Kansas and North Carolina have each garnered attention for their tax reforms earlier this decade. Kansas became the example of tax cuts gone wrong, with deficits and budget crises resulting in policy reversals. The lesson from North Carolina is the opposite: a strategy of tax reform and spending restraint that, coupled with strong and focused leadership, has resulted in economic growth and more money in the pockets of working North Carolinians. The state has reduced tax rates in four of the last six years while building its savings for a Rainy Day to $2 billion this summer. What are the institutional, policy, and economic factors that contributed to these divergent outcomes? What can Kansans learn from this successful model? Can North Carolina sustain its success? Joe Coletti will provide perspective.
