Making NC better for business is a good thing, Gov. Cooper.

A new ranking by CNBC named North Carolina the top state for business in 2022.

The first point CNBC makes when explaining why North Carolina was named the top state for business is to note that “...state leaders keep managing to put aside their very deep political divisions to boost business and the economy.”

As examples of this bipartisan cooperation, CNBC points to economic development incentive packages that have helped lure Apple and electric car maker VinFast to North Carolina over the past year. CNBC also points to the state budget enacted in late 2021 as an example of how Republicans and Democrats have put differences aside to make North Carolina a more attractive state for business.

The bipartisan budget enacted last year will phase out North Carolina’s corporate income tax by 2030, making North Carolina only the third state with no corporate income tax or business gross receipts tax.

Thanks to the leadership of N.C. Senate leader Phil Berger and N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore, both Republicans, the bipartisan budget also cut North Carolina’s flat personal income tax rate. North Carolina’s individual income tax rate dropped from 5.25% to 4.99% at the start of 2022 and will fall again to 3.99% in 2026 as part of the budget signed into law by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper on Nov. 18, 2021.

During his national TV appearance to discuss his state’s new accolade, however, Cooper never mentioned how the bipartisan budget he signed made North Carolina an objectively more profitable state in which to work and operate a business. What Cooper focused on during his interview were areas of partisan disagreement. In fact, when prompted by the CNBC host to discuss how he’s been able to work in a bipartisan fashion with Republican legislators, Cooper responded by talking about points of dispute that have produced stalemate.

“We disagree about plenty and my vetoes have been able to stop a lot of bad legislation that has come forward, particularly in the culture wars,” Cooper told CNBC’s Scott Cohn. “We’ve been able to keep that at bay.”

Cooper’s refusal to acknowledge the bipartisan budget is even more bizarre considering the topic of the interview was why North Carolina is the top state for business. The budget Cooper didn’t mention is one that cut taxes for businesses, raised workers’ take-home pay, and was approved with bipartisan cooperation, the very thing CNBC noted as a key factor in North Carolina winning the top spot.

“It’s clear that investing in a capable workforce and stopping harmful, extremist social policies are keys to recruiting jobs in 2022,” Gov. Cooper’s spokesman tweeted after the CNBC appearance. What Cooper really made clear in his interview is that it makes for awkward TV when a governor is brought on to talk about why his state is the top state for business, but won’t acknowledge the actions he himself has taken to make his state an objectively more profitable place to work and run a business.

Politicians are often criticized for taking credit for things they didn’t do. But in North Carolina we have a governor who won’t take credit for the ways in which he’s made the state better for business. Perhaps that’s because governors aren’t inclined to brag about budgets and other bills they only signed because they knew their veto would be overridden.

This story was originally published July 20, 2022 at 12:00 PM with the headline "Making NC better for business is a good thing, Gov. Cooper.."