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Introduction

As we enter the 2006 campaign season, candidates for public office in North Carolina are faced with the daunting and possibly overwhelming task of developing informed positions on dozens of public policy issues. AGENDA 2006 is part of an ongoing series begun a decade ago and published every two years by the John Locke Foundation. These reports are meant to provide a concise and easily digestible public policy guide for candidates for state and local offices in North Carolina.

In 1946 Henry Hazlitt wrote Economics in One Lesson, his now classic introduction to economics and economic policy. In writing his introduction to the "50th Anniversary" edition in 1996 (three years after Hazlitt's death), Steve Forbes noted, "every tenet of the new economics that Hazlitt dispels continues today to rear its head in one form or another." In comparing the topics and issues covered in AGENDA 2006 to those covered in our previous reports, it is quite clear that the same could be said for the actions of North Carolina's state government.

One of the best examples is how in the mid and late 1990s the General Assembly and then-Governor Jim Hunt used large budget surpluses to expand the size and scope of state government. Short-term budget windfalls were used to create long-term program commitments. This shortsighted spending spree came home to roost in 2001 when the recession created large deficits that led to tax hefty tax increases. In 2006 we face a similar situation. Tax money is rolling in, surpluses abound — and once again all of the surpluses and then some are going to new spending, while the "temporary" tax increases that were supposed to expire in 2003 continue to punish the state's most productive citizens.

Medicaid spending, fueled by expansions during those heady surplus years of the 1990s, also continues to be the driving force behind both state and county budgets, with no attempt to seriously reform the system in ways that would lead to more consumer choice and slower spending growth. The state's education system — despite years of new testing programs, smaller class sizes, teacher pay raises, and new preschool programs — continues to be plagued by poor performance, especially among minority students. These issues were just as pressing a decade ago as they are today.

In addition, there are a few new issues for lawmakers to contend with. AGENDA 2006 includes a section on air quality in North Carolina, not because pollution has gotten worse, but in part to make clear that air quality has gotten significantly better. Also, a purpose of this section is to alert candidates to the economic dangers of using state policy to address the issue of global warming — a problem that, regardless of its scientific legitimacy, the state of North Carolina cannot fix or even affect.

Another new topic area covered this year is property rights. With the Kelo U.S. Supreme Court decision, North Carolinians have become especially concerned about the possibility of local governments using eminent domain to take their property and transfer it to economic developers or other private parties. At the present time North Carolina law does not prevent these kinds of "economic development takings," which is why the John Locke Foundation argues that an amendment to the state's constitution is needed to protect citizen's rights.

AGENDA 2006 takes a fresh look at these and many other issues that face North Carolina policymakers and voters. This project is a joint effort of the policy analysts that make up the research staff at the John Locke Foundation, each of whom has special expertise in his field.

Roy Cordato
Vice President for Research