Nov 11 2009
NC FreeEnterprise Foundation Releases 2009 Business Ratings
The North Carolina Free Enterprise Foundation has released their annual business rankings. The group rates each member of the general assembly in regards to how effective they were in fostering a strong business climate in the state. The ranking are based off of various votes in the general assembly throughout the year. Additionally, they take input from over 300 businesses across the state through a survey in which they rate members of the state government on their likelihood in supporting the interests of the business community.
Looking over the rankings, nothing stood out to me as surprising. The break down fell as you would expect, with the Republicans in both the House and Senate at the top of the list and the Democrats down towards the bottom. Traditionally, Republicans tend to support free economic policies that allow businesses to grow and thrive whereas Democrats tend to support big government policies that stifle economic growth. Despite that however, it must be noted that the highest ranking member in the general assembly is a Democrat. State Senator David Hoyle of Gastonia scored a 90.8. He was also the only legislator to break 90. He bucked the trend for his party which is not unexpected. He has always been a fairly moderate member of the legislature and I have always approved of his job as a legislator. In the State Senate, Republicans took the next 17 spots. The lowest scoring member of the Senate was that senile old biddy Ellie Kinnaird (D-Carrboro).
In the House, it was the same trend. Republicans are in the top half while the Democrats are mostly in the bottom half. Thom Tillis (R-Cornelius) had the highest score of 89.6. The highest scoring Democrat was Jim Crawford of Oxford who placed tenth with a score of 82.9. Just like in the Senate, the bottom of the list was held up by the usual left wing extremists: Pricey Harrison, Paul Leubke, etc., what you would expect.
It will be interesting to follow this report in coming years because I think North Carolina’s business climate is beginning to lose its luster. Although, Forbes did rank the state as the fifth best for business this year, but in growth prospects it ranked 33. Once the full effect of the recent billion dollar tax increase kicks in, I think it will be more noticeable.
