Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/18075
ELECTION Guide 2010 N.C. HOUSE District 22 William Brisson William Brisson chose not to participate in the forum. John Szoka (1) North Carolina’s gas tax of $.302 per gallon is much higher than Virginia’s gas tax of $.195 per gallon and almost double of South Carolina’s gas tax of $.168 per gallon, yet our highways are not better maintained and we have many unfunded road projects. Since 2005, over $738.7 million dollars was transferred out of the Highway Trust Fund into the General Fund to pay for projects which have nothing to do with highways. This must stop. End- ing those transfers would add hundreds of millions of dollars to build and maintain roads. With that money I-40 would have been completed long ago. Keeping the money in the Highway Trust Fund will allow us to lower the gas tax in North Carolina, giving us better roads and saving us all money. (2) Once again, if money in the Highway Trust Fund was not transferred to the General Fund to pay for wasteful spending projects, North Carolina could complete more of the backlogged road projects that are important to Fayetteville and other cities across the state. Another issue that needs to be addressed is the disproportionate funding of mass transit across the state. Massive amounts of money being spent on mass transit programs (particu- larly rail) at the expense of roads is a misallocation of money. As the John Locke Foundation suggests, transportation funding should be based on the way people actually travel, not on transit planners attempts to use transit to reshape cities. (3) The answer in the past has been to offer targeted tax credits to specific industries to either stay or relocate in North Carolina which is the wrong answer. A study prepared and paid for the North Carolina General Assembly in 2009 that addressed this issue clearly states in its recommendations that the General Assembly should “Eliminate North Carolina’s Statutory Tax Credits.” A review of more than 300 other studies also conclude that “incentives had little or no impact on expected employment growth, and the possible small impact was negative.” We recruit new industry by creating a business environment in which businesses, large and small, can thrive. To achieve this we have to 1) Stop wasteful spending on projects we don’t need and can’t afford 2) Stop over-regulating our businesses. 3) Stopthe growth of state government; businesses creates jobs, not government 4) Cut corporate and individual tax rates. (4) If we as a people decide that an issue is important enough to address with a law, then that law should be enforced. Immigration laws on the books should be enforced. Selective non-enforcement of law by government agencies only elicits distrust and disdain of the government by its citizens. District 44 Diane Parfi tt (1) It would be great if we would be able to reduce the state tax on gas but in reality this tax revenue goes to pay for many infrastructure costs — construction and maintenance of roads, bridges and high- ways. Because the state does this it is able to save local governments the burden on much of these costs. We will continue to look at the best ways to maintain our roads and fund new construction but the gas tax is an integral part of that funding stream. As one of the most important roads in the East/West corridor in North Carolina, I-40 is a heavily used road that will always require maintenance and improvement. The current improvement and maintenance work will certainly be completed as soon as possible but new work will follow. (2) The governor came to Fayetteville in the spring and met with the delegation. One of the main topics of discussion was the completion of the 295 project. She committed to us that this was the next project to be com- pleted after Charlotte’s road project. Military and federal officials are working with our state transporta- tion department to plan for the road changes needed around Ft. Bragg. As a member of the Transportation Committee in the General Assembly, I am committed to working The enchantment starts at $10.50 for Opening Night Tickets!* NOV. 4 - 7 Thu. NOV. 4 7:00 PM* Fri. NOV. 5 10:30 AM 7:00 PM Sat. NOV. 6 2:00 PM 6:00 PM *(Excludes VIP Dining, Rinkside and VIP seats. No double discounts.) Buy tickets at www.disneyonice.com, Retail Locations, Cumberland County Crown Coliseum Box Office or call 1-800-745-3000 Regular Ticket Prices: $12 - $18 - $25 VIP - $35 Rinkside - $55 VIP Dining Limited number of VIP Dining, Rinkside and VIP seats available. Call or go online for details. (Service charges, facility and handling fees may apply; no service charge at Arena Box Office.) Sun. NOV. 7 2:00 PM 18 UCW OCTOBER 20-26, 2010 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM ©Disney