Each issue I promise you an insider’s perspective of what is occurring at your South Carolina Statehouse, and this month is no different. I will bring you—as Jim McKay so famously opened each ABC Wide World of Sports’ episode with—“The Thrill of Victory and Agony of Defeat” at the S.C. State House.
There was no greater thrill than the news we heard around the state on a fall day in October 2009 when Boeing announced it would build a Boeing 787 facility in Charleston. Officials say this announcement is as great as the BMW 1992 announcement. The headline in the Seattle Times that day read, “Boeing Chooses Charleston: What Went Wrong.” The agony felt in Washington State countered the immense thrill for Sandlappers to the tune of thousands of new jobs and millions in new capital investment. The Senate, House, Governor’s Office, Department of Commerce, and private sector officials, such as those with the Nexsen Pruet Law Firm, pulled together to bring a huge win for the home team.
The legislation to lure Southwest Airlines did not hold the same fate, though it was a victory in and of itself at the end of the day. Charleston and Upstate officials pulled together to attract the low cost airline to each respective region and it did so without any legislative incentive. When the bill faltered in the Senate, the Upstate folks retained a high-powered Columbia lobbying firm in the eleventh hour to pass the legislation. Interestingly, the Midlands business community hired another high powered lobbying firm to fight the legislation. In the end, neither was needed as Southwest circumvented the need for any State House legislative incentive package and announced it was coming anyway.
Greenville Spartanburg Airport Executive Director Dave Edwards did a fine job, with the help of some Upstate House members, to get the $15 million incentive package through the House. Unfortunately, they fell to the same fate as many other wellintended bills in the Senate. But, as the saying goes, all’s well that ends well, at least for the Upstate and Charleston.
Like the Southwest incentive legislation, the bill to lure Bass Pro Shops stumbled and ultimately languished. But, unlike Southwest, Bass Pro Shops has yet to announce its move to the Upstate. The bill, supported by most Upstate legislators, moved easily though the House Ways and Means Committee, only to hit snags in full House debate. Employment Security Commission Reform and paying back the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund to the tune of $900 million was probably the biggest issue facing the business community this year.
In a year when Sanford faced mounting criticism, he found an issue that he could be proud to hang his hat on. The Governor last year used his bully pulpit to rightly shine light on the draconian problems at the Employment Security Commission by refusing to accept a federal loan to cover the insolvent trust fund until the last minute. But, with his point made, the Legislature went to work to correct the embarrassing Commission’s problems, such as paying claims to people who had been fired for cause (drugs, tardiness, stealing). The Governor signed the bill this spring. The Commission, which was more or less a check-writing institution for the unemployed, now will be charged with connecting the unemployed of the state to available South Carolina jobs.
Unfortunately, ESC Reform did not solve all of the problems. The final chapter in reforming this system was to determine how to pay back the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund deficit of $900 million. Just prior to the adjournment, the Legislature agreed that businesses would shoulder the responsibility of paying back the insolvent trust fund in the next seven years.
One of the most hotly contested issues for the better part of a decade was whether or not to pass a significant cigarette tax increase. Last session, the House and Senate passed the increase, with the Governor vetoing the bill, killing it. This session, the House and Senate overrode the Governor’s veto to increase the cigarette excise tax to 57 cents. The Senate narrowly overrode Sanford’s veto, with 12 voting to sustain his veto, while the House more handily passed it with only 29 House members voting to sustain the Governor’s veto. This increase will take effect July 1 of this year.
To wrap up, the budget continued to remain an issue, mostly because the state’s decreased revenue from last year. Word from legislators is that next year the state may reach crisis proportions in terms of money it doesn’t have to sustain education, healthcare, law enforcement and the like. We’ll have to see what plan Chairmen Leatherman (Senate) and Cooper (House) come up with to meet the needs of the state.
Tort Reform, a perennial issue, will have to wait another year. Even with Senator Larry Martin’s efforts, the House and Senate will have to take this issue up again when they return in January.
Lastly, the voters this fall will see on the General Election ballot a provision that could change the state’s Constitution by guaranteeing the rights of workers to a secret ballot election when voting in a union election. Championed by Representative Eric Bedingfield, this bill combats the Federal legislation, called the Employee Free Choice Act. This bill, too, would further South Carolina as a right to work state.
@chels I know what you mean, its hard to find good help these days. People now days just don’t have the work ethic they used to have. I mean consider whoever wrote this post, they must have been working hard to write that good and it took a good bit of their time I am sure. I work with people who couldn’t write like this if they tried, and getting them to try is hard enough as it is.