NC Realtors Play Hardball With State Budget

From Chris Fitzsimon, NC Policy Watch: http://www.ncpolicywatch.com/cms/?p=9183

A funny thing happened on the way to an agreement between House and Senate leaders on taxes and ending the county share of Medicaid. Senate Democrats appear to have bowed to major campaign contributors and their well-connected lobbyists and rejected the latest offer from the House because it allowed counties to raise the real estate transfer fee if the public approves it in a referendum.

Lobbyists for realtors and homebuilders have been working feverishly against any transfer tax. Apparently Senate leaders now agree with them that people should not have the right to vote on how their county builds schools or addresses other infrastructure needs.

There’s another part of the story. . Reportedly, the Realtors Association has threatened to oppose any Senator in a swing district who supports a transfer tax of any kind. That could be with money from the wealthy realtors PAC going to the Senator’s opponent. It might mean issue ads along the lines of the commercials the realtors are now running to protect their billions in profits.

It also means that one interest group with deep pockets is controlling the Senate of North Carolina and has now delayed a final agreement on the state budget. That’s what billions can do for you in the current political climate.