North Carolina can enjoy more freedom and prosperity if the next General Assembly puts the brakes on government debt, gives property owners a voice in annexation decisions, and offers parents an “Education Bill of Rights.” The John Locke Foundation includes those recommendations and dozens of others in its new Agenda 2010 Policy Report.

“Candidates for public office in North Carolina are faced with the daunting and possibly overwhelming task of developing informed positions on dozens of public policy issues,” said Dr. Roy Cordato, JLF vice president for research and resident scholar. “Agenda 2010 will help those candidates who want to make decisions based on a fundamental commitment to free markets, private property rights, individual liberty, and limited government.”

Every two years

Published every two years since 1996, the latest version of the Locke Foundation’s agenda features a mix of familiar and new topics. “Many issues continue to rear their ugly heads,” Cordato explained. “Concerns about misplaced spending priorities, high and increasing overall levels of spending, and a regulatory and tax burden that punishes productive activities are continuing problems that plague North Carolina’s citizens and economy. But Agenda 2010 also addresses several new issues that did not reach the policy radar screen until recently.”

Additions to the latest document include sections on eminent domain, forced annexation, the Alcoholic Beverage Control system, and state debt. “North Carolina has accumulated more than $6 billion in General Fund debt, and one-fourth of that debt involved no vote from the taxpayers,” said Joseph Coletti, JLF director of health and fiscal policy studies. “Borrowed money can cripple a government, as we have seen in California, New Jersey, and Illinois — not to mention Greece.”

No say on debt

Coletti offers three recommendations to address growing concerns about state debt. “First, limit non-voter-approved debt,” he said. “Voters have had no say on new state debt for a decade. Any further borrowing should be subject to state approval. Second, reform state employee pensions to improve the sustainability of the system. Third, set aside reserves to cover future health care costs for retired state employees. Health savings accounts could help meet that goal.”

Speaking of health care, the new federal reform legislation “will exacerbate many of the problems it was meant to address,” Coletti said. “That’s why Agenda 2010 offers recommendations that focus on care, rather than coverage, and allow free enterprise to flourish. The agenda also endorses policies that give employees control over their own health.”

Two other new sections in Agenda 2010 focus on property rights issues. “North Carolina is one of only a handful of states considered a forced annexation state,” said Daren Bakst, JLF director of legal and regulatory services. “Annexation reform requires giving targeted property owners a real voice in the annexation process. They also should be provided at least one municipal service that offers them a meaningful benefit.”

Limiting eminent domain

Bakst also handles Agenda 2010’s recommendations on eminent domain. “North Carolina needs a constitutional amendment limiting governments’ use of the eminent domain power,” he said. “Among other things, this amendment needs to include a clear prohibition against the taking of a person’s private property for economic development.”

While focusing on taxpayers’ wallets and homes, Agenda 2010 also turns its attention to their kids’ education. Sections of the document address school standards and testing, education spending, early childhood programs, the state lottery, and school choice and competition.

“The General Assembly should give parents an ‘Education Bill of Rights,’ which should attach funding to each student and give parents the right to use that funding to send their children to any public, charter, or private school in the state,” said Terry Stoops, JLF director of education studies. “The agenda also calls on North Carolina school districts to make greater use of open enrollment and magnet schools, and it calls on lawmakers to lift the statewide cap of 100 charter schools.”

One of Agenda 2010’s newest topics focuses on an old issue, “a relic of the Prohibition era,” North Carolina’s ABC system. “A succession of scandals in 2009-10 — exorbitant salaries, nepotism, and lavish parties for ABC board members and staff hosted by liquor representatives — prompted Gov. Beverly Perdue to raise the issue of privatization,” said Jon Sanders, JLF associate director of research. “Some have reacted to the scandal by recommending an increase in state control.”

Sanders recommends a different approach. “Deregulate liquor sales in North Carolina,” he said. “Sell the state warehouse and local ABC stores. Set a flexible formula of sales and excise taxes to keep deregulated liquor sales revenue-neutral.”

Public transit

John Locke Foundation analysts also tackle a favorite issue for government planners: public transit. “Public transit systems in North Carolina have become less about helping citizens move around their communities in the way they desire and more about planners gaining enough political power to impose their transportation preferences and land-use fads on those citizens,” said Dr. Michael Sanera, director of research and local government projects.

Rail transit projects make no sense for North Carolina, especially after crunching the numbers, Sanera said. “The massive public transit effort over the last 30 years has resulted in a decrease in people using public transit in major metro areas from roughly 8 percent to 5 percent,” he said. “Charlotte’s light rail passengers pay only 3.4 percent of the cost of each trip, while taxpayers spend more than $40 for each rail commuter’s travel to and from work.”

“The state should not participate in funding rail transit projects,” Sanera recommends. “The state also should repeal the local-option sales tax authorization for rail transit projects.”

Climate change
Among the environmental issues Agenda 2010 tackles is climate change. “Environmental policymakers’ focus on reducing carbon dioxide emissions in North Carolina amounts to, at best, a misguided attempt to thwart global warming,” Cordato said. “This state can do nothing, either by itself or in conjunction with other states, that will have a noticeable or beneficial impact on the climate. This is true of any of the laundry list of policy options global warming alarmists have put forward.”

“North Carolina should abandon all attempts to fight global warming,” Cordato recommends. “Lawmakers also should repeal legislation such as Senate Bill 3, which is raising energy costs and reducing employment opportunities in the state.”

Agenda 2010 addresses many of the critical issues the next set of state lawmakers must face in January 2011, said JLF President John Hood. “Too often, elected leaders try to solve problems by taking more money and freedom away from their constituents,” Hood said. “Agenda 2010 offers dozens of ideas to address the same problems while preserving freedom and individual liberty.”