Urge veto of tax on car sharing

In February, a seemingly innocuous bill was introduced in the Illinois General Assembly by state Sen. Tony Munoz, a Chicago Democrat, that would address liability and damage waivers for rental car companies. So narrow in scope, Senate Bill 2641 breezed across legislative desks without a single "no" vote. Then it laid dormant until the waning days of the spring session.

Then old-school politics kicked in. Out of nowhere, state Rep. Art Turner, aChicago Democrat, gutted that bill, then filled it with language that would create new taxes on anyone using car-sharing services. Those services, from companies like Turo, allow Illinois residents to share their cars with others. It's a peer-to-peer platform that's a growing threat to traditional rental car companies.

The rental car industry's team of lobbyists pounced at the chance to slap a tax on those residents - who already paid a sales tax when they purchased their car and pay income tax on anything they earn. Rental car companies, meanwhile, don't pay a dime in sales taxes when they purchase thousands of vehicles in Illinois and they simply pass on any income or rental-car taxes to their customers. But they want average residents to be triple-taxed and treated as if they are a competing, massive rental car company.

California-based Turo has had to scramble to hire lobbyists to explain the harm that the new bill would cause more than 250,000 Illinois residents. Still, the bill passed and was sent to Gov. Rauner for approval just three votes shy of the 37 votes needed to be veto-proof - and the rental car industry is already trying to rally support to override any potential veto.

DePaul University transportation expert Joseph Schwieterman told legislators, "Taxes on car sharing have damaging effects on environmental goals and efforts to make urban areas more attractive and vibrant places. Imposing the tax would, in effect, penalize people who choose to share cars rather than own cars."

We hope you will join us in urging Gov. Rauner to veto SB 2641 and encourage our Legislators to reject any attempt to override that veto. It is driven solely by the greed of the rental car industry and hurts average Illinois residents simply trying to make a few extra bucks.

Michelle Peacock, Vice President and VP and Head of Government Relations

Turo