Today Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) and House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) held a news conference that previewed the General Assembly’s agenda for the upcoming long session.
While a lot of details were not discussed, there are some things that were mentioned that will keep legislators busy this session.
Senator Berger opened the press conference by saying they will continue to work on regulatory reform in efforts to protect people and the environment as well as not hurt businesses with burdensome regulations. He went on to tout the more competitive tax climate thanks to tax reform.
Reporters brought up the $190 million lagging in state collections – the response from both Berger and Moore was strong and did not bring alarm to the potential shortfall. Senator Berger told reporters that state sales and corporate income tax revenues are up and the only lagging tax is the personal income tax. Both believe after the April collections there is a good chance the personal income tax will correct itself. They also reminded everyone that when Republicans took power in 2011 there was a $2.5 billion shortfall and they managed with little problems, so if there is a $190-$200 million shortfall this year, it will not be too big an issue.
While the governor has made it quite clear he is supportive of expanding Medicaid, both Berger and Moore made it equally as clear they do not have any intentions of expanding Medicaid. They both agreed that Medicaid has its problems and needs to be reformed, but throwing more money at an already broken program is not the answer. Press asked if an agreement on the type of reform had been yet, and both responded they have not made an agreement at this time but are sure more discussion will follow during the session.
The governor is planning to present an economic incentives plan to the legislature. While both Berger and Moore did not lay out any specifics about incentives, they both agreed that while the lowering of the tax rates makes North Carolina a competitive place to do business, maybe they need to offer something extra to bring in more businesses.
They did address the distribution of the state sales tax to counties, and there might be a change in that distribution to benefit more rural and economically distressed counties. In addition, they answered questions about the privilege license tax that was repealed last session. McCrory has a plan to help the municipalities with this loss of income from the tax. Berger and Moore wouldn’t comment any further until they see McCrory’s plan.
Discussion was also made to possibly revert the repeal of the historical property tax credit and maybe turn it into a grant, but again they would have to wait and see what the final revenue numbers are before they can commit to anything.
Overall the press conference was a vague overview of issues they plan to discuss in the 2015 session. One thing that was very clear was that McCrory has different ideas on some things than both the Senate and the House – so it will be interesting to see how the legislative and executive branch handle disagreements this session.
