Gov. Pat McCrory And North Carolina Republicans Have A Great Story To Tell | Eastern North Carolina Now

 Publisher's Note: This post is part of an article by Patrick Gleason, a contributor to Forbes.com.

 Regardless of one's opinion on HB 2, it cannot overshadow or remotely counteract what North Carolina has done legislatively over the last five years to become one of the most attractive places in the country to do business, invest, live, raise a family, and retire. Since Republicans took control of the state legislature for the first time in over a century in 2010, North Carolina legislators and Gov. Pat McCrory (R), who was elected in 2012, have enacted a collection of policy reforms that is more impressive from a free market and limited government standpoint than what any other state accomplished during that time, with the arguable exception of Wisconsin.

 First there is North Carolina's historic tax reform act of 2013, which relieved the state of the dubious distinction of having the highest personal and corporate income tax rates in the Southeast. Aside from Florida & Tennessee, which do not tax income, North Carolina now has the lowest personal and corporate income tax rates in the region as the result of the tax changes signed into law by Gov. McCrory. Thanks to the tax relief enacted in 2013, individuals, families, and employers across the state get to keep more of their hard-earned income. Going into 2013, North Carolina had the 44th ranked business tax climate in the country on the non-partisan Tax Foundation's business tax climate index. Thanks to the 2013 tax reform act, North Carolina went from only beating six states, to having the 16th best business tax climate in the nation.

 Despite the doom and gloom Democratic legislators and progressive activists predicted about the 2013 tax cuts, North Carolina has realized budget surpluses for the last two years, which permitted further income tax relief in 2015 bringing the income rate down to 5.499 percent. If revenue targets continue to be met, the state corporate income tax rate will drop from 4.0 to 3.0 percent in 2017. Even Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), former chair of the DNC and one of the most partisan politicians in America, has proposed cutting his state's corporate income tax in response to what North Carolina has done. Imitation is the best form of flattery, the saying goes.

 North Carolina has been getting a lot of negative press lately, but the state has a good story to tell. Progressive activists, Democrat lawmakers, and Attorney General Roy Cooper want to talk about bathrooms, because talking about the top issues facing North Carolinians is not politically beneficial to them. Their proposals for higher taxes, more government spending, increased bureaucratic intrusion in the private sector, and less school choice for parents and students is a platform that doesn't sell well in most parts of the state. Hence, Democrats will try to keep the discussion about bathrooms. The real story coming out of North Carolina is the impressive record of policy reform over the last half decade, and how it has helped make the Tar Heel State one of the best places in the world to live and do business. If Gov. McCrory & North Carolina Republicans get that story out to voters, they'll do well this fall...