The day the 2009 legislative session ended, Gov. Bev Perdue said that tax reform will be a priority for her next year. Mark Binker, capital correspondent for the Greensboro News & Record, reports on his blog that Perdue regards revenue restructuring as "a huge must-do for me."
This is an important key toward updating the state's revenue system. Here are some additional things I outlined in Sunday's column that are needed.
House Speaker Joe Hackney says it will take Perdue's support to get it passed -- though of course it will take his support, too. He has not been enthusiastic about it before. And it will need to be revenue neutral, he has said.
It would also be helpful to have bipartisan support, but right now that seems unlikely to develop, considering how sharply divided Democrats and Republicans were on how to write the 2009-10 budget in this past session. That broke on such a strong partisan line that it would be hard to imagine circumstances that would bring the GOP to the table.
In addition, next year is an election year for legislators. Anybody out there think that will help things along?
