Institute for Emerging Issues

Is there a children's section?

lbonner — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:38:24 -0400

Former Gov. Jim Hunt will probably hear a lot about his initiatives on education and school-readiness when people with big titles gather Friday to celebrate the ceremonial groundbreaking of the James B. Hunt Jr. Library on N.C. State University's Centennial Campus.

The library, set to open in 2012, will house the Institute for Emerging Issues, a Raleigh think-tank Hunt created.

Scheduled to attend the ceremony are UNC President Erskine Bowles, Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton, and U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge.

Not a place for the kids to flip through the latest issue of Highlights, but the library will include an interactive policy gallery for the grown-ups with big ideas.

Pink to speak at N.C. State forum

bkrueger — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:29:31 -0400

Best-selling author Daniel Pink, an expert on innovation and competition, will speak at the Emerging Issues Forum next year.

Pink’s best-known work is “A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will the Future and “The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need.”

He will discuss how the country is moving away from analytical thinking into a conceptual age in which creative, flexible thinkers are important.

The 25th annual Emerging Issues Forum will focus on how to develop and enhance North Carolina’s climate of creativity in order to improve the state’s global competitiveness.

The forum is sponsored by the Institute for Emerging Issues, a think tank at N.C. State University created by former Gov. Jim Hunt, that has brought such people as former President Bill Clinton and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to Raleigh for its two-day conferences. The next forum is scheduled for Feb. 8 and 9th.

Pink worked previously as Vice President Al Gore’s chief speechwriter from 1995-97, and before that as an aide to Secretary of Labor Robert Reich.

Quick Hits

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 10:45:40 -0400

* Members of the Institute for Emerging Issues tax reform panel say the Senate's plan, while different, is headed in the right direction.

* The Dome wraps up all those annoying North Carolina earmark requests posts into one big package and a couple of sidebars.

* Former News & Observer business reporter Jim Barnett has started a blog exploring nonprofit newspapers' business model.

* The state meat industry is fighting a bill from the Humane Society of the United States that it says is a step toward ending meat eating.

GOP: Tax plan is bait and switch

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:21:25 -0400

The head of the N.C. Republican Party said the Senate tax plan is a "classic scam."

Chairwoman Linda Daves said today that a plan from Senate Democrats to reduce the sales tax while expanding it to cover services is "bait and switch."

"Pretend to be reducing taxes by slight increments while at the same time creating new taxes to raise more revenue than ever before," she said in a statement. "They hope that we will not notice as our overall tax burden is increased by $600 million."

The proposal, expected to be discussed today, is a version of a recent plan to modernize the tax code put forward by a bipartisan committee from the Institute for Emerging Issues.

The GOP's reaction is the first sign that the Senate debate will be more partisan.

Tax reform panel speaks

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 12:02:46 -0400

The movement to overhaul North Carolina's 1930's era tax structure gained critical support Tuesday, when a committee of business leaders said it bakced lowering income taxes, but requiring that personal services be taxed.

The bipartisan committee called for lowering the highest marginal rates on corporate and personal income taxes, saying it would make the Tar Heel state more competitive in recruiting new businesses, Rob Christensen reports.

But it also proposed broadening the sales tax to include services that are now exempt — from lawn services to lawyers.

"We want it to be pro business," said John McNairy, president of Tidewater Transit Co. Inc. and co-chairman of the committee said a news conference at a downtown hotel.

The recommendations of the 20-member committee comes at a time when the state legislature is giving a serious look at changing the tax system and facing a $2 biillion plus shortfall this year and a $3 billion shortfall next year.

More after the jump.

Panel urges tax reform

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 09:09:47 -0400

The Institute for Emerging Issues says its time to revamp state taxes.

A committee created by the Raleigh-based think tank said Tuesday that the General Assembly should pass tax reform this year to help keep North Carolina business-friendly.

The committee said sales taxes and corporate and personal income taxes should be reduced, while exemptions and loopholes are eliminated.

Former Charlotte Mayor Richard Vinroot, who ran for governor as a Republican, co-chaired the committee. He said local governments should have more options to raise their own funds.

Senate Democrats are considering whether to lower tax rates while taxing some services. (AP)

Pols see infrastructure as key

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 08:08:39 -0500

Can infrastructure spending turn the economy around?

A number of current and former politicians argued that long-delayed road, transit and water system projects can generate jobs and give a jolt to the economy.

Speaking at the annual Emerging Issues Forum in Raleigh, former Gov. Jim Hunt said the state can do "big and bold things that can last a long time."

Less than 8 percent of the Senate's $827 billion stimulus package is directed at infrastructure, while about 11 percent of the House's $820 billion version is for public construction needs.

That would boost the $1.1 trillion in U.S. infrastructure spending each year, but it's a fraction of the $2.2 trillion in needs over the next five years, according to a report by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

"Our infrastructure system's parts are not serving their intended purposes," said ASCE President Wayne Klotz. (AP)

Engineer: N.C. needs some work

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 16:48:14 -0500

The U.S has quit changing the oil of its car.

That was the analogy made Monday by Wayne Klotz, president of the American Society of Civil Engineers, during a talk in downtown Raleigh, Rob Christensen reports.

Earlier this year, the engineers released a reporting giving the U.S. a grade of "D" for keeping up its infrastructure.

"We are simply not spending enough money," Klotz told about 1,000 North Carolina leaders at the Emerging Issues Forum.

Although there are no updated figures on North Carolina, Klotz noted that the engineers gave the state a "C-minus" grade in 2006.

More after the jump.

Perdue on vacation

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 15:10:39 -0500

Gov. Beverly Perdue is on vacation this week at an undisclosed location.

Chrissy Pearson, Perdue's spokeswoman, said she had long planned a vacation this week with her husband, Bob Eaves.

Pearson said she did not know where Perdue was vacationing, but the unconfirmed gossip at the Emerging Issues forum was that she was out of the country, Rob Christensen reports.

Perdue sent a recorded video message to the 1,000 leaders at the forum's luncheon at the Raleigh Convention Center, rather than appearing personally.

Pearson described Perdue’s get-away as a "working vacation" saying she brought budget books and other work along with her. The vacation comes less than a month after she took office.

Shuler, Price spar over stimulus

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 14:40:54 -0500

There was a sharp disagreement over the stimulus package this morning, with U.S. Rep. David Price defending the House package, and Rep. Health Shuler criticizing it.

At the Emerging Issues Forum, Shuler said he was one of the few Democrats to vote against the package because it didn't include enough money for public works projects, and included too much money for projects favored by influential members of Congress, Rob Christensen reports.

"It's not stimulative enough for me," Shuler, a second-term lawmaker from Bryson City, said during a panel discussion in front of more than 1,000 people at Raleigh's Convention Center.

He said that less than 15 percent of the $800 billion stimulus package is devoted to infrastructure. Shuler said too much money will be used to just plug budget gaps in existing programs or for tax cuts.

But Price, who is one of the so-called cardinals of the House budget committee, said his portion of the stimilus package dealing with homeland security was closely "scrubbed" for waste.

More after the jump.