McCrory in tough position over incentives
Published September 3, 2014
by Patrick Gannon, The Insider, September 1, 2014.
State lawmakers have returned home to their districts for good to campaign for re-election in November. Or have they?
The latest chatter in the capital is about whether House and Senate members will be called back by Gov. Pat McCrory to consider legislation that would result in more state spending on economic incentives to help lure companies to North Carolina. McCrory hasn't tipped his hand about whether he's going to call a special lawmaking session before the Nov. 4 elections.
Politically, this isn't an easy decision for the first-term governor and may be one of the toughest of his administration to date. On one hand, his commerce secretary, Sharon Decker, is making the case to her boss to call legislators back.
Decker said last week that job recruiters are "in a difficult spot" after the General Assembly's failure in its just-ended session to add more money for the popular Job Development Investment Grants and create a special, flexible fund aimed at closing deals in the latter stages of negotiations with companies. She suggested thousands of jobs are at stake in the coming months if lawmakers don't put more money into the JDIG fund, which could run out of incentives cash in the next couple of months.
"We won't get all of those jobs even with the Job Development Investment Grant, but I can assure you we will get fewer of them if we don't have it," Decker said.
Powerful groups like the N.C. Economic Developers Association, along with a number of lawmakers from both parties, also are pushing for a special session to give job recruiters the incentives they say they need to bring companies to North Carolina. Still others want the Legislature to return to Raleigh to consider extending the current film incentives program and a historic preservation tax credit, both of which are set to expire at year's end.
The incentives debate also comes as the new Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina – a keystone of the McCrory administration – is about to take over job recruiting and other functions of the Commerce Department. The nonprofit partnership is expected to open its doors in Cary in early October. Without incentives, it likely will be more difficult for the organization, which is already under a microscope because of problems with similar groups in other states, to land businesses and create jobs. One lobbyist said starting the new partnership without adequate incentives at its disposal is like forming a Girl Scout troop but denying it cookies.
On the other hand, influential organizations such as the State Employees Association of North Carolina and the conservative group Americans for Prosperity are urging McCrory to resist calls for a special session. AFP's Donald Bryson said last week that North Carolinians "just won't stomach" a special session for the "sole purpose of giving more of taxpayers' hard-earned money to a corporate welfare program." If he calls lawmakers back, McCrory risks alienating a large segment of his conservative base that despises incentives of any kind.
Then again, there's no guarantee that lawmakers will pass anything if they come back, and it could lead to a Republican civil war in the House, a hotbed for clashes on incentives.
Whatever the governor decides, many people won't be happy. But who said governing was easy?
September 3, 2014 at 9:13 am
Norm Kelly says:
Illegal aliens invading our country are given benefits by the central planners. We were lied to again by the occupier when he said that illegal aliens would NOT be covered under Obamascare. In part it will happen because he wants to declare them no longer illegal and therefore covered by socialized medicine.
Our southern border, that used to exist, is being overrun with illegals. Many of them are children that are being sent around the country to be taken care of. This is costing states and communities in additional benefits that are NOT paid for. Things like medical care, housing, and most importantly schools. Kids who have no medical history, so we don't know if they are carrying ANY kind of disease, are going to be sharing classroom space with our kids who are required to have certain medical checks prior to being allowed in the building.
All of this is costing us money, with no one actually paying for it, other than tax payers.
How long can our state give money away? How much money can our state afford to give away? When will enough be enough?
If the state is giving money away, I want mine. Where do I line up to get my handout from the government? I don't really care if it's the feds giving me money or the state giving me money. Heck I don't even care if it's the county that gives me money. So long as the money I am GIVEN comes out of YOUR pocket, I don't care where it comes from! Just give me MY MONEY!
Somewhere along the line too many people got the idea that government actually HAS money to give away. Nothing can be further from the truth. No government agency has ANY MONEY OF IT'S OWN. ALL the money that ANY government has is because it was initially stolen from the private sector, taken out of someone's pocket to be used by the government. This is what's called legalized theft. Take from one person's back pocket to kindly place in someone else's back pocket. Is this fair? In order to provide 'incentives' to ANY company to do business here in NC means that someone else has money stolen from them first. There IS NO OTHER WAY for 'incentives' to happen.
I put incentives in quotes because it's a misnomer. Typical of those who steal money from one group to give it to another group: change the name so it sounds less offensive. If the tax code were fair and exactly the same for EVERYONE then there would be no need for government give aways like this. If everyone paid taxes, chances are the rate for EVERYONE could be lower so there would be no need to buy off some favored company. Fairness works every time it's tried. Socialism fails every time it's tried.
It's time for our legislators to get a grip on reality and realize that even legalized theft is still theft!
September 3, 2014 at 9:38 am
Richard Bunce says:
End all incentives... lower taxes and regulations for all businesses.
