Tag Archives: North Carolina

ILN Today Post
June 30, 2017

North Carolina: Lawmakers override Gov. Cooper’s budget veto

By McDonald Hopkins LLC of McDonald Hopkins

Last week, Tar Heel state lawmakers approved their budget agreement for the next biennium, which starts on July 1, 2017. This week, Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the agreement, and the legislature overrode that veto with a 76-43 vote.

When lawmakers put forth their budget, the Times-News called it a dare, quoting Senate leader Phil Berger’s challenge to Gov. Cooper: “[I]f the things you’ve said and campaigned on are more than just empty promises, you will sign this budget.” But the governor’s judgment is that “the two-year spending plan is fiscally irresponsible and fails to provide enough for education and economic development… The more we learn about this budget, the worse it is…this budget lacks vision and unfairly picks winners and losers.”

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Posted in News | North America
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May 18, 2017

Court Finds “Plausible” DOJ’s Assertion That Anti-Steering Provisions Violate Section 1 of the Sherman Act

By E. John Steren of Epstein Becker & Green

Recently, Judge Robert T. Conrad, Jr. of the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina (Charlotte Division), rejected efforts by The Charlotte- Mecklenberg Hospital Authority, doing business as the Carolinas Health Care System (“CHS”), to dismiss, at the pleadings stage, a complaint filed by the United States’ Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, and the State of North Carolina, asserting that CHS’s anti-steering provisions in its payer contracts unreasonably restrain trade in violation of section 1 of the Sherman Act. Recognizing the Court’s limited review of preliminary motions, Judge Conrad, in the matter styled as United States of America et al v. The Charlotte-Mecklenberg Hospital Authority d/b/a Carolinas Health Care System, Civil Action No.3:16-cv-00311-RJC-DCK (W.D. N.C., Mar. 30,2017), ultimately concluded that the allegations of the Complaint, taken as true for purposes of ruling on the motion, asserted a claim that was “plausible,” meeting the pleading standards established by the Supreme Court in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544,570 (2007).

Posted in North America
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ILN Today Post
April 28, 2017

North Carolina: Tax Foundation characterizes the state as a model for tax reform

By McDonald Hopkins LLC of McDonald Hopkins

The Tax Foundation, whose singular vision is “a world where the tax code doesn’t stand in the way of success,” has become bullish on North Carolina’s tax reform success, going so far as to characterize it as a “model for tax reform” in a speech last week at an event.

In its 2017 State Business Tax Climate Index the Tax Foundation swooned over the Tar Heel State’s “most dramatic improvement in the Index’s history—from 41st to 11th in one year.” The index considers how well states structure their tax systems relative to each other, rather than how much state governments collect in taxes, in part because “even in our global economy, states’ stiffest competition often comes from other states.” Indeed, tax competition is an “effective restraint on state and local taxes…states with more competitive tax systems score well in the Index, because they are best suited to generate economic growth.”

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Posted in Legal Updates | North America
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ILN Today Post
April 7, 2017

North Carolina: Lawmakers begin budget negotiations with a $552 million surplus

By McDonald Hopkins LLC of McDonald Hopkins
For tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2017, the Tar Heel state’s corporate and personal rates are set to drop, from 4 to 3 percent, and 5.75 percent to 5.49 percent, respectively. These reductions, contingent on hitting certain revenue growth targets, were part of the tax reform package passed in 2013, the Tax Simplification and Reduction Act.
The state’s current fiscal situation is strong. There is a $552.5 million surplus, and consensus projections from the Fiscal Research and the Office of State Budget and Management that anticipate stable, modest growth during the next biennium.
Posted in Legal Updates | North America
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ILN Today Post
March 13, 2017

North Carolina: Governor presents his budget proposal for the 2017-19 biennium

By McDonald Hopkins LLC of McDonald Hopkins
Gov. Roy Cooper recently released his proposed budget for the biennium 2017-2019, Common Ground Solutions for NC. The governor said he wants to focus on “invest[ing] in a better educated, healthier and more prosperous North Carolina without raising taxes or fees.” The plan contains no proposals to increase taxes or fees, nor does it deploy nonrecurring funds on recurring needs.
The $23.5 billion plan includes an additional $1.1 billion of spending over the current budget, reported USNews. Gov. Cooper defended this as “’catch up’ after years of neglect in education spending by GOP lawmakers.” The governor opined that the GOP had spent too much on income and corporate tax cuts, thus highlighting the main policy differences between the parties. Indeed, one republican lawmaker criticized the proposal as “reckless,” warning that the “$1 billion spending spree would surely return us to the days of high taxes and multi-billion dollar deficits.”
Posted in Legal Updates | North America
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ILN Today Post
January 6, 2017

Think Tank: 2017 is shaping up to be a major year for state gas tax reform

By McDonald Hopkins LLC of McDonald Hopkins

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (Institute) released a late December article predicting that significant gas tax reforms will occur in numerous states in 2017. As examples, the Institute pointed to Alaska’s Gov. Bill Walker, who has proposed tripling his state’s gas tax; and Indiana, Louisiana, and Tennessee, where officials are considering their own reforms. “Altogether, it appears that more than a dozen states will seriously debate gas tax changes next year.”

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Posted in Legal Updates | North America
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June 7, 2016

Key Implications of Fourth Circuit’s Denial of En Banc Review of Pro-Transgender Ruling

By Nathaniel M. Glasser of Epstein Becker & Green

On May 31, 2016, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals denied en banc review of an April decision permitting transgender students to use sex-segregated facilities that are consistent with their gender identity.  The Fourth Circuit encompasses North Carolina; thus, the case G.G. v. Gloucester County Public School Board (“Gloucester County”), although it arose in Virginia, creates a conflict between federal law and North Carolina’s House Bill 2 (“HB2”), which requires transgender individuals to use public bathrooms that match the gender listed on their birth certificates.  Although Gloucester County applies on its face to students and public schools, the decision impacts retailers who provide bathroom facilities to employees and customers and who must navigate conflicting laws regarding transgender protections.  Of additional importance, plaintiffs in sex discrimination lawsuits will likely use the decision as support for the view that a person’s “sex” includes “gender identity.”

Posted in Legal Updates | North America
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March 9, 2016

Pursuing Medicare Appeals Is Not for the Impatient

By Robert E. Wanerman of Epstein Becker & Green

Robert E. Wanerman

Even after the Secretary of HHS admitted that the current backlog of Medicare Part B appeals would take ten years to adjudicate at current staffing and funding levels, that was not enough for a hospital to obtain any relief from a court. Cumberland County Hospital System, Inc. v. Burwell, No. 15-1393 (4th Cir., Mar. 7, 2016).  In that case, a North Carolina hospital had initially been paid for over 900 claims, but those claims were subsequently determined to be ineligible after a post-payment review by a Recovery Audit Contractor (“RAC”), which sought to recover over $12 million from the hospital.  Although the hospital complied with the deadlines for filing administrative appeals, the Medicare Office of Hearings and Appeals had not held hearings or made determinations within the 90-day deadline in the Medicare statute. In order to expedite the process, the hospital sought a writ of mandamus from a federal court to order the Secretary to conduct the hearings.  The district court denied the motion, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit agreed with the Secretary that no relief was warranted.

Posted in North America
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December 2, 2015

Multistate Tax Update — December 3, 2015

By McDonald Hopkins News of McDonald Hopkins

States extend historic preservation tax credits

North Carolina

An article in The News & Observer this past summer opined on the state of historic tax credits in the Tar Heel State. The article cited a legislator who lamented the fact that in the economic development arena, “South Carolina is eating our lunch,” and the president of Preservation North Carolina, Myrick Howard, agreed that North Carolina is losing its advantage in the preservation of architectural and historic resources.

Myrick attributed this to the December 2014 sunset of tax credits that made it easier to rehabilitate historic structures. Indeed, he declared, the effects of the tax credit were tangible: The private sector spent nearly $2 billion to revive key areas throughout the state, like downtown Durham, Raleigh, Winston-Salem, Asheville, Salisbury, Mount Airy, New Bern, and Edenton during the existence of the tax credit.

Posted in News | North America
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