Carolina Journal’s Dan Way reports on a development some speculate is related to the potential interest by Apple to locate a facility in the Raleigh/Durham are.

Legislative leaders will boost tax-paid subsidies available in the $23.9 billion 2018-19 budget proposal to seduce multibillion-dollar corporations to locate in the state.

House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, and Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, announced a five-point grant and tax credit plan to reporters Thursday, May 17, a day after notifying the Republican Caucus of their intentions. They said Gov. Roy Cooper was apprised of the changes and was supportive.

They downplayed any potential friction with party members who oppose using taxpayer money to pick winners and losers in the market. They said the plan just modifies existing programs.

Moore said he opposes simple tax giveaways, and characterized the proposed changes as building blocks. He said such approaches are used in other states, citing the economic revitalization ignited by BMW putting an automaking plant 45 minutes from his home in Greenville, South Carolina.

JLF’s Joe Coletti reacted to the news:

Joe Coletti, a senior fellow who researches fiscal and tax policy at the John Locke Foundation, and formerly worked at the Office of State Budget and Management, was critical of expanding JDIG.

“Apple may or may not come to North Carolina, but the proposed change is another example of how state government creates incentives for auto plants and expand to other industries with lower standards for investment and job creation,” Coletti said.