Constitutional amendment to let voters cap the income tax will be on NC ballots
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Senate passed a bill to let voters choose a 3.5% income tax cap.
- Republicans hold a three‑fifths Senate supermajority required to advance the amendment.
- Bill moves to the House Rules Committee before a potential floor vote later Tuesday.
The North Carolina General Assembly passed a constitutional amendment bill on Wednesday that would let voters choose whether to cap the state personal income tax rate at 3.5%.
The Senate passed it Tuesday, and the House followed suit on Wednesday.
The current rate is 3.99%, and is already set to drop in 2027 because of a deal between Republicans in control of the General Assembly.
Republican lawmakers fast-tracked a plan to put that and as many as five more constitutional amendments on voters’ ballots this November. The income tax cap is the first to pass both chambers. The bill sailed through two Senate committees Monday and Tuesday ahead of the final vote late Tuesday morning.
Senate Bill 1080, “Lower Taxes for All NC,” passed 30-18 in the Senate.
On Wednesday, the House passed it after hours of debate about taxes.
Two former Democrats turned unaffiliated representatives — Reps. Nasif Majeed and Carla Cunningham, both of Mecklenburg County — voted with all Republicans in favor. They also did so for a constitutional amendment about property taxes.
“We tax people into oblivion,” Republican Rep. Keith Kidwell said on during House floor debate.
Even some Democrats who voted against the amendment say they want to lower taxes, too.
“My name is Robert Reives. I’m a Democrat. I want to lower your taxes,” House Minority Leader Robert Reives said as a three-hour House session wound down.
Reives explained how tax revenue pays for government services and reducing it could shift costs to fees instead.
Bill does not to go governor, passed with enough votes
Senate Democrats argued unsuccessfully that the cap should allow for tax increases in the case of natural disasters.
Republicans control the Senate with a three-fifths supermajority, which is the required threshold to pass a constitutional amendment ballot measure. House Republicans are one vote short of total control, so they needed at least one Democrat or one of the two unaffiliated representatives to vote with them.
The House voted 73-46, the requisite three-fifths vote.
Constitutional amendment bills do not need approval from the governor.
Tax policy debate part of budget deal
Voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2018 to cap the individual income tax rate at 7%. The tax rate has dropped steadily since Republicans gained control of the legislature 15 years ago. The current 3.99% rate for 2026 was dropped from 4.25% last year.
Republicans have disagreed until recently about how fast to cut the income tax rate, with House Speaker Destin Hall wanting to make sure there is enough revenue to keep the state running and give raises to teachers and state employees. Senate leader Phil Berger wanted to keep the pace of cuts set in place in a 2023 agreement.
Hall and Berger announced last week they had broken through their budget stalemate with an agreement to add the constitutional tax cap as well as the amendment on property taxes. That legislation gives the General Assembly the power to cap increases in the property tax rates set by local governments, without setting an amount for the cap.
Democrats caution about future needs
Democrats worry about the future impact of capping income tax rates.
Rep. Eric Ager, a Buncombe County Democrat, said “our job is to be fiscally prudent” and to balance what the state needs.
“Our job is to be balanced. Our job is to find the sweet spot in the middle” of taxing and spending, Ager said. “This is a mistake.”
Sen. Lisa Grafstein, a Raleigh Democrat, noted that flat taxes are regressive, and “leave us unprepared for the future.” She proposed a graduated tax rate.
Democratic Gov. Josh Stein called the income tax amendment proposal “a financial straightjacket that could wreak havoc on our public schools and public safety.”
And Sen. Sophia Chitlik, a Durham Democrat, called the proposal “a tax break for millionaires” because they would be included in the tax rate cap.
In the House, Rep. Steve Tyson, a Craven County Republican, said they have found the “sweet spot” that Ager referenced. “The sky is not falling,” he said.
Senate Majority Leader Michael Lee, a New Hanover County Republican, said during floor debate that the state has had budget surpluses many years while reducing the income tax rate.
“Now is a good time to ask the voters, do you want a tax cap at 3.5%?” Lee said.
State revenue also comes from sales taxes and corporate income taxes.
The revised revenue forecast for the fiscal year ending June 30, released on Friday, includes $979 million more than was anticipated in March, before tax collections.
This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 12:41 PM with the headline "Constitutional amendment to let voters cap the income tax will be on NC ballots."
