We would like to formally thank our representatives in the NC General Assembly for their efforts during the recent legislative session.  On July 10th the General Assembly passed H1973, making late changes to the bill to retain a valuable tax credit tool used for job creation and machinery investment.  On July 9^th, S778 was passed, amending the application of the State Environmental Policy Act that we wrote about in June.  A special thank you to Rep. Justus for 4.5 terms, many hours, and many years in service to our community.

Critical components contained within H1973 include the preservation of Article 3J Tax Credits. When selling NC to outside businesses or trying to win consolidation or expansion projects, there is only one statutory tool available.  Local incentives are discretionary, One NC grants are discretionary, Job Development Investment Grants are discretionary, and infrastructure grants through Rural Center, Commerce, and Appalachian Regional Commission are discretionary and timely.  So when the recruitment or expansion conversation reaches the point to becoming competitive as it relates to the company's bottom line - we have one tool that we can say, "if you do this, the State will do this."  By design, qualifying for these credits ensures that North Carolina will see a return through jobs created and taxable investment. Through the support of our local delegation these tax credits were preserved and will continue to be a critical piece of North Carolina’s state-wide economic development strategy.

In addition to the preservation of job creation tax credits our local delegation went through significant efforts to curb the effects of a recent Superior Court decision which could have imposed a new level of bureaucracy on private sector economic development projects. Based on a recent decision by Judge Donald Stephens economic project that are eligible for state or local incentives, could have potentially become subject to the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) a state-wide policy designed to ensure public projects receive public oversight. Deviating from nearly 30 years of precedent the Superior Court’s decision could have potentially required all private job creation projects to undergo this same review process adding significant costs and time to new construction projects. These increased levels of bureaucracy would have proven detrimental to the state’s ability to attract new job creation projects. Recognizing the potential negative effects on North Carolina and Henderson County’s business climate our local delegation worked to amend the impact of the SEPA decision with state legislation, ensuring that policy’s original intent to be used exclusively for major state projects continues to be the standard practice.

In the face of significant budgetary challenges we are proud our local delegation continues to hold job creation efforts as a significant priority.  Again, thank you to Senator Apodaca, Representative Guice and Representative Justus!