North Carolina State Victories
The following NFIB victories will make a real difference for your business.
Recent NFIB/North Carolina victories:
VICTORY -- 2007: Achieved Permanent Personal Income Tax Reduction. Achieved permanent reduction of the personal income tax from 8 percent to 7.75 percent.
VICTORY -- 2007: Stopped Proposed Health Care Tax Credit Repeal. Stopped the proposed repeal of the $250 tax credit for small businesses providing health insurance.
VICTORY -- 2007: Prevented Mandatory Sick Leave Measure. Worked to prevent mandatory paid sick leave for all employees, which would have cost small-business owners millions of dollars.
VICTORY -- 2007: Supported MedMal Tort Reform Measure. Supported tort reform, limiting awards in medical-malpractice cases to $1 million if both parties agree to binding arbitration.
VICTORY -- 2007: Secured Small-Business Representation on Health Care Board of Directors. Secured the opportunity for NFIB to appoint a small-business owner to the high-risk health insurance pool board of directors that will meet to formulate healthcare solutions.
VICTORY -- 2007: Advocated Worker Tax Credit. Advocated for passage of the worker-opportunity tax credit for businesses assisting the most disadvantaged workers.
VICTORY -- 2007: Supported Utilities Sales Tax Phase-Out. Supported phase-out of sales tax on electricity and natural gas sold to farmers and manufacturers, saving some small businesses money off their bottom line.
VICTORY -- 2007: Supported Industrial Machinery Exemption. Assisted with legislation that exempted industrial machinery from state building-code inspections -- a huge regulatory victory for many small businesses.
VICTORY -- 2006: Eminent Domain Reform. Without a dissenting vote in either chamber, the House and Senate agreed to approve a bill prohibiting state government agencies from condemning private property solely for economic development. The bill, which Gov. Mike Easley signed, mirrored the wishes of NFIB members in North Carolina. In a recent NFIB/NC member survey, 92 percent of respondents wanted the government's power of eminent domain restricted.
RATIFIED -- 2005: Workers' Compensation Reform. A workers' compensation reform bill addressing drug and alcohol abuse on the job and authorizing a study plan passed the Senate and the House. The bill also ensures that an employer has the same information as a trial attorney when an employee is injured on the job. NFIB members responded to a call to action and played a key role ensuring passage of this bill. Although the bill didn't overhaul the workers' comp system, which had not been reformed in more than 10 years, it was a step in the right direction. NFIB will continue to focus efforts on workers' comp reforms.
VICTORY -- 2006: Health Insurance Tax Credit for Small Businesses. Small business celebrated a notable budget victory with the passage of a $250 dollar per employee tax credit for employers with 25 or fewer employees paying at least 50 percent of health-insurance costs. NFIB worked closely with the bill sponsor, Rep. Hugh Holliman, and House leadership to make sure this provision was maintained in the conference report.
VICTORY -- 2006: Personal Income Tax Reduction. Among small-business budget victories celebrated during the 2005-06 session was a personal income tax reduction from 8.25 percent to 8 percent, affecting approximately 37,000 small-business owners across our state.
MODIFIED -- 2004: Just Compensation. NFIB and other groups supported a measure that will provide just compensation to billboard owners when local governments compromise their property rights. Despite the approval of both chambers by a wide margin, Gov. Mike Easley vetoed the bill, but proponents crafted a measure that passed muster before the session close.
VICTORY -- 2004: Small-Business Ombudsman. NFIB/North Carolina successfully sought funding for the creation of a Small-Business Ombudsman's office within the Department of Commerce's Existing Businesses Division. The office will be dedicated to helping the state's smaller employers find the resources that they need from various state agencies.
VICTORY -- 2004: Unemployment Compensation Surtax Delayed. After unemployment insurance premiums for North Carolina employers were doubled in 2003, NFIB led a successful effort to put the brakes on a second surtax, which was scheduled to take effect later that year. The surtax would have amounted to a 20 percent additional increase on already inflated unemployment insurance premiums.
VICTORY -- 2004: Health Insurance Innovations Commission. NFIB supported the enactment of the Health Insurance Innovations Commission, a long-term working coalition that is authorized to conduct independent pilot programs and seek solutions to the rising costs of health insurance.
VICTORY -- 2004: Employer Protections. NFIB worked with other employer groups to uphold employee protections while ensuring that employers would not be held responsible for granting special considerations in domestic violence court actions.
KILLED -- 2004: Proposed substance abuse mandate defeated. NFIB and its members worked hard to defeat a bill that would have required small employers to provide full insurance coverage for mental health, alcoholism and drug abuse treatment for employees. If passed, this would have been the most expensive mandate in the United States. Because of current crushing health insurance costs, NFIB has asked state lawmakers to extend an NFIB initiative imposing a moratorium prohibiting this or any other health mandate on insurance policies.
RATIFIED -- 2003: Unemployment Insurance Surtax Delay -- NFIB supported an eleventh hour measure that will delay for one year the enactment of a 20 percent surtax on unemployment insurance premiums for employers.
KILLED -- 2003: Mental Health/ Substance Abuse Mandate -- NFIB led the fight to kill a bill requiring that employers provide full insurance coverage for mental health, alcoholism, and drug abuse treatment for employees. The bill was designed to beat the effective date of the NFIB-backed Moratorium on Health Insurance Mandates on July 1, 2003.
RATIFIED -- 2003: Toner Cartridges/ Unfair Competition Bill -- NFIB was widely credited for the adoption of strong language intended to defeat monopolistic practices by toner cartridge giant Lexmark, which threatened North Carolina small businesses.
VICTORY: NFIB successfully opposed legislation that would have forced employers who provide health insurance to cover all costs of mental illnesses, alcoholism, and substance abuse for the life of the illness -- a measure which could have raised rates 10 percent or more.
VICTORY: NFIB stood front and center to oppose a number of proposed tax increases which were offered in 2002, defeating an increase in the statewide sales tax and other tax increases.
RATIFIED -- 2001: Moratorium on Health Insurance Mandates -- NFIB gained wide-reaching support for this proposal, which places a two-year moratorium on unfunded mandates while the legislature studies the issue in an effort to develop a more thoughtful process for the future.
INTRODUCED -- 2001: Tax Deduction for Health Insurance Premiums for the Self-Employed -- NFIB believes that the legal structure of a business should not determine the deductibility of health insurance benefits and supported the introduction of a bill to provide this deduction for self-employed individuals. While the measure passed the House Finance committee with unanimous support, Finance Committee Chairs refused to take a vote on the issue, which carries a $21 million fiscal note in the 2001-2002 year, temporarily stalling the issue.
MODIFIED -- 2001: Accelerated Withholding Taxes -- NFIB worked with members of both the House and Senate to modify a measure which would have forced thousands of small business owners to file monthly state withholding taxes on the 10th day of the month, rather than on the 15th, when all other tax reports are due. Another part of this proposal lowers the monthly withholding threshold from $500 to $250, up from the $100 proposed by legislators.
RATIFIED -- 2001: Workers' Compensation Stability Act -- A 2000 Court decision in Hansen v. Crystal Ford-Mercury would have permitted health insurers to become parties to workers' comp cases, allowing them to infer themselves into the settlement process. The end result -- more workers' comp cases would be litigated -- would have raised worker's comp rates substantially. An NFIB-backed bill to over-turn this decision was ratified.
STALLED -- 2001: Mental Health & Substance Abuse Mandate -- For the sixth consecutive year, NFIB opposed this most costly of proposed mandated benefits, causing the proposal to stall. Successful negotiations with House leaders increased their awareness of the prohibitive cost of the bill.
STALLED -- 2001: Smokestack Bill -- North Carolina's big power companies are seeking to place the entire cost of upgrading their coal-burning plants on the backs of their customers -- a proposal that would substantially add to the costs of electric rates for small employers. NFIB continues to oppose the measure.
RATIFIED -- 2001: Raise Business Transaction Caps -- Business people are qualified candidates to serve their local communities, being well informed and interested in public office. But the statute currently makes serving in a municipal government unattractive and "punishing" due to its monetary limits that have not been adjusted in 11 years. NFIB supported a measure that raised the cap on business transactions to $25,000 for municipalities with populations under 10,000.
RATIFIED -- 2000: Amend Contested Case Procedures -- NFIB worked to pass legislation which will grant due process to employers in disputes with state agencies.
KILLED -- 2000: Mental Health & Substance Abuse Mandate -- NFIB successfully killed a proposal which would have required small employers to pay for treatment for mental health care, alcoholism, and substance abuse for the life of the illness -- the most expensive legislation of its kind in the country.
KILLED -- 2000: Umstead Act Revisions -- An attempt to revise the Umstead Act to allow unfair competition by community colleges was successfully stalled by NFIB.
REJECTED -- 2000: Proposed Ergonomics Standard -- NFIB testified in opposition to an ergonomics standard proposed by the NC Department of Labor, which would have required costly modifications of workplaces. The Rules Review Commission ultimately rejected the rule.
STALLED -- 2000: Health Care Mandates -- Vigorous opposition from NFIB resulted in the defeat of over twenty health care mandates during the session.
