On November 2, 2010, the Republican party gained control of the North Carolina General Assembly for the first time since 1898… 112 years! I’ve had the opportunity to get to know a number of the people that will be representing us in this new General Assembly and am hopeful that NC will turn back towards freedom and prosperity. Clearly, the number one priority of this new General Assembly will be to rein in the spending of state government and address the growing budget deficit. Aside from this first priority, there are a number of priorities that I would like to encourage the next General Assembly to consider:

• Election reform
• Tax reform
• Regulatory reform
• Education reform
• Secure our Rights

Tax reform

One of the greatest drains on an economy is income taxes. Billions and billions of dollars and thousands of hours are spent each year complying with income tax regulations, preparing tax returns and finding ways to legally avoid paying taxes. This time and money is wasted and does nothing to encourage business and generate jobs. The surest way to encourage new businesses to locate to NC and to encourage existing businesses to expand and to encourage new businesses to start is to eliminate the NC state income tax.

There has been some suggestion that a service tax might be considered next year in NC. If the state income tax were replaced with a service tax that could be a welcome exchange. If a service tax were added in addition to the existing taxes, then the Republicans should expect to find themselves voted out of office in 2012.

The new General Assembly should quickly work to eliminate the NC state income tax.

Regulatory reform

After taxes, particularly income taxes, regulations are the greatest burden on businesses and people in NC. The cost of business regulations are passed on to us, the consumers, in the cost of products that we purchase. Eliminating unnecessary regulations will encourage businesses to come to NC, stay in NC and expand.

One specific regulation that the General Assembly should quickly eliminate is the requirement for medical facilities to file for a Certificate of Need to build new facilities, expand or remodel and to purchase medical equipment. The Certificate of Need makes it difficult for a medical facility to respond to the needs of their patients by growing or buying equipment which results in higher medical costs for patients.

The new General Assembly needs to systematically review all state regulations on businesses and individuals and eliminate or simplify all regulations. One regulation that should immediately be eliminated is the Certificate of Need for medical facilities.

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Scott Cumbie (Facebook)
http://www.cumbieforcongress.com/