tax cuts
NC schools are struggling to survive while rich people and corporations keep getting tax cuts
In 2013, the North Carolina General Assembly started cutting taxes (mostly for big corporations and wealthy people). Most years since have seen lawmakers continue to divert public funds from things like schools, childcare, broadband, water quality, and public safety, to the pockets of out-of-state corporations and the wealthy few. These cuts also put more of […]
Reaping what anti-government policies have sown: North Carolina’s chronic public employee shortage wasn’t an accident
The much-faster-than-expected economic recovery that’s followed the easing of the COVID-19 pandemic has produced several encouraging developments in the United States: low unemployment, rising wages, strong corporate profits, flattened or even falling poverty rates – just to name a few. And while the global spike in inflation that resulted from supply chain issues, CEO wealth grabs, and Russia’s war on Ukraine has taken a big toll on most households, that phenomenon has, thankfully, slowed significantly of late.
States criticized for spending federal relief funds on tax cuts, prisons
As states plan how they’ll spend the $25 billion remaining in federal COVID relief funds, some also are facing criticism and renewed scrutiny over how they allocated money already received from the American Rescue Plan Act. Of the $198 billion authorized by Congress in 2021, $173 billion already has been appropriated by states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Much of the money went — as it was intended — to deal with the COVID-19 public health emergency...
North Carolina’s new budget should be much better
North Carolina has a new budget for the state fiscal year that began July 1. At the very end of the 10-day period allotted to him by the state constitution, Gov. Roy Cooper affixed his signature to a 193-page bill drafted mostly behind closed doors by Republican legislative leaders that amends the two-year budget enacted last year. Cooper’s decision to sign the measure was, one supposes, an act he viewed as an exercise in political pragmatism.
Editorial tells GOP and its flunkies the truth about the latest state income tax cuts
Be sure to check out this morning’s lead editorial in the North Carolina McClatchy twins — Raleigh’s News & Observer and Charlotte Observer. In “A frustrated GOP wants to know: Why aren’t North Carolinians celebrating tax cuts?” the authors detail the folly of the latest state income tax cuts enacted by the Republican-led General Assembly […]
Three numbers that illustrate the folly of North Carolina’s latest austerity budget
North Carolina’s final budget includes deep personal income tax cuts and elimination of the corporate income tax over the next 10 years that will deepen hardship and prolong the recovery rather than supporting people and their well-being. Sadly, rather than invest the state’s available billions in meeting basic near- and long-term needs, lawmakers chose to […]
Final budget cuts North Carolinians’ priorities while keeping them out of the process
The conference budget released by the NC General Assembly on Monday night puts business interests and politics ahead of people while bringing North Carolina to a new low in terms of spending as a share the economy (with the exception of the prior year, FY 2020-2021, when prior state spending commitments were maintained and no […]
Elimination of the corporate income tax will hurt North Carolina
More than 60 percent of North Carolinians oppose eliminating the corporate income tax. In fact, most North Carolinians want to see profitable corporations contribute what they owe to ensure we can fund a better future for people across our state. As the final state budget nears completion, legislative leaders and the Governor should listen to […]
Legislature’s plans for the use of American Rescue Plan funds fall short in three important ways
Click here to view and download a comprehensive list of the ARP items from the NC House and Senate budgets. The $5.4 billion in flexible funding that North Carolina received from the federal American Rescue Plan presents a tremendous opportunity for the state. With such an unprecedented cash infusion, state leaders have a rare opportunity […]
Monday numbers: A closer look at the state’s school facility needs
North Carolina has a nearly $13 billion backlog in new school construction and renovations, according to the 2020-21 Facility Needs Survey. The backlog represents an increase of more than $4 billion over the $8 billion reported in the Facility Needs Survey five years ago.