income tax cap
State Supreme Court to consider possibility of involuntary recusal for Justices Berger and Barringer
Court asks parties for briefs in case challenging 2018 constitutional amendments The Supreme Court of North Carolina issued an order Tuesday directing the parties in the case of NAACP v. Moore and Berger to submit new briefs addressing questions surrounding the recusal of justices.
A lesson for NC: Raise taxes on high earners and everyone reaps the benefits
Across the country, voters passed a number of the progressive ballot measures , bringing millions of people in states like Florida, Colorado, Louisiana and Arizona closer to realizing higher wages, securing paid leave and sick days, and reducing inequality. After more than nine months of the COVID-19 recession — on top of a decade of slow […]
Appellate judges considering whether unconstitutionally-elected lawmakers could propose constitutional amendments
Once a General Assembly is declared by a court to be unconstitutionally constituted and not representative of its voters, does it have the power to rewrite a state’s constitution? That was the question before a three-judge panel Thursday morning at the state Court of Appeals. A lower court already ruled specifically that the North Carolina […]
NAACP in voter ID, tax cap litigation appeal: Illegal actions have consequences
Illegal actions have consequences — that’s the message the NAACP is sending to lawmakers in its response to an appeal of a court’s decision to throw out the voter ID and tax cap constitutional amendments. A Wake County Superior Court judge ruled in February that the unconstitutionally constituted legislature did not have the authority to alter […]
NC NAACP will ask for state Supreme Court review of lawmakers’ appeal after constitutional amendments struck
The North Carolina NAACP is declaring that “we the people” are entering into a season of democracy. They were delivered a legal victory in February when a Wake County Superior Court judge ruled that an unconstitutionally constituted legislature did not have the authority to alter the state constitution when it proposed the voter ID and […]
Former GOP Supreme Court justice defends decision striking down constitutional amendments
As was explained in yesterday’s edition of the Weekly Briefing, last week’s ruling by Wake County Superior Court Judge Bryan Collins striking down two constitutional amendments because they were placed on the ballot by an illegally constituted General Assembly, made quite a bit of sense. Now, that assessment of the ruling has been echoed by […]
NAACP responds to judge’s courageous ruling striking down constitutional amendments
A Wake County Superior Court judge acted yesterday to strike down two constitutional amendments placed on the state ballot last year by Republican supermajorities that had been elected via unconstitutionally gerrymandered legislative maps. The amendments would have imposed a new statewide voter ID requirement and capped the state income tax at 7%. Judge Bryan Collins […]
Attorney/CPA authors best tax policy op-ed of the week
Be sure to check out attorney/CPA Richard Nordan’s outstanding op-ed critiquing the proposed state income tax cap that will appear on the fall ballot in today’s edition of Raleigh’s News & Observer. In “Reject the NC tax cap. It will hurt government and most taxpayers.” Nordan first blasts the two infamous experiments with similar caps […]
Income tax rate cap amendment would cement N.C.’s missed opportunity in education
Imposing an arbitrary income tax rate cap in the North Carolina Constitution could fundamentally compromise our state’s ability to fund our schools, ensure the educational preparation of young children, and boost the educational attainment of our workforce. Such a cementing of a missed opportunity in education could happen as the tax load shifts even further […]
3 things we learned from the Elon poll about the income tax amendment
At this stage in the election cycle and in a state where so many changes to the state Constitution are being proposed at once, it’s not surprising that voters don’t have all the information they need to make an informed decision on ballot measures. That may be the headline of news coverage of the recent […]
3-judge panel appointed in cases over constitutional amendment ballot language
State Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Martin has appointed a three-judge panel to review two cases over ballot language for four proposed constitutional amendments. Judges Forrest Donald Bridges, Thomas H. Lock and Jeffery K. Carpenter will preside over the two lawsuits filed by Gov. Roy Cooper and the North Carolina NAACP and Clean Air Carolina. Bridges […]
Income tax cap seeks to lock in a failed economic experiment
The current push to reduce North Carolina’s Constitutional income tax cap (SB75) is not rooted in sober analysis of hard economic data. From the moment that legislative leaders proposed slashing income taxes in 2013, we were promised that it would radically transform North Carolina’s economy. Now, several years into this experiment, evidence abounds that tax […]