Talking taxes and the Arsenal with Congressman Sorensen
On June 16, the Quad Cities Chamber convened a group of a dozen business leaders to meet with Congressman Eric Sorensen to discuss the federal tax bill and support for the Rock Island Arsenal, among other items. 
Federal Tax Policy
The Quad Cities has been a vocal advocate for:
- The return of bonus depreciation
- The return of year one expensing for research activities
- Return of Interest Deductibility
- Extension or permanency of the Qualified Business Income Deduction
Congressman Sorensen voted against the reconciliation package that included these provisions based on concerns over other program cuts used to finance the tax extensions. It’s important to note that Sorensen committed to the group that if these issues were voted on individually, he would support pro-business tax policy.
Rock Island Arsenal
During the conversation, multiple attendees brought up the need to support the Rock Island Arsenal.
In recent months, the Secretary of Defense initiated an Army Transformation Initiative, which includes the merger of Army Sustainment Command and Joint Munitions Command, both are headquartered on the Rock Island Arsenal. This move, along with other transformation initiative components, could result in up to 400 fewer jobs on the Arsenal – meaning fewer jobs in the Quad Cities and a reduced economic footprint from our region’s largest employer.
The Quad Cities Chamber has since sent a petition with nearly 1,000 signatures to each federal office representing our region asking for their support and action to protect the Rock Island Arsenal.
More recently, Congressman Sorensen, along with a bi-partisan coalition including Senators Durbin, Duckworth and Grassley, and Rep. Miller-Meeks led a second letter calling for details and answers to understand the reasoning behind these cuts. Congressman Sorensen spoke directly with Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll recently in a Congressional hearing, detailing the importance of the Arsenal in supporting our warfighters.