NC JOBS WINS - North Carolina Chamber

NC JOBS WINS
2015 Legislative Victories for Business, Jobs & the Economy
Securing North Carolina’s Future, One Job at a Time!
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Made possible by
North Carolina Chamber members.
NC Chamber Benefits
Your Bottom Line
Tax and UI Reforms Working to Keep More Money in the Private Sector
The balanced tax and unemployment insurance reforms the NC Chamber helped secure in 2013 elevated North Carolina’s
business tax climate from 44th to 16th in the nation, helping to keep more money in the private sector for job creation. A
three-year UI debt repayment plan was implemented to pay off our nearly $3 billion UI debt and save employers an average
of $714 per employee and $1 billion overall, while tax reform saved employers an estimated $2.5 billion overall, with
additional savings expected from reforms passed in 2015.
We did it again in 2015.
This session, the NC Chamber fought to
secure a lower personal income tax of 5.499%
to provide added relief for small businesses; a
4% corporate income tax rate (dropping to
3% when revenue targets are met in future
years) to keep more money in the private
sector; and single sales factor apportionment
to ensure North Carolina companies are
taxed fairly for in-state business.
Corporate Tax
Rates
Once the new corporate income tax rate of
3 percent is phased in, North Carolina’s
corporate income tax rate will be the
lowest in the nation among the states that
levy one.
Individual Tax Rates
(62% of all NC employers with payroll are
pass-through entities)
2013
6.90%
2013
6.0-7.75%
2014
6.00%
2014
5.80%
2015
5.00%
2015
5.75%
*2016
4.00%
2016
5.499%
*2017
3.00%
2017
5.499%
*2016-2017 rate reduction assumes General Fund revenue targets are met
EMPLOYER FUTA TAX: WHAT YOU PAY
Year
FUTA Tax While in Debt to Feds
Without Debt to Feds
Your Savings Per Employee
2010
$42
2011
$63
2012
$84
2013
$105
2014
$126
2015
$147
2016
$168
$42
$126
2017
$189
$42
$147
2018
$210
$42
$168
2019
$231
$42
$189
DEBT PAID
TOTAL SAVINGS $714 per employee
Benefits for North Carolina Businesses
Reduction in Corporate & Individual Tax Rate PASSED……………….…… $2.5 Billion
Federal Unemployment Compensation Conformity PASSED…………..…. $ 1 Billion
Energy Savings from NCEMPA Assets Deal PASSED…………………..…… $70 Million
Health Care Mandates DEFEATED………………………………...………… $25 Million
Average Rate Decrease from Workers’ Compensation Reforms……...…… 10.2%
TOTAL SAVINGS $3,595,000,000
NC Chamber Fights to Protect & Fund
North Carolina’s Transportation Future
The sweeping tax and UI reforms the NC
Chamber helped pass in 2013 are
working to keep more money in North
Carolina’s economy – and in the hands of
job creators. More money means the
business community and state leaders
have more resources to strategically invest in our future
growth. Key to that growth is our transportation network.
Roads, rails, ports and airports provide the lifelines that
allow commerce to flow and link our state with the larger
global economy; but without recurring revenue sources,
our transportation network has only continued to
deteriorate with each passing year.
The unified business community has long recognized the
daunting challenge our underfunded transportation
network poses to our future competitiveness. We knew our
leaders could not afford to wait to solve our transportation
challenge, and the NC Chamber’s balanced voice was the
right voice to give them the encouraging push they
needed. With 2 million additional residents expected to
bring even greater pressure to bear on our transportation
infrastructure by 2030, we made securing
the future of North Carolina’s entire
transportation network the centerpiece
of our 2015 JOBS Agenda.
In January 2015, the NC Chamber held a
press conference where we touted
long-term transportation funding reform
as our top legislative priority for 2015.
Launching the “NC Can’t Afford to Wait”
campaign, we began to build a base of
support for legislative solutions to our long-term
transportation challenge. Keeping our foot on the gas, the
North Carolina Chamber advocacy team directed a clear
and consistent message toward elected leaders
throughout session: face this challenge with courage and
work to solve it now, or watch our competitiveness suffer
as our infrastructure problems continue to get worse.
In August 2014, the North Carolina Chamber
formed the Coalition for a Prosperous Future to begin
raising awareness around the need for long-term
transportation funding reform. The coalition included 60
organizations unified by an overriding motivation – a
commitment to solving North Carolina’s transportation
funding challenges before it was too late.
2013
Jan.
2015
Aug.
2014
North Carolina’s elected leaders
courageously stepped up to the
challenge. In March, leaders in the
General Assembly and Governor
McCrory passed Senate Bill 20 into law.
The bill stabilized transportation
funding for the immediate future and laid the
groundwork to continue building a conversation around
long-term funding. In September, leaders concluded that
discussion, passing a budget that included the first
long-term transportation reform measures passed in
North Carolina in more than a generation.
Mar.
2015
Transportation funding reform measures secured in 2015
created an additional $1.158 billion in transportation
revenue availability over the biennium, with $708 million
deriving from recurring sources. The motor fuel tax was
indexed under a new annually-adjusted formula to
account for future growth, while the NC Ports Authority
gained the first-ever state appropriation ($70 million) to
modernize our outlets to overseas markets. New procedures were put in place to streamline the long-term delivery of
projects over the entire network, allowing for more new construction where it is needed most. And by ending the annual
$216-million transfer from the Highway Fund to the General Fund, reforms ensured that virtually all money raised for
transportation is invested directly back into the transportation network.
As North Carolina transitions from a regional competitor to a global innovator, the NC Chamber’s strong advocacy in
support of long-term transportation reform is helping the business community prepare to create jobs at an unprecedented
rate – 1.5 million more jobs over the next 15 years, in fact. This is yet more compelling evidence that the North Carolina
Chamber – with the support of the unified business community – can combine the balanced voice to draw attention to
long-term challenges facing our state with the competitive vision to guide elected leaders toward effective solutions to
those challenges.
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In the fight to grow good jobs and create new economic opportunities
for people and businesses in North Carolina, the North Carolina Chamber team
focuses our strategic advocacy efforts around a forward-thinking blueprint
coordinated by the NC Chamber Foundation: North Carolina Vision 2030 – A Plan
for Accelerating Job Growth and Securing North Carolina’s Future. This blueprint
ensures that each advocacy priority we support at the state capital will help
strengthen the four Pillars of a Secure Future: education and talent supply,
competitive business climate, entrepreneurship and innovation, and
infrastructure and growth leadership.
Each year, our team creates a tactical playbook, our JOBS Agenda,
comprising the key legislative issues the NC Chamber will fight to achieve in
each session. In this first session of the 2015-2016 legislative biennium, with the
strong voice of the unified business community urging us on, the NC Chamber
secured a broad array of legislative victories that will make our state – and your
business – even more competitive in the national and global race for jobs.
PRO-JOBS BILLS PASSED
Education & Talent Supply
Supported Efforts to Attract and Retain the Best Teachers
The NC Chamber supported increasing teacher pay to make North Carolina more competitive in attracting and retaining the best and brightest teachers. As
part of the final budget, salaries for first-year teachers were raised to the national average of $35,000, while all teachers were awarded a bonus of $750 in 2015.
Strengthened Student Literacy and Increased Accountability in K-12
The NC Chamber advocated for priorities, ultimately secured in the budget, to expand the Read to Achieve summer reading program with an additional $20
million investment to help more students hit fourth-grade reading targets (a key indicator of future success). This pro-growth education reform is a direct
investment in our students’ future, strengthening student literacy, improving graduation rates, and increasing accountability in the classroom.
Supported Transition to Digital Learning in Schools (H660)
The NC Chamber supported digital learning priorities ultimately secured in the budget, including a $53.8 million investment through 2017 to equip all schools
in the state with broadband and Wi-Fi connectivity. Broadening access to digital education allows students across NC to engage with online programs that
provide them with the skills needed for the jobs of tomorrow.
Increased Long-Term Job Opportunities for U.S. Service Men and Women (S43)
The NC Chamber helped secure more streamlined procedures for qualified military veterans to attain Commercial Drivers’ Licenses as they seek to transfer their
valuable experience into productive jobs in the civilian trucking force. These measures will expand career opportunities for veterans to help fill more than 4,000
trucking jobs in NC.
Legal Climate
Strengthened Competitiveness with Improved Legal Recourse for Property Owners (H405)
The NC Chamber helped expand fair legal recourse for business owners by successfully advocating for the creation of a civil, compensatory process for owners
to seek $5,000 in damages for each day an intruder engages in unauthorized activity on private property. The added measures will make our legal climate more
attractive to new businesses by sending a message to job creators that NC values the legal rights of business owners.
Boosted Accountability in Private Attorney Contracting (S682)
The NC Chamber strongly advocated for increased accountability and transparency in private attorney contracting by supporting a fair tax evaluation process
for employers. Preventing local government units from using contingent-based contracts for business audit assessments will help provide job creators with the
fair auditing process they deserve.
Protected NC Employers from Unconstitutional Foreign Judgments (S596)
The NC Chamber successfully fought to protect businesses against state enforcement of legal judgments made in foreign countries. Additional protections
increase civil liability certainty for North Carolina businesses and serve as an attractive advantage over competing states.
Established Clarity around Unclaimed Life Insurance Benefits (S665)
The NC Chamber supported measures to clarify the legal and regulatory obligations of life insurers. Senate Bill 665 requires insurers to proactively search for
deceased policyholders and preserves their long-standing responsibilities to remit unclaimed life and annuity property to the state. These measures give
businesses more certainty in the process of transferring unclaimed property to the state.
MORE PRO-JOBS BILLS PASSED
Labor & Workforce
Supported Transitioning Veterans into Sustainable Jobs (S43)
The NC Chamber supported broadening employment opportunities for veterans in the civilian trucking workforce. These measures not only increase
opportunities for returning service members to lead productive lives, they also promote the growth of sustainable jobs in NC by making use of a
sizeable, underutilized pool of exceptional talent.
Strengthened Employers’ Property Rights (H405)
The NC Chamber helped protect property rights for job creators by ensuring employers have legal recourse and protection against employees who
fraudulently misrepresent themselves and steal company property or secrets.
Taxes
Modernized Taxes to Strengthen NC’s Competitive Position
The NC Chamber successfully pushed for further tax modernization. New budget measures lowered the corporate income tax to 4% (dropping to 3%
in future years when revenue targets are reached) to keep more money in the private sector. North Carolina’s business tax climate jumped from 44th
to 16th after the 2013 tax reforms; once implemented, these new measures are expected to move North Carolina up once again, to 13th (Source: Tax
Foundation).
Increased Tax Simplicity and Eased Administrative Burdens
The NC Chamber increased tax certainty for businesses by successfully advocating for single sales factor apportionment. This measure ensures
multi-state corporations are taxed only for sales occurring in North Carolina, simplifying corporate income tax calculations and reducing compliance
costs to ensure companies receive the fair tax process they deserve.
Extended Priority Tax Credits for Existing Businesses (H117)
The NC Chamber helped extend priority investments for existing businesses by fighting to retain the datacenter tax credit and competitive fuel prices
for aviation companies. These competitive measures ensure NC will remain a top destination state for businesses in key industries.
Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Increased Small Business Competitiveness
The NC Chamber worked to create a more competitive business climate for small businesses by supporting a further reduction in the personal income
tax. The lower personal rate of 5.499% will provide added relief for small businesses, giving owners more freedom in deciding how to invest in the
operations of their company (Source: Tax Foundation).
Strengthened NC’s Innovative Economy (H117)
The NC Chamber helped secure an extension on the datacenter tax credit and the aviation fuel tax credit, sending a competitive message that North
Carolina places a high value on industries and businesses that support innovative growth in NC, like the telecommunications and aviation sectors.
Supported Growth of Transportation Network Industry (S541)
The NC Chamber advocated for smart regulations that reinforced many safety and security procedures already in use by virtually all transportation
network companies, such as Uber and Lyft. These innovative companies use online platforms to connect riders with transportation and help support
local economies, and the new measures make NC more attractive to such endeavors.
Energy Production
Advanced an “All of the Above” Energy Strategy (S716)
The NC Chamber supported modernization efforts for North Carolina’s energy infrastructure, successfully advocating for the state to direct the NC
Utilities Commission to allow Duke Energy to construct a new natural gas power plant to replace older coal-fired facilities currently operating at the
Asheville Steam and Electric Generating Plant in Buncombe County. This measure represents another positive step toward a responsible, “all of the
above” strategy for domestic energy production.
Broadened Access to Affordable Energy in NC (S305)
The NC Chamber helped level the statewide playing field for affordable energy by supporting an assets deal allowing Duke Energy to purchase $1.25
billion of stakes in power facilities owned by the North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency. The deal will reduce rates in impacted communities
in eastern NC by as much as 17 percent in 2015, generating $70 million a year in fuel savings for businesses and residents and bringing more affordable
energy rates to a part of the state where high electricity prices have hindered job creation.
Economic Development
Matched the Competition to Support New Business Investment (H117)
The NC Chamber fought to secure a fully funded Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) program, with an annual cap of $20 million, in order to
match competitive economic development offerings from other states and attract new business investment.
Ensured Adequate Investments to Grow Existing Companies (H117)
The NC Chamber supported a new “big fish” provision applied to the Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) program allowing the $20 million cap
to increase to $35 million during any year in which a high-yield project is secured. This measure ensures an ample pool of funds remains available to
invest in companies already located in North Carolina, spreading JDIG money more evenly throughout the state.
EVEN MORE PRO-JOBS BILLS PASSED
Transportation
Secured Future of NC’s Transportation Network
As the centerpiece of the NC Chamber’s advocacy focus this session, we successfully fought for the passage of the first long-term transportation funding
reform measures for our state in more than a generation. These measures created $1.158 billion in additional transportation revenue availability over
the next biennium (with $708 million of that total derived from recurring revenue), securing NC’s transportation future for decades to come.
Improved Project Deliverability Over Entire Transportation Network
For North Carolina, the future of our transportation network rests not only on our ability to maintain and improve our roads and bridges, but our ports,
airports and railways as well. The NC Chamber successfully advocated to pass measures that will streamline long-term project delivery over the entire
network. The most important projects that maximize economic benefits in accordance with the Strategic Mobility Formula will now be more effectively
prioritized.
Broadened Access to Global Markets
North Carolina’s ports provide our state with the built-in potential to achieve “super-state” status in the 21st-Century global economy. The NC Chamber
supported port modernization priorities throughout session; ultimately, the budget secured a $70 million investment for the NC Ports Authority to
modernize our outlets to overseas markets and ensure North Carolina continues to grow as a global competitor in the race for jobs.
Ensured Immediate Stability for Transportation Funding (S20)
Passed early in session with strong support from the NC Chamber, Senate Bill 20 creates a new formula for calculating the motor fuel tax, ensuring future
rates remain in line with our growing population and economy. Senate Bill 20 stabilizes revenue fluctuations to meet our existing infrastructure needs
and laid the foundation for a conversation that ultimately led to the long-term transportation reform measures achieved later in session.
Regulations
Increased Regulatory Balance to Protect and Attract Jobs (H765)
The NC Chamber successfully advocated for a Regulatory Reform Act that ensured North Carolina took the smart next steps in the ongoing process of
balancing our regulatory climate. Balanced regulations provide effective outcomes for the environment while allowing our state to remain competitive
in protecting and attracting job growth.
Created Greater Efficiency in the Regulatory Climate (H765)
The NC Chamber helped build on previous reforms to provide more regulatory certainty for businesses. Modifications to a 2011 law governing
risk-based cleanup of contaminated industrial sites clarified provisions to allow more sites to become eligible for cleanup.
Modernized Regulations to Grow Jobs at the Pace of Business (H795)
Modernizing an outdated State Environmental Protection Act (SEPA) law was a key focus of the NC Chamber in 2015. Securing SEPA modernization
boosted our competitive business climate by removing duplicative permitting and compliance costs to allow job growth to continue at the pace of
business.
ANTI-JOBS BILLS BLOCKED OR AMENDED
Regulations
Blocked Passage of Anti-Growth Regulations (S363)
The NC Chamber’s vigilance helped prevent passage of a last-minute House PCS that substantively transformed legislation to introduce measures
prohibiting air quality permit applications for any new sites within two miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway’s center-line. This burdensome regulation would
have hindered economic growth within a roughly 4-mile wide, 250-mile long corridor through western NC where growing jobs is a top priority.
Labor & Workplace
Blocked Health Insurance Mandates
Health insurance mandates place costly burdens on job creators, increasing insurance premiums, reducing coverage choices, and killing job growth,
with small businesses and individuals bearing the brunt. In 2015, the NC Chamber fought to block more than 10 health insurance mandates. Each
mandate blocked is another incremental cost avoided for employers across NC.
Removed Employer Concerns Regarding E-Verify Changes (H318)
The NC Chamber advocated to successfully alleviate employer concerns regarding proposed changes to E-Verify laws that would have brought NC out
of alignment with surrounding states. Preserving commonsense E-Verify laws maintained certainty and prevented additional compliance costs for job
creators.
Alleviated Firearm Safety Concerns in the Workplace (H562)
The NC Chamber fought against encroachment on employer property rights by supporting measures to continue allowing property owners to prohibit
firearms in a locked vehicle on company premises.
2016 NC JOBS AGENDA
Advancing Opportunities to Create Jobs through a Pro-Business Agenda
We listened to you. Based on input from North Carolina Chamber members and policy committees, local chambers of
commerce, allied associations, research and unfinished business from 2015, the 2016 North Carolina JOBS Agenda is a
blueprint of legislative priorities to put long-term economic policy decisions ahead of short-term political fixes and enhance
your company’s ability to grow jobs:
Preserve HIRE Standards and Aligned Assessments
North Carolina has raised the bar to ensure implementation of college- and career-ready standards in our schools. The
NC Chamber is committed to these HIRE Standards – the academic standards we need to ensure our economy grows,
our communities thrive, and our students succeed in real, local jobs. Recognizing the critical role of assessments, the
NC Chamber strongly supports fully aligning our summative assessments with the state’s rigorous education
standards.
Adequate Support for Efficient Project Delivery over Entire Transportation Network
Build on the streamlined project delivery capabilities achieved through long-term transportation funding reform.
Protect the Strategic Investment Act by identifying potential areas to further improve delivery results to meet the
increasing maintenance and construction needs of a transportation network that must continue to evolve to support
a fast-growing economy.
Targeted Tax Reform
Bolster North Carolina’s competitive position through the simplification and reduction of the franchise tax – the
statewide tax on assets and business property – and elimination of the mill machinery tax on manufacturing.
Affordable and Accessible Health Care
Greater flexibility and reduced complexity is essential as employers work to provide health care coverage for their
employees. The NC Chamber opposes legislation mandating what individual employers must cover for their
employees. Each employer is in the best position to understand the needs of their employees and what their business
can afford to pay.
Greater Protection through Tort Reform
Tort reform is critical for jump-starting job creation, protecting companies against frivolous lawsuits and providing
more certainty to businesses and taxpayers in the state’s legal system. The NC Chamber supports reforming asbestos
and silica bankruptcy trust litigation for greater legal transparency and increasing employment fraud prevention
measures, as well as other costly concerns in our civil liability system.
Fostering Entrepreneurship and Innovation
North Carolina must consistently foster innovation and entrepreneurship that leads to capital formation, investment,
employment and good jobs. The NC Chamber will push long-term initiatives, such as intellectual property transfer
and crowd-funding, as well as reclaiming a research and development competitive advantage, to ensure North
Carolina remains at the forefront of innovative growth strategies.
“All of the Above” Energy Production Strategy
Fully realize the potential benefits of domestic energy production – including coal, natural gas and renewable sources
– to spur job creation in our state, while implementing protective measures and smart standards that safeguard a
healthy environment and high quality of life for North Carolinians.
Continued Regulatory Reform
While significant environmental and regulatory reforms have been made to promote job growth, the NC Chamber
approaches regulatory modernization as an ongoing balancing process. We support continued legislative reforms to
further increase regulatory efficiency, balancing job creation and environmental protection by creating a more
streamlined and transparent rulemaking process.
JOIN THE FIGHT,
Secure North Carolina’s Future!
North Carolina is becoming a preeminent location to live and work in the global economy,
and it all starts with good jobs! The NC Chamber believes healthy, job-creating businesses
are the number one catalyst that will position North Carolina to ride a wave of
unprecedented growth.
Elected leaders and legislators make decisions every day that impact your business and its
growth potential. The pro-growth reforms that the NC Chamber has worked to help secure
are making our business climate more competitive and growing the statewide economic
pie for employers of all sizes. With your support, the NC Chamber is focused on continuing
to advance the interests of the business community in the legislative and political arenas.
Join the NC Chamber in the fight to secure North Carolina’s future, one job at a time!
Membership Services:
Contact Ed Troha
etroha@ncchamber.net
(919) 836-1542
NC Chamber Political Program:
Contact Nathan Babcock
nbabcock@ncchamber.net
(919) 836-1413
North Carolina
Chamber Foundation :
Contact Jim Simpson
jsimpson@ncchamber.net
(919) 836-1420
Governmental Affairs:
Contact Gary Salamido
gsalamido@ncchamber.net
(919) 836-1403
NC Chamber PAC (Political
Action Committee):
Contact Jake Cashion
jcashion@ncchamber.net
(919) 836-1411
While there were significant reforms and sizeable gains made for the North Carolina business community in 2015,
the NC Chamber knows there is more to accomplish and we are hard at work, advancing jobs-focused issues. Read more
about the 2016 opportunities to create jobs and promote a pro-business agenda at ncchamber.net.
North Carolina Chamber
701 Corporate Center Drive, Suite 400, Raleigh NC 27607
Phone: 919-836-1400 | Fax: 919-836-1425 | ncchamber.net
@NCChamber
linkedin.com/company/ncchamber
youtube.com/user/northcarolinachamber