by Dr. Jason Lee for Americans for Tax Reform

Over the past decade, reforms enacted in North Carolina have made the state a national trendsetter in tax reform, school choice, and spending restraint. The most recent reform enacted in North Carolina could make the state a model for reining in profligate and irresponsible local governments.  

The GOP-controlled North Carolina General Assembly recently enacted  Senate Bill 299, which stipulates that sales tax revenue typically distributed to municipalities must be withheld by the state government from any local governments whose annual financial audit is well overdue. Amazingly, legislators needed to override a veto from Governor Roy Cooper (D) to enact this commonsense bill. 

Cooper’s veto was overridden in the North Carolina senate by a vote of 31–16 with a lone Democrat, Sen. Mike Woodard (D-Durham) siding with the Republicans. The House overrode the veto by a vote of 75 – 44 with three Democrats siding with Republicans. 

Governor Cooper issued a statement explaining his veto of SB 299, in which he claimed the bill, “is likely to punish residents of some of our state’s smallest communities.” 

A bipartisan statement of support for SB 299, however, was issued by North Carolina Treasurer, Dale Folwell (R) and State Auditor, Beth Wood (D): “When the leadership of governmental units fails to submit timely audits, the state has no insight as to whether they are in financial difficulty,” Folwell and Wood said. “The taxpayers hurt by this lack of transparency are often those on lower and fixed incomes.”