work in expanding crude oil
11		production from one of the largest under-utilized sources of
12		fossil fuels in the world, the oil sands deposits of the
13		province of Alberta, which possess estimated reserves of 1.7
14		trillion barrels of bitumen, from which crude oil can be
15		manufactured; and be it further
16		RESOLVED, That we call upon United States oil refiners to
17		continue their work to rebuild their refineries to refine
18		bitumen-based crude oil into consumer petroleum products and
19		commend the example provided by Canada to those United States
20		policymakers who have the power to decide upon policies that
21		govern the drilling, exploitation, and enjoyment of crude oil
22		resources here in the United States; and be it further
23		RESOLVED, That we direct the Illinois Commission on

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1		Government Forecasting and Accountability to conduct an
2		objective, non-political examination of our policy of charging
3		"ad valorem" Illinois sales taxes on motor fuel, thereby
4		raising these prices well above world spot market prices for
5		gasoline, and to report its findings to the Speaker of the
6		Illinois House of Representatives, the Illinois House
7		Republican Leader, the President of the Illinois Senate, and
8		the Illinois Senate Republican Leader, and for this study to be
9		concluded and the report transferred no later than September
10		30, 2011; and be it further
11		RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
12		presented to the President of the United States, the Secretary
13		of the United States Department of Energy, the Administrator of
14		the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the
15		Governor of Illinois, and the executive director of the
16		Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and
17		Accountability.