$1.3 Billion

That’s how much the state gave away in corporate welfare last year according to a draft report produced by the General Assembly’s Fiscal Research Division. (Report isn’t available online yet, but I hope to scan it in and post it for you sometime today.  Meanwhile, here’s the AP article that says so.)

$1.3 billion.  Yep, that’s billion with a "b."  And that doesn’t include any Federal or local money that was spent either.  Such as the One North Carolina Fund that requires a local match of cash payment.

And just for reference sake, the state collected $1.2 billion in corporate income tax revenue in 2005-2006. (Overview of Fiscal and Budget Actions – NC Fiscal Research Division, p. 305).

So… cutting the corporate income tax rate to 0% and eliminating corporate welfare incentives would actually save the state $100 million.

Rest assured, we’ll have much, much more on this exciting new development in the coming days/weeks/months.  (Thought we had a lot to say on incentives before?  Now we’ve got hard evidence!)