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$20,000 |
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 STILL
NEEDED: $20,000. That's how much Manning High School's
Golden Pride Marching Band still needs to raise to be able
to perform in the Jan. 20 inaugural parade of President-elect
Barack Obama.
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Common sense dictates focus should be on more jobs
By
ANDY BRACK, publisher
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Brack
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DEC.
26, 2008 - A frequent refrain among state lawmakers is that the
tough times South Carolina is experiencing will lead to a tough
budget year.
Yes,
that's true. But this type of remark seems to show a misplaced priority
of state legislators - - that the big issue of 2009 will be to get
a constitutionally-mandated balanced budget in a time of greatly
reduced revenues.
Crafting
a budget that doesn't whack education, health care, environmental
progress and other state functions will be a delicate, difficult
task. But it seems there's something much more important that state
officials should be concentrating on: Getting more jobs for South
Carolinians.
Instead
of defaulting into bureaucratic mode of dealing with the budget,
legislators should develop new and innovative ways to grow jobs.
They should work now to reverse 8.4 percent unemployment statewide.
They should partner closely with local governments and counties,
especially the 21 counties in the state that have double-digit unemployment.
Here
are four things the state should do as soon as possible to get a
jobs revolution in South Carolina now:
Take
the money, part 1. Gov. Mark "Scrooge" Sanford seems
hellbent on not applying for federal aid dollars that would allow
thousands of jobless South Carolinians to continue to receive unemployment
benefits checks. The state's unemployment fund is about to run dry
because more people are drawing from it than expected. About $150
million in benefit loans is available for the state to receive.
"Never
have I seen a more heartless and cruel act by a governor,"
Senate Finance Chair Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, told reporters
just before Christmas. "I call upon him to end this reign of
emotional trauma and request the loans."
Take
the money, part 2. One of the golden rules of politics is when
the federal government appropriates money, it's going to be spent
somewhere. Refusing it won't make the spending go away.
So
Sanford's national plea against using federal dollars as a jobs
incentive package doesn't make practical sense. If the federal government,
as expected, is going to spend billions of dollars on infrastructure
projects to create local jobs to jumpstart the economy, South Carolina
should grab its fair share.
State
Sen. Phil Leventis, D-Sumter, says he's already preparing legislation
for January that would make it impossible for the governor to keep
South Carolina from getting stimulus money to build new roads, bridges,
schools and more.
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"These
are uncertain times. If you can start the money churning a
little bit, that's bound to help everybody in the economy.
It's going to create jobs where people need jobs. This is
a way for us to put people back to work."
--
SC Chamber of Commerce CEO Otis Rawl
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"Jobs
are what give people the confidence to spend," Leventis said.
"It's an interim solution, but it's needed."
Otis
Rawl, head of the S.C. Chamber of Commerce, agrees that it's time
to get money flowing back into the state's economy.
"These
are uncertain times," he said. "If you can start the money
churning a little bit, that's bound to help everybody in the economy.
It's going to create jobs where people need jobs. This is a way
for us to put people back to work."
Already,
South Carolina has about $850 million in highway projects ready
to get started. Building Interstate 73 from Myrtle Beach to Rockingham,
N.C., would cost an additional $2.4 billion. All of that road-building
would take a big dent out of the 300,000 people out of work right
now.
Revisit
budget forecasting. Rawl says state leaders seriously need to
review the budget forecasting model used to predict future revenues.
Instead of basing budget revenues on anticipated growth, he said
a more conservative method would base any budget expansion on past
growth. In other words, in the coming year, just use the numbers
for the current year budget. Any growth would be available next
year to spend.
It's
a conservative approach that would keep the state's budget from
a roller-coaster pendulum that swings in cycle from a few years
of growth, followed by a couple of years of cuts. Instead of instability,
such budgeting would create stability.
"Right
now is the time to do it," Rawl said, noting that lawmakers
certainly will have to make do with a smaller budget next year than
what was written last year. "Bite the bullet now."
Help
small businesses. On the campaign trail, politicians routinely
crow about how small businesses are the backbone of jobs in the
state. But when they get to Columbia, they seem to forget their
stump speeches.
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To
show it is serious about helping small businesses, South Carolina
only has to turn to Georgia, which four years ago started an initiative
to help local governments coordinate state and federal programs
to grow jobs for small businesses.
"It
works with the communities and gives them some guidance of what's
working in other places," explained Frank Knapp, head of the
SC Small Business Chamber. "We could pick up the Georgia model
tomorrow, but we continue to believe small businesses need no help
whatsoever. That's just crazy."
Andy Brack, publisher of SC Statehouse Report,
can be reached at: brack@statehousereport.com.
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a comment? feedback@statehousereport.com
The best of 2008
Here
are the best 10 cartoons of 2008 by the talented Steve Stegelin:
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Editor
Bill Davis will return with News next week with a look at the top
issues facing legislators in 2009.
In
the meantime, here are some of our top news stories of the past
year:
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
HEALTH
CARE
MONEY
PEOPLE
Send
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Every
week in this MY TURN section, we welcome guest commentaries on issues
of public and policy importance to South Carolina. If you're interested,
click
here to learn more. As a shorter alternative, feel free
to comment by sending us a letter to the editor.
Recent
My Turn commentary
Recent
feedback
- 12/6:
Davis's
reporting on target on health, Laura Morris, Mount Pleasant,
SC
- 12/5:
Barbecue
should be state meat, Lake High Jr., president, SC Barbeque
Association, Columbia, SC
- 11/28:
Concierge
medicine not new,
Peter Lucash, Charleston, SC
- 11/28:
Economy
has been running on credit, David Whetsell, Lexington,
SC
- 11/17:
Great
series on health care,
Frank Knapp, Columbia, SC
- 11/16:
Shares
concerns about family doctors, Dr. Leslie Pelzer,
Charleston, SC
- Feedback policy
Here's
a "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" related to various political news
items from the past week:
New
seat. South Carolina may get a seventh congressional seat due
to shifting population in the country. More: Myrtle
Beach Sun News.
Emergency care. South Carolina flunked emergency care and injury
prevention, according to the American
Academy of Emergency Physicians. But it got good marks on overall
care quality and medical liability laws.
Obama. The president-elect hasn't picked any Southerners for
his cabinet. More: Christian
Science Monitor.
Sanford. Popular Gov. Mark Sanford is going to plummet in popularity
quickly if he doesn't give up his "principled" stance
on not taking federal unemployment money. Some 70,000 people who
need unemployment benefits might just rise up and show the governor
a thing or two if he doesn't get with the program. More:
The State.
DeMint. Thumbs down to U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint who had to pay a
$25,000 federal fine for violating campaign contribution limit laws.
More: Greenville
News.
Joblessness. Great. The unemployment rate is now 8.4 percent
statewide and double-digit in about half of the state's counties.
More: The
State.
Emotional
blackmailer
"Never
have I seen a more heartless and cruel act by a governor. I call
upon him to end this reign of emotional trauma and request the loans."
--
State Sen. Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, on Gov. Mark Sanford's failure
to apply for a federal unemployment loan to continue benefits to
about 70,000 South Carolinians.
Recent
past issues are online:
If you want an earlier issue, contact us at info@statehousereport.com
South Carolina Statehouse Report
Publisher: Andy Brack
Editor: Bill Davis
Staff cartoonist: Steve Stegelin
Phone: 843.670.3996
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This
week's issue marks a milestone for SC Statehouse Report.
With this issue, we finish seven years of news and commentary
about South Carolina policy and politics. We're excited about heading
into our eighth year with our big 2009 opening issue next week.
