Fiscal Responsibility: Balancing Budgets & Prioritizing Spending

Fiscal responsibility isn’t glamorous, but it means a tremendous amount to the well being of our state. As a budget writer, Walter Dalton understands that fiscal responsibility determines our state’s ability to provide critical services. It can mean the difference between 500,000 children receiving health care coverage or 1 million children receiving health care coverage; the difference between a job retraining program in a rural county or continued economic strife; the difference between mortgage relief or losing your home.

Our leaders must exercise critical judgment in raising and spending our tax dollars. We trust them to create an effective balance that allows for the provision of vital services without over taxation. For his eleven years in the North Carolina State Senate, Walter Dalton has fought for and achieved that balance ensuring that state government works for you, not the other way around. Here are some highlights:

 

Prioritizing Spending

• Oversaw four balanced budgets – important in gaining the AAA bond rating and making N.C. one of the most fiscally responsible states in the country.
• Provided incentives to recruit new businesses and encourage existing businesses to expand and make workforce development and training a top priority.
• Protected the education budget from deep cuts during the recession and increased education spending each year.
• Wrote the 2007 budget that Governor Easley said “Makes NC a clear leader in education innovation.”

Reducing the Tax Burden on North Carolina Families

• Co-sponsored the bill to permanently cap the gas tax.
• Co-sponsored the bill to put an end to the NC marriage tax penalty.
• Voted to eliminate the sales tax on food.
• Co-sponsored the bill to reduce taxes for working families by increasing the child tax credit.