By Lindsay Street, Statehouse correspondent | Less than a half percent of the state’s $9.3 billion budget was struck down by gubernatorial vetoes this week.
Gov. Henry McMaster struck 28 line items totalling $40.7 million from the 2019-20 spending plan. Any veto overrides by the General Assembly likely won’t be taken up until the January 2020 session.
Here are five notable vetoes that McMaster said lacked necessary transparency in the budgeting process. He said the spending did not have “disclosure or explanation, justification, description, purpose, location or amount” in the line items. (As such, it’s hard to explain what he was vetoing, based on his veto message.)
- A $6.5 million grants program through the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism;
- $3.4 million for historic preservation at the Department of Archives and History;
- $2 million for community development grants;
- $3.5 million for medical contracts at the Department of Health and Human Services; and,
- $2 million for local law enforcement grants.
“These earmarks should be publicly disclosed and debated through the normal appropriations process and allowed to stand on their own merits, not rolled up into one line thereby sheltered from scrutiny,” McMaster repeated in each line item veto message.
An $11 million case management system upgrade for the judicial department was also vetoed.
“The time has now come for our courts, solicitors, attorneys, advocates, law enforcement and criminal justice agencies to embrace a modern statewide uniform case management system. I look forward to funding this type of proposal in my next executive budget,” he wrote.
McMaster also vetoed a $1.7 million project to sink the USS Clamagore off the coast of Charleston to create a sport fishing reef. He said artificial reefs for alleviating the threat of coastal flooding is “a meritorious idea” but he didn’t want taxpayer-funded leisure projects that had limited public access.
And McMaster signaled interest in reforming the state’s “piecemeal sales tax exemptions” but vetoing a one-year sales tax exemption on foods manufacturing equipment.
- Read our previous coverage on how Republican lawmakers are looking to transform the state’s tax code in 2020.
- Read the entire veto message here.
In other news:
Entertainment industry flees red-state laws. South Carolina has gained a Netflix show after the streaming media giant balked at North Carolina’s transgender bathroom policy. Now, as other entertainment looks at leaving Georgia over its abortion restrictions, South Carolina is looking at enacting similar legislation. Read the story in The Charleston City Paper.
Alimony work remains on agenda for 2020. In South Carolina, lawmakers are working on reforming its longstanding alimony laws. According to a recent piece by WRHI, work will continue over the break and begin in earnest at the start of the 2020 session.
Interstate 73 gets infamous. A recent article in American Thinker has called Interstate 73 “a poster child for the government ineptitude.” The interstate project gained attention from President Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign. One contractor said: “The state government would rather have the project remain stranded for another 30 years than yield their ownership to a private entity.” Read the article here.
SCforEd turns one. Last May, a Facebook group started out of teacher frustration in the state. Now, SCforEd has grown to more than 30,000 members. This week, the group’s founders reflected on the grassroots organization, highlighting the teacher pay raises and other education reform efforts in Columbia. “Though it’s not over yet, the commitment and passion for education from these state servants gives us faith that meaningful reform will make the lives of children better in our state,” the group wrote in a statement.
Anti-teen pregnancy group gathers June 4-6. The S.C. Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy is hosting its 20th Annual Teen Pregnancy Prevention Conference June 4 to June 6 at the North Charleston Marriott. Keynote and plenary speakers include Judge Glenda Hatchett, a TV personality and successful attorney, and Dr. Elizabeth Schroeder, an award-winning educator, trainer and author in the areas of sexuality education pedagogy. Learn more here.
Ceremonial signing for Panthers’ incentives planned. Gov. Henry McMaster and representatives from NFL team the Carolina Panthers will gather Wednesday in Rock Hill for a ceremonial signing of the incentives package aimed at luring the team’s headquarters south of the border.
Tracking the candidates. Following in the footsteps of this calendar and The Post and Courier’s newly launched candidate tracker, The State newspaper also launched its candidate tracker this week. See it here. In related, FiveThirtyEight released an interactive map of where Democrats and Republicans live in the United States, showing some stark divides even in neighboring communities. See the map here.
2020 candidate calendar
Throughout the campaign season, we are working to keep South Carolina informed of candidate events in the state. Have an event you want us to know about? Email us at 2020news@statehousereport.com. In the coming days:
- Bennet: Democratic hopeful and U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado is making his first trip to the state with campaign stops May 31 and June 1. At 6 p.m. May 31, Bennet will appear at the home of former Democratic National Committee Chairman Don Fowler for a party. The event will be followed by another party at the home of Sabrina Dailey in Fort Mill at 2:30 p.m. June 1.
- De Blasio: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, another Democratic hopeful, will return to Orangeburg for a third time. On June 1, he will speak 10 a.m. at Williams Chapel AME Church starting at 10 a.m.
- On TV: The Black Economic Alliance will host a presidential forum noon to 4 p.m. June 15 for some Democratic candidates at the Charleston Music Hall. Tickets required, but free. To be aired on BET.
- Hear from 18 of the Democratic candidates. On June 22, the S.C. Democratic Party will have its annual state convention. Eighteen of the 23 declared Democratic presidential hopefuls are signed up to speak. Read more.
Looking ahead
Click below for other items coming up in the Statehouse:
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