Better South agenda

The Center for a Better South's first book, "Doing Better: Progressive Tax Reform for the American South," argues that taxes are a "necessary price we pay to keep our democracy alive," but that they should be fairly implemented.

South Carolina has exempted 75 items from state tax, said Andy Brack, one of the founders of Better South. Some of the exemptions make sense, some are dubious, some are ridiculous and all deny the state badly needed income, he added.

The organization's second book, "Getting Greener: Progressive Environmental Ideas for the American South," argues that a well-considered environmental policy that preserves natural habitats, requires planned growth, generates green jobs and takes advantage of the emerging knowledge-based economy can help the region lead the way toward a sustainable future.

At Davidson College in November, about 25 people gathered, including Ayers, S.C. state Sen. Phil Leventis and Georgia state Sen. Doug Stoner, to plot an agenda for the South. The group settled on eight items:

--Education and economic development: Boosting graduation rates and increasing the number of post-secondary degrees.

--Wellness: Improving life expectancy and general health outcomes.

--Energy efficiency: Advocating state-by-state plans to increase efficiency by 20 percent in the next decade.

--Tax reform: Expanding the tax base while lowering rates when possible, ensuring revenue matches or exceeds growth rates.

--Infrastructure: Investing 90 percent of capital budget spending on infrastructure improvement.

--Governance: Improving community trust in state government by 20 percent over the benchmark.

--Opportunity creation: Reducing health and economic disparities to level the playing field.

--Safety: Reducing violent crime to below the national average by 2020.

Brack said Better South likely will produce a book devoted to this agenda and host another conference for legislators in the near future. The first step toward substantive change, he said, involves advocacy and information sharing.