North Carolina is widely recognized as a state with a high quality of life – a great place to live, work, do business, grow up and grow old.

Throughout its history, North Carolina’s greatest successes as a state have been closely tied to its willingness to make significant investments in public structures – whether it was public schools, higher education, transportation, public health and safety, or environmental protection and preservation. In short, we have been at our best when we’ve pulled together tobuild for the future. We have created and protected these assets over many years, because they are the engine that drives our prosperity. 

Now is the time to bring that kind of spirit to bear once again.  North Carolina is currently faced with new economic pressures from the global economy, which, coupled with an outdated state revenue system, are threatening our progress.  Absent assertive action to build upon the investments we have made, North Carolina risks losing much of what it has gained. We’ve got work to do, and our history shows we are equal to this task. By working together, we can ensure widely shared prosperity in the future-- in spite of the economic downturn that confronts us now. 

When faced with the Great Depression, when local governments were running out of money, North Carolina took bold steps and created statewide public schools and a statewide highway system.  It worked, and we have benefited from these shared resources for the last seventy years.  We can take bold steps together again, and must seize the opportunity to strengthen and expand economic prosperity for every North Carolinian.

That’s why we’ve come together—to encourage action that keeps North Carolina moving forward for the long term.