Talk about a rock and a hard place. First, Gov. Mike Easley told legislators that he would not sign a budget that threatened the state’s coveted triple-A bond rating. At the same briefing, a line up of financial all-stars - including former Treasurer Harlan Boyles - told legislative leaders that the only way to save the bond rating was by raising revenue.

A few hours later, several hundred citizens delivered a very different message during a rally at the legislative building - no new taxes, meaning no new revenue.

Protests are nothing new to members of the General Assembly. Every session a parade of advocates for various causes makes its way to the legislative building to lobby for a whole variety of issues.
Lawmakers often join in to help rally the troops in support of the cause in question.

The revenue package at the center of the current debate would cost most middle-class families about $29 more per year. But it would allow the state to balance the budget and keep its triple-A bond rating, which allows the state to borrow money at a low interest rate.

The rating means more than lower interest rates on bonds issued by the state and local governments. It is a matter of prestige nationally. North Carolina is one of only a handful of states that has maintained the top rating for decades.

Many people opposing the tax package said lawmakers should look for more cuts in the budget, instead of generating more revenue. But the House budget cut $800 million and more than 1,500 jobs, and budget writers said additional cuts would affect the basic education and health services.

Those cuts made in the House and Senate budgets were real, as state employees learned the day before the rally when Easley ordered his agency and department heads to lay off 278 state employees and eliminate an additional 609 vacant positions.

Easley made the announcement as rumors about the planned protest swirled. Some predicted an anti-tax crowd. There was good reason for the speculation and rumors. In Tennessee, a recent anti-tax protest inspired by talk radio hosts degenerated into a rock-throwing, window-breaking assault on the legislature and governor’s office.

The crowd for the “Tar Heel Tea Party” was considerably smaller than 1,000. Police estimated the size at 600. They were also better behaved than in Tennessee. One woman was kicked out of the gallery overlooking the House chamber when she threw tea bags onto lawmakers sitting below, and another demonstrator was escorted out when he stood up and began protesting.

Aside from those incidents, the rally was calm. There was no rock throwing, violence or unruly mobs.
Organizers and legislators said the protestors had made their point, even if the crowd was smaller than expected.

But at the end of the day, lawmakers were no closer to getting out from between the rock of additional revenue and the hard place of no new taxes.

(Rep. Phillip Haire represents the 52nd House District of Western North Carolina. He can be reached in his Raleigh office at 419-B Legislative Office Building, Raleigh, NC 27601-1096; by phone at 919.715.3005; by fax at 919.754.3173; or email to philliph@ncleg.net.

 

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The Smoky Mountain News