Governor¡¯s Committee of 5 to Slop Our State Income Tax Dollars Around Trough with Favorite Corporate Lobbyists
October 3rd passage of House Bill 1734 creates kitty of State Income Tax Dollars for hand out to corporations lobbying Governor Easley¡¯s newly formed Economic Investment Committee
Near the absolute very end of the long and overextended current session of our General Assembly in Raleigh, Governor Easley won approval of a plan to create an Economic Investment Committee made up five people:
¡¤ The Secretary of Commerce.
¡¤ The Secretary of Revenue.
¡¤ The Director of the Office of State Budget and Management.
¡¤ One member appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Speaker of the House.
¡¤ One member appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the President of the Senate.
This bill was passed in the House 74-27 with both Democratic and Republican support. It was passed in the Senate with only one vote more than the necessary 3/5ths quorum 26-5. My Republican challenger Phil Berger voted for this bill in the second reading, but was absent for the ratification vote along with 13 other members of the Senate who were either too tired to get involved or did not want to register their stand on this important issue.)
Effective January 1st of 2003 and at least until the completion of the next election cycle for Governor, this committee, by the vote of a 3 member majority, The Governor¡¯s Men, will have the authority to transfer up to 75% of state withholding taxes taken from individuals and then rebate them to their employers. Only corporations who pay a $5000 filing fee and are successful in lobbying the committee for a favorable decision are eligible to receive these rebates of their employees state income tax dollars. These rebates can be granted for up to 12 years.
The tax rebate scheme included in House Bill 1734 is only the tip of the iceberg that just sailed through Raleigh with virtually no melt off. This bill is awash in corporate welfare programs to be subsidized by the taxpayers of our state. Adding various incentive schemes to the Bill Lee Act, it will provide additional opportunities for companies coming to the 26th district, such as FedEx to operate under a host of subsidies financed by the taxpaying citizens of our state.
Though our legislators have included some token measures in this bill, by which they can feign concern for avoiding the blatant temptations this bill sets up for political graft, these measures are in reality totally meaningless for the bill also grants the committee the power to create or modify the criteria for handing out our money at essentially the committee¡¯s own discretion. This means that the current limits as to the amounts and methods our state tax dollars are handed out to corporate lobbyists like those for FedEx are exactly that, CURRENT limits. Here is the extent of the restrictions on our Governor¡¯s personal Re-Election Campaign Finance Committee that is masquerading as an Economic Investment Committee. This is the exact text in the bill:
¡°The Committee shall do all of the following at least 15 business days prior to the adoption of or
amendment to any proposed criteria:1. Publish the proposed criteria on the Department of Commerce's web site.
2. Provide notice to persons who have requested notice of proposed criteria.
3. Accept oral and written comments on the proposed criteria.¡±
I read this as, the Committee will pretend to consider what other people point out is outrageous and then go ahead and do what they please anyway. This bill is simply a blank check for our Governor to hand out our precious tax dollars to his highest bidder. Don¡¯t rely on this political press release to form your opinion though. Please go to the primary source, the official General Assembly web site, to read the entire text of the bill, which was passed. Jump to the middle of the long bill¡¯s text to see the real scam:
http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/html2001/bills/AllVersions/House/H1734vr.html
