”The bottom line is that North Car-olina needs to know more about how and where these infections are occurring,” stated NCPIRG Advocate Rob Thompson. “Once we have this information, we can focus on the specific hospitals and areas of care that are in the greatest need of improvement.”

Furthermore, public reporting of infections will encourage hospitals to improve infection control practices to maintain their reputation as high-quality medical care providers.

“All health care consumers—individuals, employers, insurers and state and local governments—need to know where they can get the best health care for their dollar. When consumers have this information, hospitals will have a strong incentive to clean up their act,” stated Thompson.

Currently, the House Health Care Committee is considering the bill.

NCPIRG Pushes Corporate Tax Reform

North Carolina may soon join a movement to level the playing field on business taxes and close gaping corporate tax loopholes.

A bill introduced by state Rep. Paul Luebke would institute a tax system known as combined reporting, which requires corporations to report the income of all out-of-state subsidiaries. This policy would end the elaborate shell games that some businesses play to avoid state taxes.

“Combined reporting will help the companies that actually pay their taxes but compete against multi-state companies that do not,” says Phineas Baxandall, NCPIRG Senior Analyst for Tax and Budget Policy. “This tax reform does away with a thousand tax loopholes at once. As North Carolina and other states catch on, fewer companies will waste their time on sham transactions and subsidiaries. This is a big step toward fairer state taxes and fairer competition among business.”

Not only will combined reporting level the playing field, but it will also increase revenue into the state government, allowing North Carolina to continue funding our state’s social and physical infrastructure.