Stop me if you've heard this one before… A "temporary" sales tax increase during a recession to close a budget gap.
Think it's 2001 all over again? Nope, this was an actual suggestion floated today by NC Dept. of Education CEO Bill Harrison:
The chief executive officer of North Carolina's public schools says
lawmakers should consider a temporary sales tax increase to buffer
education from deep spending cuts.
lawmakers should consider a temporary sales tax increase to buffer
education from deep spending cuts.
First of all, no. We've been down this road before, and we learned that calling it "temporary" is a lie. I'm still waiting for half of the last temporary tax to expire.
Second, and no offense to Mr. Harrison, but I don't think an unelected, constitutionally questionable appointed bureaucrat should be making fiscal policy for the state. Run the schools, let people who actually have to face the voters be the ones talking about tax increases.
Raising class size by two seems to be a very reasonable step, I wish it were as simple as that in the private sector.