John,
You’ll probably be interested in Rep. Thom Tillis’ take on this topic. The Mecklenburg County Republican had this to say in the committee meeting this morning:
I’m kind of reminded of the old joke that the floggings will continue until morale improves. We’re talking about … implementing some of these taxes so that we can restore [budget] cuts. But we have to recognize that when we do that, we’re mandating cuts in the profits of small businesses and workers across this state.
We are implementing a cut that tells an executive who may make $250,000 a year that if you decide to relocate to this state, it’s going to cost you, probably in the highest tax bracket.
After adding some comments about the anti-business nature of “combined reporting,” another element of the House tax plan, Tillis spelled out potential harm for the state’s efforts to boost business.
We’re telling [Commerce] Secretary [Keith] Crisco you need to change your portfolio of people you’re trying to attract to this state because you are absolutely ? through these tax increases ? going to cut out some of the very things that we need to happen to get this economy going on the right track.
