What the finance company sharks have planned for North Carolina

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May 14, 2013 at 3:06 pmCategory:Uncategorized

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Loan sharksThere’s a common perception in the General Assembly these days that storefront consumer finance shops are not as bad a payday lenders. Indeed, this has been a common explanation offered by members of the Senate as they advanced legislation in recent weeks that will jack up the interest rates on consumer finance loans. 

If this is true, however, the difference between the two predators is just a matter of degrees, not basic characteristics. If payday lenders  are the great white shark of small loan predators, then finance companies are the tiger sharks. This truth is made clear in a new and powerful article from the muckrakers at the national news website, Pro Publica entitled “The 182 Percent Loan: How Installment Lenders Put Borrowers in a World of Hurt.” Read More…

House Ed members pass bill allowing student organizations to exclude certain groups

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May 14, 2013 at 2:57 pmCategory:Uncategorized

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After considerable debate, members of the House Education Committee passed HB 735, “Student Organizations/Rights & Recognition,” (previously titled “Protect Religious Student Groups”) on a roll call vote, 30-20. The bill is a companion to Sen. Dan Soucek’s SB 719, passed by the Senate last week.

The bill would provide that religious or political student organizations on UNC and community college campuses have the right to determine the organization’s core functions (such as selecting leaders and members and defining doctrines) and resolve disputes within the organization, in accordance with their own core beliefs and values.

A campus would be prohibited from discriminating against any student organization or group that it has granted recognition to if the organization or group exercises its rights of determining its core functions and dispute resolution.

Rep. Henry Michaux raised the possibility of discriminatory outcomes as a result of the legislation, asking the bill’s sponsor what would happen if a student organization discriminates against a group of people even though the university has an anti-discrimination policy. Would this bill force the university to fund the student group anyway? Read More…

Large turkey processor to close plant, lay off 1,060 workers

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May 14, 2013 at 12:02 pmCategory:Uncategorized

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House of RaefordMaking good on predictions issued earlier this year, House of Raeford Farms has given notice to the state Department of Commerce under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act (aka the “WARN Act”) that it will be closing its slaughter plant and two support facilities in Raeford as early as July 13. The closures will result in the loss of 1,060 jobs in the small Hoke County community (population 4,600). Click here to read the letter sent by House of Raeford on May 10 as well as a May 13 memo from Commerce Assistant Secretary Roger Shackleford on the subject.   Read More…

Daily Reflector on Berger’s tax plan: Not a serious attempt at reform

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May 14, 2013 at 11:37 amCategory:Uncategorized

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ReflectorThe Greenville Daily Reflector is the latest paper to offer the Senate leadership’s tax reform proposal less than glowing remarks. The editorial board writes in Tuesday’s paper:

‘Last week, N.C. Senate President Phil Berger formally announced his proposal for comprehensive tax reform, putting in writing many of the rumors swirling about such a plan. If approved, it would eliminate the personal income tax, corporate tax and business franchise fee in what the Eden Republican claimed would be the largest tax cut in state history.

To offset such a massive loss in revenue collection, the state would dramatically expand the scope of the sales tax to cover many more goods and services. It would include taxing prescription drugs and raising the tax on food from 2 percent to 7 percent here in Pitt County.

Analysis of the plan confirms that the end result would be a tax hike for a majority of state residents and a tax cut for only the wealthiest. In no small measure, the plan would shift the burden of funding state government from those atop the economic ladder to those at the bottom. What’s more, it is not revenue neutral and would therefore require significant spending reductions in a state that already pinching pennies for needs like schools and roads. Read More…

Kansas’ glide path to the bottom

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May 14, 2013 at 9:03 amCategory:NC Budget and Tax Center

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This is the second of a three-part blog series presenting voices from other states that have unsuccessfully pursued versions of comprehensive tax “reform.” (See Part 1)

Commentary provided by Annie McKay, Executive Director of Kansas Center for Economic Growth in Topeka, KS.

Kansas Center for Economic Growth

Kansas’ Glide Path to the Bottom

Kansas should be on the road to recovery, climbing out of the hole created by the Great Recession. But instead we are on a path to more economic pain and uncertainty because of unaffordable tax cuts and the resulting cuts to services that erode the very foundations of our prosperity. Kansas policymakers have an opportunity to heed the lessons learned one year after its costly tax cut experiment and change course — before it’s too late.

Unfortunately, lawmakers look to be doubling down on the damage already done. Even as the House and Senate make up for the even deeper hole they created with tax cuts by cutting vital services for seniors and education funding for our children, and by permanently hiking the sales tax on everyone, they are moving forward with plans to eliminate the income tax. Read More…