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NC House budget compromise cuts tax credits, fee hikes
BY COLIN CAMPBELL/newsobserver: Republican N.C. House leaders rolled out a compromise budget Thursday afternoon that cuts DMV fee hikes and tax credit programs – all in an effort to gain votes from some conservatives who’d opposed those provisions.
Budget writers have eliminated a tax credit for companies that hire state universities for research and development work, saving $44 million a year. They’ve reduced a credit for film productions from $60 million per year to $40 million per year. And they’ve shrunk a proposed 50 percent hike in DMV fees to a 30 percent hike, which would take effect in January.
Also on the chopping block: A tax break on jet fuel that benefits American Airlines and its Charlotte hub. House leaders said that credit doesn’t need to be in the budget because it appears in an economic development bill that passed the chamber in March. That bill, however, is stuck in the Senate.
House Majority Leader Mike Hager noted that he’d voted against the tax and fee portion of the budget bill earlier this week. On Thursday, he stood with budget writers at a news conference and praised the new version.
“These changes make a big difference for a lot of us,” Hager said. “We want to make sure we’re funding the core principles of what we need to do. ... This budget has gotten better and better.”