Fed up voters rejected a century of anti-reform, anti-business rule in the legislature in 2010 – electing a new reform majority to get North Carolina out of an economic ditch rivaling the Grand Canyon.
Here are 10 reforms that have made things better over the past decade:
A tripling of the amount money families can earn tax-free, to $20,000 – and more if Roy Cooper hadn’t vetoed another budget
Lower individual and business income tax rates and tax reduction on consumer purchases – real tax reform that helped generate about 750,000 new jobs.
Reform of the sales tax distribution to boost long-forgotten rural areas.
Affordable college – a four-year tuition freeze for students enrolling at UNC System colleges and $500 tuition on three campuses.
Balanced budgets and spending restraint.
Ending the years-long raid of the Highway Trust Fund.
Removing unnecessary regulations.
A work requirement for able-bodied food stamp recipients.
An opportunity scholarship program giving low-income kids a shot at a better education.
Annual pay raises for teachers, and performance bonuses, that raised average teacher salaries well above $50,000 per year.
Plenty of folks want to retreat in 2020. We say bring on another reform decade. Happy New Year from your friends at the Carolina Partnership for Reform.