Across the South are fields of corn that bake in the humid heat of summer. You can almost feel the heat coming off of this image. This field, with the silver roof of an old farmhouse in the background, is east of Denmark, S.C., along U.S. Highway 78. Photo by Andy Brack. More: Center for a Better South.
NEWS
A fork in the road
State may try to shift some state roads to counties
By Bill Davis, senior editor
JULY 24, 2015 | State legislators are toying with an idea of how to fund the state’s ailing roadways: have counties pay for some of it. And the counties aren’t too excited.
With close to 40,000 miles of roadways, South Carolina has the fourth largest state-maintained highway system in the nation, behind North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia. One of the main reasons that the state system is so large is that legislators in Columbia dating back five-plus decades have been orchestrating political favors to constituents and friends in the guise of roads, according to multiple sources in and around the legislature.
“Parking lots. The state owns and maintains parking lots,” groused state Sen. Paul Campbell, a Berkeley County Republican who serves on the Senate Transportation Committee.
South Carolina is also currently facing a $41 billion tab over the next 25 years to bring its roads system up to a “good” rating, and the legislature has not been in a big hurry to start paying it down.
Campbell said it was easy for travelers to figure out when they’d crossed over into South Carolina from Georgia or North Carolina: “It’s when the roads go to hell.”
How we got here
Two legislative sessions ago, the state bonded a total of $500 million for roads improvements, but has bogged down since then. During the 2015 legislative session, the House passed a road funding bill over to the Senate that included a provision that, if passed, could leave counties on the hook for as much as one-fourth of the state’s roads.
The bill, worked on for the better part of a year, would also increase fees for drivers license and other smaller items.
State Sen. Tom Davis (R-Bluffton) blocked the measure in the Senate, delivering a late-session filibuster that effectively killed action on the bill for this year.
Campbell said the bill has been placed on the committee’s agenda for the next legislative session in January.
It would increase the state’s gas tax over four years and pass on money to counties for them to maintain the state’s smaller, less traveled roads, he said. It would also combine state pass-through dollars to counties with General Fund dollars to provide the estimated $1.4 annually needed to shore up the state’s roads, Campbell said. And by getting counties to do some of the work, it would create a big job boost across the state, he added.
The state, Campbell said, should focus on the “Seven percent of roads that handle half of our state’s traffic” and pay the counties to take care of the rest.
Nice idea, but …
But the state legislature hasn’t had the best record of sending all the money counties require to provide other needed services.
Consider public K-12 education, where the legislature has rarely sent along the legally-required, full amount of per-pupil funding. Outside of a handful of times over the past 25 years, the legislature generally crafts special one-year laws, called provisos, which allowed it to skirt fully funding schools.
Another example: The General Assembly hasn’t fully funded its Local Government Fund for the past seven budgets, which historically has set aside 4.5 percent of the state’s total annual budget for counties and other smaller political organs.
Joshua Rhodes, a lawyer at the S.C. Association of Counties, said what is being discussed is forcing counties to solve a problem that the current legislators’ predecessors created. And, referring to the aforementioned funding cuts, he said the state’s “credit don’t look so good.”
Rhodes’ fellow SCAC lawyer Owen McBride said that fighting the handing off of roads to counties is one of their organizations top agenda items.
Roadwork would be even harder to accomplish, McBride said, because of the legislature’s limiting of taxation sources for counties, like placing millage caps on private property.
McBride said he understood legislators who were considering this move: they want to take care of roads but not deal with the political fallout of raising taxes in an election year like 2016. Legislators would like to keep their jobs at the expense of county politicians’ jobs, Rhodes said.
McBride and Rhodes said allowing counties to opt out of the deal could help, from their perspective, and pointed out that many larger, richer counties are already doing roadwork.
But smaller and poorer counties like Allendale, they said, wouldn’t have the ability to do any of it and would likely end up contracting out the jobs through the state Department of Transportation.
Increasing the gas tax
State Sen. Marlon Kimpson (D-Charleston), who also serves on Transportation, said he would be fine with voting for an increase in the state gas tax. But he wondered whether he would get the chance to debate the issue, referring to Davis’ filibuster.
Kimpson laid the blame for slow movement on Republicans, who control the state legislature numerically. He said the Senate had plenty of time nearer to the beginning of the session to adequately deal with the gas tax and roads, but instead Republicans “chose to debate abortions for 21 days.”
Kimpson also wondered why his business-friendly Republican colleagues were deaf to calls from the trucking and manufacturing sectors for better roads, considering the estimated 4-to-1 return on roads projects via jobs, increased investment and expansion.
Kimpson said he would be open to discussing passing off some of the roads to counties on a “supplemental” level, as long as the legislature seriously tackles the issue. He said that Davis’ filibuster suggestion to use future leftover annual state funds to pay for roads does nothing to address the “gaping sore” that the state’s roads are becoming.
Bill Davis is senior editor of Statehouse Report. Have a comment? Send to: brack@statehousereport.com
What’s going on at FITSNews?
Tongues are wagging about a column posted Thursday by FITSNews editor Will Folks, who points to the “root causes” of the Emanuel 9 church shooting as something more than racism, guns, drug abuse, mental illness or the Confederate flag. Listen:
“The real killer is something far more sinister (and far more widespread than we know): It’s desperation. Fear. And yes, ignorance. Which our culture is breeding.
“And all of those things are ultimately flowing from the same place, a pervasive erosion of economic opportunity that’s impacting all of us … and which is only getting worse. Yet while we are all in this fight together – white and black, man and woman, gay and straight – we continue to be conditioned into believing the enemy is “us” (or subsets of us). You know, as opposed to a corrupt, debt-addled political establishment that’s crushing our futures – and a supplicant mainstream media establishment serving up ready-made scapegoats in an effort to divide and deflect the blame.”
It’s a provocative read and there’s lots more on tax relief, handouts and societal indoctrination.
COMMENTARYDump Trump: Americans deserve better than bombast
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher
JULY 24, 2015 | If you don’t want Hillary Clinton to be the next president, you better get off the escalating Trump bandwagon pretty darned quickly.
Having a big mouth that spews provocative remarks just to make headlines is not a qualification for being president. Americans deserve better than a reality TV star becoming political reality.
Fortunately, the billionaire isn’t going to be president of the United States, despite topping the polls now in a field of (what is it today?) 16 GOP candidates. Why? His star will flame out. His mouthiness already is getting him in some trouble. And he bagged an August New Hampshire debate opportunity in a fit of petulance.
But Trump could cause serious problems down the road for the GOP if his campaign juggernaut continues. There’s already talk about the possibility that he’d become an independent candidate for 2016. Sound familiar? Remember another gazillionaire whose entry into a presidential contest split the GOP vote and propelled a Clinton into the White House? Like Ross Perot in 1992, a third-party bid by Trump would peel away GOP voters, which would boost the Democratic nominee into the win column.
Observers suggest Trump will burn out because there’s a long time between today’s outrageous statements about immigration or John McCain and the February presidential preference primary in South Carolina. Trump can only use stunts, such as giving out Lindsey Graham’s phone number, for so long.
Voters, says Winthrop University pollster Scott Huffmon, eventually want to see more than a circus — they want to see serious talk about real issues, not bogeymen, from a presidential candidate.
“He’s garnered enough interest now for people to want to see what he says in the debates — to see if he is all bluff and bluster or to see if he has some substance to him,” Huffmon said. “He has clearly shown why he’s a popular reality show star because that’s what he’s doing right now. The question is, can he convert it to real presidential mettle and statesmanship? If it’s just a show, people will tune into something else later on.”
For now, a grenade-tosser like Trump is exciting to voters, particularly among Republican voters who are angry that a Democrat, Barack Obama, is in the White House — and won reelection in 2012. The GOP electorate is looking for someone who will shake things up. And with 16 people running, there’s a lot of unknowns about a lot of unknown candidates.
Upstate Republican strategist Chip Felkel says he understands how Trump is tapping into voter frustration, such as at a heavily-covered recent forum in Bluffton.
“I get it, but he’s not offering any serious solutions,” said Felkel, who says voters really want substance.
“Celebrity only carries you so far,” he observed “A lot of Republican voters think ‘celebrity’ is what gave us Barack Obama.”
So what has some people thinking these days is whether the 69-year-old Trump, who has an estimated $4 billion net worth according to Forbes magazine, will mount a billion dollar independent presidential challenge. According to OpenSecrets.org, the two major party presidential candidates spent $1.12 billion in the 2012 race while outside groups and parties spent hundreds of millions more. All totaled, the 2012 race cost more than $2.6 billion.
“There’s every indication that Trump is not for anything other than Trump,” said Felkel. “He’s not for Republican Party success. He’s about Donald Trump’s success.
“It’s not a big leap to suggest that his Manhattan-sized ego would lead him to take a stab at a third party candidacy, which would make it harder for the GOP nominee to win.”
So we’re back to our original premise — if you don’t want another Clinton in office, you’d better move away from Trump as soon as possible to deflate his presidential balloon.
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Statehouse Report. Send feedback to: brack@statehousereport.com
IN THE SPOTLIGHTRiley Institute at Furman University
The public spiritedness of our underwriters allows us to bring Statehouse Report to you at no cost. This week’s spotlighted underwriter is The Richard W. Riley Institute of Government, Politics, and Public Leadership, a multi-faceted, non-partisan institute affiliated with the Department of Political Science at Furman University. Named for former Governor of South Carolina and United States Secretary of Education, Richard Riley, the Institute is unique in the United States in the emphasis it places on engaging students in the various arenas of politics, public policy, and public leadership.
- Learn more about the Riley Institute.
- Also learn more about the Riley Institute’s Center for Education Policy and Leadership.
Why doesn’t this country do something to curb gun violence?
By Elliott Brack, special to Statehouse Report
JULY 24, 2015 | Guns were the cause of two recent tragedies in the South, in Chattanooga this week, and recently in Charleston, S.C. You wonder where it will happen next. For it will.
What we can’t understand is the continual gun violence all across the country, almost every day in big cities, while the American public nonchalantly goes about its routine activities with little effort to curb these unfortunate incidents.
Does the American public not recognize what is causing all these problems?
Pure and simple, it’s the prevalence of guns, plus our nation’s inability to curtail the power of the National Rifle Association.
(We realize that by now we have upset the Big Gun culture. We also recognize that we may never convert these individuals to understand that it is possible for our nation to thrive without guns everywhere.)
Many gun-lovers just won’t listen to the facts. They start talking about the Second Amendment and their right to defend the country. That’s a smokescreen. They just don’t want to listen to sound reasoning, and harsh statistics. Not only that, but the right for owning guns was for these early Americans to maintain “a well regulated militia.” Today we have all sorts of officers to maintain laws, plus the military to defend our country.
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence reports:
- On average, 31 Americans are murdered with guns every day and 151 are treated for a gun assault in an emergency room.
- Every day on average, 55 people kill themselves with a firearm, and 46 people are shot or killed in an accident with a gun.
- The U.S. firearm homicide rate is 20 times higher than the combined rates of 22 countries that are our peers in wealth and population.
- A gun in the home is 22 times more likely to be used to kill or injure in a domestic homicide, suicide, or unintentional shooting than to be used in self-defense.
Realize, too, that not only are guns deadly, but the use of firearms is getting into the pocketbook of each everyday American. Medical treatment, criminal justice proceedings, new security precautions, and reductions in quality of life are estimated to cost U.S. citizens $100 billion annually in governmental spending.
Know, too, that the lifetime medical cost for all gun violence victims in the United States is estimated at $2.3 billion, with almost half the costs borne by taxpayers.
A real problem is the 50 million handguns. Putting more teeth in the background checks (which failed in the Charleston shooting) would be a first step.
Other civilized countries find that they have less violence where guns are more controlled. In Japan, for instance, they have only 50 homicides a year from guns; in Germany, Italy and France, there are less than 150 homicides a year. Canada counts 200.
In the United States, there are more than 10,000 deaths each year to guns. Can you imagine! Over 30 a day!
And for some reason, that doesn’t upset the average American to demand more restraint on the ownership of guns. Meanwhile, the Congress, which needs to act on gun control, is muzzled by the campaign contributions and the uproar of the NRA and other gun lobbyists if they even attempt to bring up the subject. The NRA may be the most detrimental lobbying organization there is on Capitol Hill (and at the Georgia State Capitol)! They control the conversation.
Look for another outbreak of massive gun violence…any day now.
Veteran Georgia newspaperman Elliott Brack is editor and publisher of GwinnettForum.com. Have a comment: brack@statehousereport.com
FEEDBACKFair tax would solve tax problems
Editor’s Note: The letter writer offers this opinion in response to the Statehouse Report “Palmetto Priority” on taxes, which reads: Overhaul and stabilize the tax structure by 2018 through reforms that broaden the tax base and lower rates. This should include reimplementation of reasonable property taxes and removal of hundreds of millions of dollars of special-interest sales tax exemptions. More.
To the editor:
The one bill that would implement every one of the objectives is the “South Carolina Fair Tax Act.”
The S.C. Fair Tax Act (S. 26) would “broaden the tax base” buy making every consumer carry a share of the tax burden. Tourists, workers, residents, legal and illegal aliens, retirees … all would share in funding our state government and all would be in control of how much taxes they pay via their consumption choices. The prebate feature would completely untax the poor and low income wage [earner]. It simplifies the current system eliminating the need to file taxes and disclose personal and business information. Your privacy is yours again.
The bill removes special interest loopholes and deductions while treating everyone exactly the same. It incentivizes business growth and is a job creator as it removes an additional burden to business start-ups with regard to administration, compliance and documentation costs for both the business and employees.
The SC Fair Tax Act [would]:
1) Eliminates state income taxes on households and businesses, saving them thousands of dollars.
2) Simplifies our state tax code and eliminates the SC 1040 income tax form.
3) Treats all taxpayers and businesses the same.
4) Provides a 6 percent base sales tax which brings in the same amount of money for the State government as our current tax code.
South Carolina needs this bill so we can compete with states like Texas, Florida and Tennessee that do not impose income taxes on their citizens while providing a business and job friendly environment for economic growth and development.
— Joe Lolli, Edisto Island, S.C.
Send us a letter. We love hearing from our readers and encourage you to share your opinions. Letters to the editor are published weekly. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity. We generally publish all comments about South Carolina politics or policy issues, unless they are libelous or unnecessarily inflammatory. One submission is allowed per month. Submission of a comment grants permission to us to reprint. Comments are limited to 250 words or less. Please include your name and contact information.
- Send your letters to: brack@statehousereport.com
Hooray for some, boos to others
Thumbs up
Jobless rate. The state’s jobless rate held steady at 6.6 percent, although slightly more people had work overall. Nationally, the rate plunged to a seven-year low of 5.3 percent. More.
Haley. Hats off to Gov. Nikki Haley for ordering a statewide security review of National Guard installations and recruitment centers after another senseless shooting — this one in Chattanooga in which five members of the military died.
Health website. Congratulations to the S.C. Hospital Association, one of our underwriters, for a new website that allows consumers to compare costs for medical services. See SC Price Point.
In the middle
Hate crime. It’s fitting that the federal government should bring federal hate crimes charges against accused Emanuel 9 church shooter Dylann Roof. South Carolina does not have a hate crime law. Maybe it now should. More.
Book fest. We’re saddened to hear the S.C. Book Festival will end after 19 years. More.
Stunt. Trump had a nice, dumb stunt in giving out U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham’s cell phone number after Graham called him a “jackass.” But Graham had the better gag with a video smashing and chopping his old cell phone. (One suggestion: Keep the golf swing; lose the baseball T-ball swing.) See the video.
Thumbs down
Flag protest. Sad in 2015 to see white supremacists from the KKK protest removal of the Confederate flag at a Saturday rally on the Statehouse grounds. In a lot of ways, it’s just as sad to see all of the venom and poison spewing in the air after they were met by counter-protesters from the New Black Panther Party. Thanks to state law enforcement officers for keeping control of the situation. Best news from the whole mess: a peaceful prayer rally on Sunday.
Heat. High temperatures scorched many in South Carolina throughout the week. Let’s hope for better weather this weekend.
NUMBER42
That’s South Carolina’s low rank out of 50 states in an annual survey of child welfare, according to the Kids Count Data Book offered by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The state has never ranked higher than 42, but tied its highest score this year due to improvements on child health outcomes, such as more kids having health insurance, a lower percentage of low-weight babies and a teen birth rate that fell from 51 per 1,000 births in 2008 to 32 per 1,000 in 2013. Read South Carolina’s profile.
Domestic terrorism
“The parishioners had Bibles. Dylann Roof had his gun. …
“Several months prior to the tragic events, Roof conceived his goal of increasing racial tensions and seeking retribution for perceived wrongs that he believed African-Americans have committed against white people. To carry out these twin goals of fanning racial flames and exacting revenge, Roof further decided to seek out and murder African-Americans because of their race. … Racially motivated violence such as this is the original domesticated terrorism.”
— U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch in announcing a 33-count indictment by a Columbia federal grand jury of accused Emanuel 9 church shooting suspect Dylann Roof. The federal indictment is a base for federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Roof in the June 17 shooting. More.
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIACharleston single house
S.C. Encyclopedia | The single house is the building form most closely associated with eighteenth-century Charleston architecture. It first appeared in the early eighteenth century and emerged as a favored residential form after the fire of 1740. The typical single house stands two or more stories in height and is built on a rectangular plan with its narrow end facing the street. Each floor has two rooms with a central stair-hall in between. Piazzas occupy the long wall facing the inside of the lot, and the chimneys are located on the opposite wall, in the rear of the house.
Architectural historians have devoted considerable study to the origins of the single house. The most common explanation holds that the form developed as a response to the hot and humid Lowcountry summers and the scarcity of space in the urban environment. The tall, slender profile allowed breezes to circulate freely across the broad piazzas and through the main rooms.
The orientation of the house removed it from direct engagement with the public street, secluding the occupants from the life of the city. In the words of the architectural historian Kenneth Severens, “As a free-standing house communicating more with a side garden than with the street, the single house offered a masterful but still vernacular solution to the residential problems of achieving comfort, privacy, and propriety.”
Gene Waddell, however, has suggested that fire protection was a more important consideration. Observing that the single house became popular after the fire that swept through the waterfront district in 1740, Waddell has argued that its freestanding form and nearly solid rear wall represented a departure from the paired dwellings and row houses of the colonial era and reflected a desire for increased fire protection in a dense urban environment.
Another interpretation has been offered by Bernard Herman, who argued that the social and symbolic stature of the single house and the dependencies found in the rear—slave quarters, carriage houses, and outbuildings—effectively made it the urban equivalent of the plantation “big house.” The organization of the lot placed formal social spaces nearest the street and utilitarian activities in the rear, while the house offered a vantage point for the occupants to keep watch over their domestic slaves and access in and out of the lot. Viewed in this context, the development of the single house reflected Charleston’s role as the gateway between the world of Atlantic mercantilism and the Lowcountry plantation landscape.
The single house is widely recognized as one of the most distinctive vernacular forms in the South. Numerous examples remain in the historic core of the city. Among those that illustrate the evolution of the form are the Charles Elliott House at 43 Legare Street (ca. 1759; altered in 1911); 90 and 94 Church Street (ca. 1760–1765); the Robert Pringle House at 70 Tradd Street (ca. 1774); the Simmons-Edwards House at 14 Legare Street (ca. 1800); and the Timothy Ford House at 54 Meeting Street (ca. 1800–1806).
– Excerpted from the entry by Daniel J. Vivian. To read more about this or 2,000 other entries about South Carolina, check out The South Carolina Encyclopedia by USC Press. (Information used by permission.)
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