MEDIA ADVISORY: Press conference will highlight petition telling lawmakers to listen to North Carolinians when it comes to budget and tax choices

WHAT: Press conference to call on lawmakers to listen to North Carolinians, not ALEC, when it comes to budget and tax choices
WHO: Budget & Tax Center and petition signers from throughout the state
WHEN: Wednesday, July 22, 11:00 a.m.
WHERE: Legislative Auditorium, 16 W. Jones Street, Raleigh

RALEIGH (July 21, 2015) – This week, North Carolinians from across the state will deliver a petition calling on lawmakers to listen to them – not the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) – when it comes to budget and tax choices.

Last week, legislative leadership named conferees from the North Carolina House and Senate to hash out a budget plan. Although there are many differences between the House and Senate budget proposals, both bodies agree on more corporate tax cuts, which would cost North Carolinians approximately $458 million over the next biennium and more than $500 million annually thereafter.

The disproven theory that corporate tax cuts helps the economy is promoted among state legislators around the country by the national group ALEC, which starts its annual conference in San Diego, CA, on July 22. ALEC has been a powerful force in North Carolina, designing many of the policies—tax cuts, low investments and standards for protecting our communities, privatization of schools, and giveaways to big corporations—that have moved the state backwards.

The choice to listen to ALEC over North Carolinians is the wrong one for our state. More than 6,000 North Carolinians signed a petition telling lawmakers to stop the tax cuts that put the state’s future at risk. On July 22, as several North Carolina legislators partake in the ALEC conference, petition signers will share their perspective on why investments are critical to building a strong North Carolina and an economy that works for everyone.

After the press conference, speakers will deliver the petition and a sign-on letter from 17 organizations representing tens of thousands of individuals who reject the approach that tax cuts will grow our economy.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Amber Moodie-Dyer, amber@ncjustice.org, 919.856.2176; Julia Hawes, Julia@ncjustice.org, 919.863.2406.