A coalition of public-policy groups interested in limited government, efficient use of tax dollars and legislative accountability will hold a “Take Back Our State” rally in Raleigh on June 22, organizers have announced.

The rally, to be held Wednesday from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on the Bicentennial Mall between the state capitol and the legislative building, will include speakers from eight different organizations and will feature bluegrass music and free barbecue. Kevin Miller, morning show host on 680 WPTF in the Triangle, will emcee the event.

“Our goal is to deliver a unified, serious message: that decisions made by elected officials over the past several years have not served North Carolinians well, and the cumulative effect has pushed the state down a path many residents oppose,” said Chris Neeley, state director of Americans for Prosperity North Carolina, a coalition member.

Neeley pointed to a recent poll from the John William Pope Civitas Institute – also a coalition member — that showed only 38 percent of voters surveyed believe the state is going in the right direction while 42 percent say it is on the wrong track.

“The time has come for officials to heed this data and acknowledge they are out of touch with many of the people they represent,” Neeley said. “There needs to be a connection once again and the politicians need to know that the people are tired of being overtaxed, we’re tired of the runaway, wasteful spending.”

The event will take place as state legislators negotiate the state budget and how to address a projected gap of approximately $1.3 billion between anticipated revenue and expenses. Last week the House passed a revenue bill that would extend what was billed in 2001 as “temporary” sales and income tax increases, as well as impose new or additional taxes on candy, satellite TV, phone service and liquor.

Wednesday’s rally will focus on more than opposition to increased taxes and higher government spending. The lack of respect for the state constitution and set rules and procedures by legislators and other government officials is also on the agenda.

“For too long, the powers that be have tended to ignore the state constitution and operate a political system that is more oriented towards perpetuating political power and political authority in the hands of a few at the expense of the overall welfare of the citizens,” said Robert Orr, executive director of the North Carolina Institute for Constitutional Law, another coalition member. At the rally, the retired North Carolina Supreme Court justice will address constitutional questions surrounding economic development incentives handed out by the state of North Carolina and local governments.

Within a few weeks, Orr said, his firm will file a lawsuit in state court on behalf of several individuals in an effort to challenge a $242 million package of incentives approved late last year for computer manufacturer Dell Inc. State officials said the incentive was necessary to lure Dell to North Carolina. Winston-Salem and Forsyth County are reportedly providing the company with $37 million in additional incentives in exchange for building the Dell plant in southeastern Forsyth County.

Orr said his organization’s lawsuit will point out that the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Cuno vs. DaimlerChrysler that tax credits given to the automaker by the state of Ohio were unconstitutional under the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution, and that the North Carolina Constitution specifies that public dollars must be spent for public purposes, not private ones. “It’s an interesting issue in that you have conservative, free-market business people who find the policy wrong, unconstitutional, and you have liberal groups who see it as bad public policy,” Orr said.

Rally coalition members include Americans for Prosperity North Carolina, Called 2 Action, Institute for Constitutional Law, the John Locke Foundation, John William Pope Civitas Institute, NC 100, The North Carolina Family Policy Council and the Wake County Taxpayers Association.

For information, visit www.takebackourstate.org.

Donna Martinez is an associate editor of Carolina Journal.