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Page 59

North Carolina

James Hunt, Democrat

Legislature: Divided

Took Office: 1/93

Grade: C

James Hunt was elected to his third term as governor in

1992 and his fourth in 1996.  He had served two previous

terms from 1976 to 1984.  Nowadays he touts himself as a

moderate New Democrat.  Hunt successfully pushed huge dou-

ble-digit spending increases his first two years back in of-

fice, before the GOP took over the state house in 1994.

Then in 1995, with revenue pouring in, Hunt pushed through a

tax cut of about $340 million, including an increase in the

personal exemption from the income tax and elimination of

the tax on intangible personal property.  In 1996 he ap-

proved a modest legislative tax cut package that reduced the

sales tax on food and provided a phased-in cut in corporate

income tax rates.  In 1997 he approved the legislature's

plan to retroactively refund intangibles taxes with interest

for tax years 1990 through 1994.  But in 1998, despite a

roughly $1 billion surplus, Hunt proposed no tax relief at

all.  To make matters worse, the double-digit spending in-

creases are back.  After spending soared by 10 percent last

year, this year Hunt's FY99 budget proposal called for a

whopping 12 percent budget hike.  That includes a 50 percent

increase for one of his pet programs, Smart Start, which

gets government's meddlesome hand into the business of pro-

viding day care sudsidies and other services for pre-

schoolers.  Despite providing some modest tax relief, Hunt's

overall fiscal record is unimpressive.

Score

Grade

Rank

Overall Fiscal Policy Score

46

C

26

Spending Score

39

C

34

Revenue and Tax Rate Score

49

C

22

Amount

3.5%

Average Annual Change in Real Per Capita Direct General Spending through 1996

1.2%

Average Annual Change in Direct General Spending Per $1,000 Personal Income through 1996

-1.1%

Average Annual Recommended Change in Real Per Capita General Fund Spending through 1999

0.3%

Average Annual Change in General Fund Spending Per $1,000 Personal Income 1996-98

2.2%

Average Annual Change in Real Per Capita Tax Revenue through 1997

-0.1%

Average Annual Change in Tax Revenue Per $1,000 Personal Income through 1997

-2.2%

Average Annual Recommended Change in General Fund Revenue Per $1,000 Personal Income through 1999

2.0%

Average Annual Change in Real Per Capita General Fund Revenue 1996-98

-0.4%

Average Annual Recommended Tax Changes as % of Prior Year's Spending through 1999

0.0

Change in Top Personal Income Tax Rate, proposed and/or enacted (% points)

-0.75

Change in Top Corporate Income Tax Rate, proposed and/or enacted (% points)

15.0

1998 Combined Top Income Tax Rates (Personal plus Corporate) (*0.5)

0.0

Change in Sales Tax Rate, proposed and/or enacted (% points)

0.3

Change in Gas Tax Rate, proposed and/or enacted (cents per gallon) (*0.5)