N.C. Senate Responds with Bold Tax Plan, Eliminates Major Growth Obstacle
“Civitas has advocated for the elimination of income taxes for several months now, and it is encouraging to see the Senate step up and eliminate what many economists believe to be the state tax most harmful to economic growth: the corporate income tax,” said Civitas Institute Policy Director Brian Balfour.
FY 2013-14 House Budget Plan: Spending Similar to Senate, Differs on Tax Reform and School Choice
The North Carolina House unveiled its two year spending plan on Sunday night. Total spending for FY 2013-14 would come to $20.6 billion – virtually identical to the Senate’s budget proposal and Gov. McCrory’s budget released in March.
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The Right Move for the SBI
Reform of a state agency many have heard of but most know little about, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), is one of the provisions drawing attention in a proposed state budget passed by the North Carolina Senate. This budget continues the work of making state government finances more efficient and cost-effective, while [...]
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We Are All in the IRS’ Crosshairs Now
Maybe it was just a coincidence that after I started to work for “North Carolina’s Conservative Voice” my income taxes were audited. Maybe. Maybe not. I’ll never know one way or the other. That’s why still-unfolding IRS scandals are so ominous. As I’m sure you know, the Internal Revenue Service has admitted it targeted Tea [...]
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Getting Government Goodies. Or Not.
As a homeowner in Cary, I have been getting a good lesson in how government giveaways aren’t all they are cracked up to be. Last month New York-based MetLife revealed it will be moving employees from Northeast locations to two campuses — one in Charlotte, one in Cary here in Wake County. The state, county [...]
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FY 2013-14 Senate Budget Proposal: Large Tax Cut, Spending Nearly Identical to McCrory’s Plan
Last night, the North Carolina state Senate unveiled its two year state budget proposal. Total spending included for FY 2013-14 comes to $20.58 billion, which would be roughly $400 million higher than the current year’s budget, good for a 2.3 percent increase. The Senate’s plan is about $17 million less than Gov. McCrory’s budget proposal [...]
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NC Budget Writers Should Beware of the Power of Compounding Expenditures
For savers, compounding interest can be a great thing. It helps to accelerate the rate of increase of your money in the bank. For state budgets, however, the concept of compounding budgetary increases can rapidly create out-of-control spending obligations. For state budget writers tempted to think it safe to increase spending by, say, 4.5 percent [...]
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Gov. McCrory’s First Budget Proposal Unveiled
“Changing policy through our budget.” That’s how newly elected Governor Pat McCrory described his first state budget proposal at a press conference Wednesday morning. McCrory’s plan would increase year-over-year spending by nearly half a billion dollars while not raising taxes. Most of the policy “changes” are focused on education. Total General Fund expenditures for fiscal [...]
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Taxpayer Bill of Rights: A Needed End to the Budget Roller Coaster
This article originally appeared in the Raleigh News and Observer. North Carolina’s tax structure is almost assuredly going to receive an overhaul in 2013. Legislative leaders and newly elected Gov. Pat McCrory have made no secret of this. It is vital, however, that while addressing the revenue side of the state’s ledger, they don’t ignore [...]
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North Carolina Sales Tax Shift Could Help Workers
This article originally appeared in the Fayetteville Observer. A change in North Carolina’s tax code is coming this year. The most likely outcome will be a reduction in the reliance on our state’s income taxes and more of a reliance on an expanded sales tax. Critics complain the new tax structure would ask too much [...]
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House Bill 35: Giving a Voice Back to the People
House Bill 35, with primary sponsors Rayne Brown (R-Davidson) and George Cleveland (R-Onslow), would repeal the statutory authority enabling the state to issue Certificates of Participation (COPs) as a form of debt financing. COPs have been the preferred method of non-voter approved debt for the state since 2000. Traditional, general obligation bonds require a vote [...]
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‘Regressive’ Sales Tax is a Relative Term
This article originally appeared in the News & Observer. There is one talking point that has become the go-to objection to eliminating North Carolina’s state income taxes and replacing the revenue by expanding the sales tax: “This will shift the tax burden from the rich and onto the backs of the poor!” But that complaint [...]
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The Path to Prosperity: Spending Cuts, No Income Tax, and Free-Market Schools
Our state has been suffering with high unemployment and sluggish economic growth since the 2008 financial crisis primarily because of an inadequate educational system, high taxes and poor investments by state government. It is instructive to remember that North Carolina, devastated in 1880 from the post Civil War era, emerged in 1900 as one of [...]
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Famed Economist: NC Can Get Ahead of the Curve
Famed economist Arthur Laffer provided real-world economic solutions at the Civitas Institute’s legislative training session recently in Raleigh. First, though he is best known for “the Laffer Curve” showing how tax cuts can bring in more revenue, and for advising President Reagan, he’s not about party or ideology, he said. “It’s economics.” And it’s the [...]
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Why All U.S. States Should Eliminate The Income Tax
This article originally appeared in Forbes Magazine. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman, and Kansas Governor Sam Brownback have all called for their states to eliminate their income tax and replace it with a sales tax over the past week. They were joined yesterday morning by North Carolina, where the Senate President Pro [...]
Weekly Newsletter
@NCCivitas
- Which is the Moral Monday protester? Play the 'Pick a Protester' game on our web site! http://t.co/kBdvJqiZeq #ncpol #nctcot
- @pefnc http://t.co/Y9uz0rEupH New Groups Helping Themselves to the Public Trough. #NCGA #NCPOL
- Rural Center Board Member calls for comprehensive audit; see the letter here http://t.co/s7erTEzOm4 #ncpol #consNC #ncga
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