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North Carolina has been a bastion of good governance in recent years, enacting pro-growth tax reform that has returned billions of hard-earned dollars to Tar Heel State taxpayers. In addition to approving tax reform that makes North Carolina more attractive to investment and conducive to economic growth, state lawmakers have also instituted regulatory reform that has increased the job-creating capacity of employers, and empowered thousands of parents and children across the state with expanded school choice.

Americans for Tax Reform president Grover Norquist sent a letter today to state legislators in North Carolina, where they convened their short 2018 legislative session this week. In light of recent success, ATR is urging North Carolina lawmakers to not rest on their laurels this short legislative session and to instead take action to protect taxpayers for years and decades to come.

Below is the letter ATR sent to lawmakers. For a copy of the PDF, click here.

 

May 18, 2018

To: Members of the North Carolina General Assembly

From: Americans for Tax Reform

Re: 2018 Short Session

Dear Senator,

On behalf of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) and our supporters across North Carolina, I urge you to utilize the recently convened 2018 short session to build upon the General Assembly’s impressive record of reform on tax, regulatory, education, and other policy matters.

By building up the largest rainy day fund in state history and keeping the trajectory of spending below the rate of population growth and inflation – all while enacting tax reform that has allowed individuals, families, and employers across the state to keep billions of dollars in hard-earned income that would have gone to state coffers under the old state tax code – North Carolina has become a national model in recent years for good governance and pro-growth tax reform.

However, I urge lawmakers to not rest on their laurels. Instead, I implore lawmakers in Raleigh to utilize the recently convened short session to enact constitutional and statutory safeguards that will protect North Carolina taxpayers well into the future, long after you and your colleagues have retired.

The best way to do this is to refer two constitutional amendments to the November ballot for voters to decide: one that would cap state spending at the rate of population growth and inflation, the other that would require a two-thirds supermajority vote by the General Assembly in order to enact a tax hike.

Gov. Roy Cooper is already proposing to undo some of the pro-growth tax relief you and your colleagues have worked so hard to enact. Fortunately, Gov. Cooper does not have a legislative majority that will permit him to sign the tax hike he desires into law, but that might not always be the case. As such, it’s imperative that you and your colleagues take action now to protect North Carolina taxpayers from Gov. Cooper’s high tax, high spending plans, as well as those of younger tax hiking politicians who will take office in North Carolina some day in the future.

When it comes to innovative, pro-taxpayer policy reforms, not one of the other 49 states can hold a candle to what you and your colleagues have accomplished in North Carolina in recent years. 2018 is about locking in those policy victories and ensuring that this progress can not be clawed back by future, less taxpayer friendly legislatures and governors.

I thank you for your public service and your leadership. If you have any questions or if ATR can be of assistance, don’t hesitate to contact me or Patrick Gleason, ATR’s vice president of state affairs, at [email protected] or 202-785-0266.

 

Sincerely,

Grover Norquist

President

Americans for Tax Reform