GREENVILLE, N.C- – Governor Pat McCrory and Legislative leaders have proposed a $2 billion bond intended to launch North Carolina cities and towns into the 21st century by upgrading technology, constructing and improving educational facilities, enhancing medical facilities, supporting our military installations and improving parks and recreational facilities.
GREENVILLE, N.C- – Governor Pat McCrory and Legislative leaders have proposed a $2 billion bond intended to launch North Carolina cities and towns into the 21st century by upgrading technology, constructing and improving educational facilities, enhancing medical facilities, supporting our military installations, improving parks and recreational facilities.
These strategic investments are designed to benefit communities across North Carolina, create jobs and improve the quality of life for every North Carolinian. The NC House and Senate recently announced a compromise bill that would place a bond referendum on the March primary ballot. The House agreed earlier to a Senate proposal to boost spending on transportation projects by $412 million per year to pay for highway and port improvements.
“While it would have better served North Carolina to have already issued infrastructure bonds, now is still a very good time to move on this,” explains NCEast Alliance CEO, John Chaffee, “Interest rates are at near-record lows, there remains significant unemployment and capacity within the heavy construction sector, and we have a backlog of education and other infrastructure projects.”
If we do not address our infrastructure and facility deficiencies now, North Carolina will lose its ability to compete with other states in the future. This will cause costs to rise, congestion to worsen and business activity to be negatively affected. As a result, jobs will not be created at the rate needed to sustain a healthy and vibrant North Carolina.
No tax increase will be necessary to fund this bond. Chaffee explains that, “Education (workforce) and logistics (transportation) are two of the most important factors that influence company location decisions. State investments in both areas will yield a much greater return from economic activity than the actual expenditures.” In laymen’s terms this means that the state of NC and its’ residents will only benefit from the improvements proposed within the bond.
NCEast Alliance Board of Directors supports the NC bond initiatives and applauds the decision of the Governor and General Assembly to allow North Carolina’s citizens to vote on this critical bond proposal to ensure North Carolina’s future on the global stage.