Tuesday Wrap: Tip o' the cap

The Senate again approved a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow voters to decide whether to cap the state income tax rate at 5.5 percent.

Posted 11:09 p.m. Mar 14, 2017 — Updated 11:09 p.m. Mar 14, 2017

RALEIGH, N.C. — The Senate again approved a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow voters to decide whether to cap the state income tax rate at 5.5 percent.

Republicans argued that such a limit would require fiscal discipline by future legislatures, while Democrats countered that it would handcuff attempts to put money into areas where it's needed and respond to future economic or natural crises.

Meanwhile, in the House, Minority Leader Darren Jackson made a Hail Mary attempt to repeal House Bill 2 in an amendment to a bill on the Banking Commission. The amendment was ruled out of order.

A House committee approved a measure designed to crack down on illegal immigration by withholding funds from cities that don't enforce immigration laws and stiffening penalties for producing fake IDs. A second House committee passed changes to how school performance grades are determined by increasing the weight given to student academic growth and reducing the weight to performance on tests.

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