Author: South Carolina Policy Council

South Carolina’s General Assembly has long enjoyed a virtual monopoly of power over the state’s government and economy. The Legislature overshadows the executive branch and controls judicial branch appointments. Likewise,…

Advocates of good government in South Carolina have long recognized that the state’s governing structure is outdated, inefficient and not transparent. At the root of the problem is a concentration…

As part of an ongoing analysis of state spending trends, this fact sheet looks at total state spending over the past 10 years. Taking this bird’s eye view of the…

In 2009 the General Assembly passed legislation (H 3352) requiring all school districts to post a transaction register online, as well as a copy of the district’s monthly credit card…

The ongoing practice of keeping state spending high, especially in the midst of the “Great Recession” that has lowered the standard of living for many South Carolinians, depends upon the…

South Carolina’s unemployment rate has long been among the worst in the country, hitting a high of 12.5 percent in January 2010. As of June 2010 (latest data available), the…

As part of our ongoing review of local spending and taxation trends in South Carolina, this Fact Sheet looks at per capita county spending. Like total state spending, local spending…

Download the pdf Business as Usual in South Carolina The General Assembly has just completed this year’s South Carolina legislative session—one it seemed would never end. With it, some things…

It’s business as usual in South Carolina. Out-of-control spending, over-regulation, and an out-of-touch Legislature determined to govern behind closed doors. And while we’ve cringed at political gaffs and ugly politics…

The House voted yesterday to sustain 51 of 107 of Governor Sanford’s vetoes. The result is regarded as a victory for the governor, whose past veto record was lackluster at…

As the S.C. legislative session finally comes to a close this week, it’s worth asking whether lawmakers are making good use of their time – and taxpayer dollars. As the…

One of the final pieces of legislation that may pass the General Assembly this year is an omnibus economic development bill that provides an array of targeted credits and subsidies…

The total budget for FY10-2011 is $21.149 billion, comprised of $8.268 billion in Federal Funds; $7.766 in Other Funds; and $5.115 billion in General Funds. The budget is almost half…

A few months ago it seemed as if the idea of handing out retail tax incentives was all but dead. But, be warned, the last week of session is the…

As the budget goes into conference committee, we will be highlighting issues that currently divide the two chambers. In Part I of this series, we looked at the I-95 Corridor…

The Senate voted today not to concur with the amended House budget – meaning the state budget will head to conference committee. As part of our ongoing budget coverage, we’ll…

Cutting spending should be a top priority as the House takes up the proposed Senate budget. As we have previously noted, the proposed Senate budget increases spending by $60 million…

  South Carolina is heavily dependent on federal funding, raising questions regarding the state’s fiscal autonomy, as well as its approach to budgeting. But who, really, is getting this money?…

Download the PDF. As the S.C. legislative session finally comes to a close this week, it’s worth asking whether lawmakers are making good use of their time – and taxpayer…

With the film industry clamoring for additional tax breaks, it is worth asking whether such targeted tax breaks actually work. As we’ve written before, targeted tax incentives do not result…

Download the .pdf version here.   With the House and Senate voting to override the governor’s veto of a 50-cent cigarette tax increase, it’s worthwhile to revisit the reasons why…

In South Carolina, economic incentive spending has been the emerging trend of the last 20 years. In 1994, the state spent $32 million on economic incentives. In 2008, that figure…

This memorandum addresses, specifically, whether S.C. House Bill H. 3047 (hereinafter "H 3047") is constitutional and, more generally, whether the changes to the method of recording votes in both houses…

In 2008, the South Carolina Policy Council (SCPC) released research showing that the S.C. General Assembly passed bills with a recorded vote only 5 percent of the time.[1] In January…

SC Policy Council President Ashley Landess discusses the impact of increasing government spending on economic growth at the April 26, 2010, meeting of the Aiken City Council. Part 1 Part…

The Senate Finance Committee budget increases spending by $60 million over the House version. The House budget – passed on March 18 – is an increase of $400 million over…

Even as lawmakers are complaining about budget cuts and a barebones spending act, state spending continues to increase – by 2 percent over last year’s appropriated budget. By comparison, per…

While media coverage of the budget this year has pointed to “the $5 billion budget,” “1,000 job layoffs,” and “unprecedented cuts,” the truth is that the budget is still growing…

As the Senate Finance Committee meets this week to take up the budget, it’s a good time to review the House budget passed earlier this month. Here are the basics:

I am Dr. Jameson Taylor, Director of Policy with the South Carolina Policy Council. As you may know, the Policy Council is a non-profit, non-partisan think tank dedicated to safeguarding…