Donald Bryson: Sunny North Carolina

Regarding Gene Nichol’s July 24 Point of View “The cold cruelty of NC leaders is to tax poor to render to rich”: Nichol claimed that letting North Carolinians keep more of our hard-earned money is a bad thing. Economic reality and our higher take-home pay suggest otherwise.

Raleigh lawmakers lowered rates across the board, and we’ve been rewarded with strong job growth and rising incomes. Our tax reforms have put over $3 billion back in Tar Heel pockets every year.

In addition, unemployment last month dipped below 5 percent for the first time since the Great Recession, with over 238,000 jobs created in North Carolina since the 2014 tax reforms came into effect. .

The impact can be seen in personal income growth. Last year, North Carolinian personal incomes grew by 4.8 percent – the ninth-largest such gains nationwide.

And increased deductions have given additional relief to those who need it most. The 2016-2017 budget increases the standard deduction to cover the first $17,500 of household income by 2018.

Allowing families and workers to keep more of what they make is the best way for North Carolina to prosper. The naysayers can disagree all they want, but North Carolina is continuing to prove them wrong.

This story was originally published August 4, 2016 at 4:59 PM with the headline "Donald Bryson: Sunny North Carolina."