Millis: Cooper choosing Hamilton is 'par for the course' | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: The author of this post is Barry Smith, who is an associate editor for the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

    RALEIGH     Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's selection of Rep. Susi Hamilton as secretary of natural and cultural resources is emblematic of the philosophical contrast between Cooper and the GOP legislative majority, state Rep. Chris Millis said.

    "It's par for the course for a Cooper appointment to have a track record that supports an ideology that sharply contrasts with the conservative principles of the legislature," Millis, R-Pender, said Friday.

    Millis and Hamilton, a New Hanover County Democrat, were often at odds over legislative proposals. Hamilton, for instance, was a vocal supporter of film tax credits and incentives along with historic preservation tax credits. This runs counter to the kind of streamlined tax code Millis supports.


The owner of the restored Hinton & Son Hardware building in downtown Apex (center building) received a 20 percent state Historic Preservation Tax Credit. The owners of the adjacent buildings restored their properties without the tax credit. (CJ photo by Don Carrington)

    "North Carolina loses 54 cents for every dollar it allocates to the state film production credit, and the actual return on investment might be even worse, concluded a memorandum from the General Assembly's Fiscal Research Division, CJ's Dan Way wrote in 2014.

    "Thank goodness we have a legislative majority that will work to protect the hard-earned money of our citizens from a Cooper administration that believes that government knows how to spend others people money better than the citizens themselves," Millis said Friday.

    Cooper announced his selection of Hamilton as natural and cultural resources secretary Thursday. He also announced that Reid Wilson, executive director of the Conservation Trust for North Carolina and a former chief of staff at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, would be the department's chief deputy secretary.