You may wonder: why is an environmental group tangling in a bill with a provision to place a cap on individual income tax?
We’ll give you an answer: because it matters.
We believe that all North Carolinians deserve the best quality of life possible. That means having healthy air to breathe and clean water to drink. The best quality of life also means that people deserve safe, high-paying jobs. And our most vulnerable populations – whether the young or old – deserve access to public services when needed.
House Bill 3, particularly the proposed income tax cap, threatens that very quality of life. The NC Senate rammed this legislation through on Tuesday, grouping together three seemingly innocuous proposed Constitutional amendments in a neat little package.
These three provisions undermine the very identity of North Carolina.
We echo the sentiments of the News & Record editorial board: the reason these Constitutional edits are on the table is because it’s an election year. And conservative leaders want to ensure that their voter base turns out. Because what’s really the harm for establishing an amendment that showcase our state’s hunting and fishing heritage, or stopping the government from claiming eminent domain for “public benefit”, or best yet, cutting taxes for public services?
Are you wondering if you experienced a public service today? Let’s see:
Did you turn on your tap?
Did you drive or take a bus?
Have you taken a breath?
We often take the amenities of everyday life for granted. But, these building blocks of society are not free. Tax revenues help provide protections for everything from our drinking water to access to healthy foods. The quality of our daily lives depends on public services that create a healthy, safe environment for us all.
Changing the constitution to permanently freeze income tax rates would restrict funding for essential environmental safeguards. Our state environmental agency’s budget has been slashed year after year. An income tax cap will only further limit funds available to ensure rules preserving clean air, land and water are enforced. Limiting public funds will make it even easier for our anti-environmental elected officials to justify gutting our state’s natural resources budget even more.
It would also give the richest people in North Carolina an enormous – and permanent – tax break. This proposed amendment is essentially a giveaway to millionaires that will come at the expense of our communities’ basic needs.
Rather than raise funds through income taxes, legislators will most likely increase sales taxes, which disproportionately impacts working families and our state’s lowest wage earners. This one-two punch of dirtying our natural resources and exploiting our already marginalized communities is unacceptable. What looks good on paper often does not look good in the outcomes.
Establishing a ‘cap’ on individual income tax may have good intentions. But, in actuality, it will create a North Carolina that tilts in favor of those with the means to afford bottled water and the ability to live in coal-ash free communities.
Our elected officials are responsible for protecting our well-being, and we will hold them accountable to their duty. We urge NC House members to recognize the importance of protecting the quality of life for each and every one of their constituents and vote “No” on House Bill 3.
