Unemployment Insurance System Failing NC Biz: We Need Your Help!

North Carolina currently has over $3 billion in unemployment insurance debt, which is owed to the federal government. This debt and the increasing tax implications will have a major impact on NC business and their bottom line. The UI debt is the most immediate challenge to our state’s job creators. 

 

Nov. 10 Federal Unemployment Insurance Debt Deadline > UI Taxes Going Up
On November 10, North Carolina faces the deadline to repay the federal UI loan in order to avoid additional tax penalties. As in 2011, employers will face an additional FUTA tax of .3 percent, or about $21 per employee. That means business will be hit with a tax increase on every job from 63 dollars to 84 dollars per employee! This recent Triangle Business Journal article takes a look at the impact this is having on businesses and different proposals to address the issue, including the NC Chamber UI Study.   Additionally, the Times-News in Hendersonville looked at these tax increases and reports that local businesses say that increases of this magnitude could disable the state’s economy and restrict hiring. The NC Chamber’s Vice President of Government Affairs Gary Salamido discussed the importance of a robust reemployment system in looking at a comprehensive solution. Read the Times-News article here.

 

ACTION ITEM – We need your support and the help of employers statewide to make significant change for North Carolina business. Join the Reemployment Coalition and lend your organization’s name to this support list if you want to stop UI waste and abuse, and see North Carolina develop a comprehensive solution to our state’s UI crisis.  Contact NC Chamber Director of Governmental Affairs Jake Cashion, at jcashion@ncchamber.net or (919) 836-1411, by Friday, November 16.

Thank you for your support; it is critical to shaping a business-driven solution!

Legislative Wrap Up

The Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce was pleased to be the VOICE of business during the NC General Assembly short session. The conclusion of the session in July saw many victories for business in the state and Western North Carolina.

A top priority of the Asheville Chamber has been the cultivation of a regional partnership to provide greater impact to the WNC business voice. This goal was achieved this year as the Asheville Chamber partnered with five other regional chambers to take over 50 business leaders to Jones Street. The regional chambers included were the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce, Black Mountain/Swannanoa Chamber, Haywood County Chamber, Henderson County Chamber, Madison County Chamber, and Brevard/Transylvania Chamber. The trip was a great success and plans are already in the works for next year.

Throughout the course of the short session, the Asheville Chamber was especially pleased to work on and see success with the Eastern Band of Cherokee’s Gambling Compact. This piece of legislation is key to WNC economic development as it will be responsible for 400 new and needed jobs in the region.

The session also saw steps in the right direction with regulatory reform and the removal of duplications in state and federal regulations. Work was also done with education reform with improvements to the lateral entry process. The Chamber believes this will allow business leaders easier access to the classroom. The Chamber was also pleased to see the state budget include initiatives to strengthen the NC Community College System and our state’s workforce development efforts, such as investing $5 million for an NC Back-to-Work Program focused on providing short-term training to the long-term unemployed.

Finally, the Chamber was thankful for work to remove contingency fee audits. Many local government units use third-party auditors for personal property tax purposes and are increasingly engaging these auditors on a contingency fee basis. This is of particular concern to North Carolina businesses because these commission-based fees potentially incentivize the third-party auditor to arbitrarily inflate a taxpayer’s liability since a larger audit assessment results in a larger payment to the auditor. The Chamber thanks the Governor for signing in H462, which will work to stop these unfair contingency fee audits.

Work has already begun to begin preparing for the next years long session. Please stay tuned and keep a look out for the Chamber’s Legislative Priorities Survey. This tool is a great way to identify member’s top priorities for the next year.

Please see below for additional bill tracking.

Regulatory Reform

Bill Number	Description	Tracking
H952	State Air Toxics Program Reforms	Ratified; Signed by the Governor
S810	Regulatory Reform Act of 2012	Ratified
H005	Local Deannexations	Ratified
H925	Annexation Reform 2	Ratified
H462	Contingency Contracts for Audits/ Assessments	Ratified

Taxes

Bill Number	Description	Tracking
H1025	Extend Tax Credit Provisions	Ratified; Signed by Governor
H1015	Economic Development/Finance Changes	Ratified; Signed by Governor

Transportation

Bill Number	Description	Tracking
H142	Caps State Gas Tax at 37.5 Cents	Passed House; In Senate Rules

Education

Bill Number	Description	Tracking
S795	Excellent Public Schools Act	Passed Senate; In House Education (Provisions passed in budget)

Job Creation

Bill Number	Description	Tracking
H116	Small Business Jobs Credit	House Commerce
H1117	Enhance R&D Tax Credit for Small Business	House Commerce
H1118	Small Business Start-Up Tax Relief	House Commerce
S582	Authorize Indian Gaming Revenue	Ratified; Signed by Governor

Celebrate Asheville's Food Scene at The Culinary AffAIR

Tickets are now on sale for The Culinary AffAIR - Asheville's premier food event coming up February 3, 2011 at The Venue.

For a sneak peek, check out this video slideshow produced by Stone Digital Media.

The Culinary Affair from Stone Digital Media on Vimeo.

Asheville Chamber Helps Land-of-Sky Regional Council Recieve $1.6 Million Grant

U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Field Office Director Chris Stearns announced the award of a $1,600,000 HUD Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant to the Land-of-Sky Regional Council today at the Biltmore Doubletree Hotel in Asheville. This “first-ever” award from HUD is part of an overall $3.2 million awarded to two North Carolina organizations -- the Land of Sky Regional Council (LOSRC) and the Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation (PART).

Congressman Heath Shuler spoke at the press conference thanking the Asheville Chamber for their leadership in the community and help in securing the grant. Joe McKinney, head of the Land-of-Sky Regional Council, also thanked the Asheville Chamber for their help with the project.

Mr. Stearns congratulated the Land-of-Sky Regional Council on their award that will fund the development of a regional plan for sustainable development. The plan will launch an unprecedented community outreach efforts, including the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce, to reach the Region’s diverse, but interrelated rural and urban Appalachian communities. To develop the regional plan, Consortium partners will involve participation from populations that are traditionally left out of regional planning processes (including, but not limited to, rural mountain landowners, farmers, urban minority populations, small business owners, seasonal second homeowners, health care providers) to solicit their input and commitment to the planning process and the final plan.

The Chamber will continue to work with Land-of-Sky over the next several years to see this plan come to fruition.

Public Policy Update: Congressman Shuler Meets with Chamber Members

The Asheville Chamber works hard to provide its members with opportunities to hear from, speak to, and network with elected officials.

Congressman Heath Shuler spent the morning of Monday, July 26, 2010 with 50 business leaders at the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber hosted Congressman Shuler for a public policy forum allowing him to give his outlook on the political climate in Washington as well as hear concerns and ideas from the audience.

Congressmen Shuler is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, which is a group of conservative leaning Democrats. Shuler spoke of the group’s 15 step plan to balance the Federal budget, cut government spending and secure America’s future. To see the group’s plan click here.

Throughout the meeting, Congressman Shuler emphasized the idea that Washington politics are broken and operating with a system where the Federal Government is spending more money than they are bringing in. Congressman Shuler told the audience that debt and deficit spending were the key reason for this recession.

Congressman Shuler also used the time to hear ideas and concerns from his constituents. He expressed the importance of citizens contacting their representatives the minute they identify a potential problem. The Congressman made this statement as he referenced the United State’s mortgage crisis. Several audience members made policy suggestions, such as, Federal legislation to prohibit states from being able to offer outlandish incentives for economic development.

If you wish to contact Congressman Shuler you can do so through his website at
http://shuler.house.gov/.

WNC Rail Corridor Committee Goes to Raleigh (not by train)

On April 7, 2010, eight members of the Western North Carolina Corridor Passenger Rail Committee ventured to Raleigh to make a presentation to the House Select Committee on a Comprehensive Rail Service Plan for North Carolina.

Members in attendance included:
Stephanie Monson: City of Asheville, Planner
Natalie Murdock: Land of Sky Regional Council, Regional Planner
Lance Hight: City of Conover, City Planner
Preston Mitchell: Salisbury, Planner
Brett McCall: Citizen Advocate, Black Mountain
Judy Ray: Citizen Advocate
Jeff Joyce: Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce, Governmental Relations Manager

WNC Rail Corridor Committee

The delegation from WNC arrived in beautiful downtown Raleigh in time for our 11:30 a.m. lunch meeting with the NC DOT Rail Division. Our delegation was joined by several NCDOT Rail Division staff members. They included Patrick Simmons (Director), Allan Paul (Director-Operations and Facilities), Cheryl Hannah (Rail Planner), and Shirley Williams (Director-Environmental and Planning). I want to say a big thank you to the Rail Division for their help over the last couple weeks for their help in preparing our presentation for the committee.

NC Legislature

Following lunch, the group loaded up and walked across the street to the legislature for a full afternoon of meetings. Western North Carolina’s Rep. Rapp chairs the house select committee and has been a strong advocate for passenger rail’s return to Western North Carolina.

Judy Ray starting presentation

While waiting for our turn to present we heard presentations dealing with rail logistics, the state rail plan update, and North Carolina’s shortline railroads. Finally, it was the WNC Corridor Passenger Rail Committee’s turn to present. Judy Ray spoke about the conception of the group and the work the organization has done over the past decade. This included 140 resolutions of support for passenger rail by North Carolina towns, municipalities, and organizations. Judy’s presentation was followed by Lance Hight highlighting the redevelopment progress Conover has had in restoring their depot. Conover is a great success story as the town is converting an old factory into a community center and depot. Stephanie Monson and Brett McCall concluded the presentation by telling of Asheville’s renewed enthusiasm surrounding passenger rail. This included the Asheville City Council’s renewed resolution supporting passenger rail and Brett’s Facebook fan page (The People for Rail to Asheville), which now has over a 1,000 fans! Join now!

The presentation was well received and Rep. Deborah Ross of Wake County followed with a question regarding the cost of bringing passenger rail to WNC. This was answered by Patrick Simmons of the Rail Division. He explained the corridor was estimated to cost $134 million or roughly $1 million per mile of track (much cheaper than highway).

Coming home on I-40 to beautiful WNC

This trip to Raleigh marked 480 miles in the car on I-40 (see photo from road above). It was a great chance to show our state leadership the desire Western North Carolina has to bring back passenger rail. I look forward to one day traveling to Raleigh by train.


To see the PowerPoint Presentation click here