MORE OF THE SAME? The 2013 legislative session has just begun, and one of the first items unveiled was the governor’s executive budget. Whether or not the legislature will follow…
Lawmakers say it’s about accountability. The only trouble is: Their bill doesn’t achieve it. On Thursday, January 10, at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee – the subcommittee dealing…
HOW THE STATES CAN DO MORE THAN YOU THINK . . . As the 120th session of the South Carolina General Assembly kicks off, the decisions to implement (or not implement)…
LAWMAKERS: LET’S DELETE THE LAW WE’VE BEEN IGNORING For over a year, the Policy Council has been pointing out an important provision in state law that lawmakers conveniently ignore every…
WHAT ARE SOUTH CAROLINA’S OPTIONS? Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (widely known as Obamacare) and the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that the law is constitutional, there has…
…MORE OR LESS. In the 1990s, politicians spoke constantly about “the children” and/or “education.” Now they tend to talk about “jobs,” as if the whole purpose of government were to…
Before lawmakers try to “equalize” education funding among school districts, they’d better examine the premises of the proposed plan. The South Carolina School Boards Association has recently released a new…
NEXT TIME LAWMAKERS CLAIM THEY’VE DONE SOMETHING ABOUT SCHOOL CHOICE, TAKE A CLOSE LOOK If you’re a parent, you’ve probably had this experience. You give your child a minimally difficult…
HOW SOUTH CAROLINA FELL INTO GORDON TULLOCK’S “TRANSITIONAL GAINS TRAP” At a recent debate sponsored by the Policy Council on the merits of taxpayer-financed “incentives” – the headline for the…
State agencies have begun submitting their budget requests for next year. Ever wonder how government grows so much, so fast? Here’s where it starts. Major requests for budget hikes The…
State law prescribes a detailed and transparent process for how elected officials are to introduce, debate, and pass the state budget. Unfortunately, lawmakers have a bad habit of ignoring that law.…
IS THERE A ‘CONTROLLING LEGAL AUTHORITY’ HERE? In 1997, when Vice President Al Gore was questioned about suspicious campaign fund-raising activities, he claimed repeatedly that he didn’t know it was…
FOR A ‘FREEDOM OF INFORMATION’ LAW, OURS DOESN’T ALLOW VERY MUCH INFORMATION Want information about the way a state agency uses your tax dollars? Here’s the good news: nearly every…
WHY THE HOUSE & SENATE ETHICS COMMITTEES SHOULDN’T EXIST – AND WHY IT MATTERS South Carolina is often said – correctly – to be dominated by the legislature. What does that…
OR, WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THESE GUYS STICK AROUND TOO LONG? We’re sometimes asked: Where’s the harm in the fact that South Carolina has a longer legislative session than most other…
SC LAWMAKERS SPEND MORE THAN HALF THE YEAR IN COLUMBIA. TIME TO ABBREVIATE. THE BACKGROUND South Carolina has one of the longest legislative sessions in the country. Legislators spend almost…
FOR STARTERS, YOU MIGHT LEARN THE REASONS FOR SOME OF YOUR LAWMAKERS’ VOTES Suppose for a moment that you disapprove of a particular vote cast by your lawmaker. You think…
HOW ABOUT A LITTLE GOVERNANCE? Here’s an interesting exercise: Go to the Budget and Control Board’s website and download an Excel file containing the names, positions, and salaries of all…
WHY IS OUR SALES TAX HIGH? BECAUSE LAWMAKERS SPEND TOO MUCH TIME IN COLUMBIA, THAT’S WHY This week, as our policy analysts worked on our forthcoming annual guide, The Best…
AND WHAT SHOULDN’T IT BE DOING? Like every other state, South Carolina maintains a Department of Agriculture. But what does the Department do? Its stated mission is to “promote and…
SALES TAX HOLIDAYS MASK THE TRUTH: THAT S.C., AMONG THE POOREST STATES IN THE U.S., HAS ONE OF THE NATION’S HIGHEST SALES TAXES At 6 percent, South Carolina has the…
Ever wonder why our sales tax is so high? Part of the answer can be found in this abandoned amusement park. Earlier this week, one of our analysts was scrolling…
LAWMAKERS REDUCED THE STATE BUDGET BY A TINY FRACTION OF A TINY FRACTION Lawmakers began public meetings on the state’s 2012-13 budget January 10 of this year – the first…
SORRY, BUT TAXPAYERS LOST THE REAL BATTLE MONTHS AGO Yesterday the South Carolina House overrode the majority of Gov. Nikki Haley’s budget vetoes. The vetoes themselves were minimal – at…
‘JOBS’: THE ALL-PURPOSE JUSTIFICATION FOR EVERY GOVERNMENT PROGRAM Today, as expected, the South Carolina House voted to override Gov. Nikki Haley’s veto of Arts Commission money. Specifically, she vetoed $1.9…
THIS YEAR’S DEBATE OVER VETOES ISN’T ABOUT CUTTING GOVERNMENT This week, the legislature will reconvene to take up the governor’s budget vetoes. Gov. Nikki Haley vetoed $57.1 million from the…
THINK YOU KNOW THE SOUTH CAROLINA STATE BUDGET? 1) Including state, federal, and “other” funds, the budget totals approximately a. $6.6 Billion b. $8.6 Billion c. $17.3 Billion d.…
DID ALABAMA GET A BETTER DEAL THAN WE DID? In October of 2009, South Carolina celebrated Boeing’s decision to locate a production line in North Charleston and bring an untold…
MORE STUFF THE DEPT. OF ADMINISTRATION BILL WOULDN’T HAVE DONE Last week, we attended a meeting of the Budget & Control Board. Now, oftentimes these meetings are excruciatingly uneventful,…
The debate over school choice has been revived by the passage of H.4894 in the South Carolina House, and we’re glad to see the subject debated again. We just have one small…
The Governor’s Spending Plan (Part 1)
MORE OF THE SAME? The 2013 legislative session has just begun, and one of the first items unveiled was the governor’s executive budget. Whether or not the legislature will follow…
What’s the Point of Restructuring?
Lawmakers say it’s about accountability. The only trouble is: Their bill doesn’t achieve it. On Thursday, January 10, at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee – the subcommittee dealing…
Protecting South Carolina from Obamacare
HOW THE STATES CAN DO MORE THAN YOU THINK . . . As the 120th session of the South Carolina General Assembly kicks off, the decisions to implement (or not implement)…
They Admit It!
LAWMAKERS: LET’S DELETE THE LAW WE’VE BEEN IGNORING For over a year, the Policy Council has been pointing out an important provision in state law that lawmakers conveniently ignore every…
The Facts on Medicaid Expansion
WHAT ARE SOUTH CAROLINA’S OPTIONS? Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (widely known as Obamacare) and the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that the law is constitutional, there has…
How to Create 10,000 Jobs
…MORE OR LESS. In the 1990s, politicians spoke constantly about “the children” and/or “education.” Now they tend to talk about “jobs,” as if the whole purpose of government were to…
More Money = Better Outcomes?
Before lawmakers try to “equalize” education funding among school districts, they’d better examine the premises of the proposed plan. The South Carolina School Boards Association has recently released a new…
Progress on School Choice?
NEXT TIME LAWMAKERS CLAIM THEY’VE DONE SOMETHING ABOUT SCHOOL CHOICE, TAKE A CLOSE LOOK If you’re a parent, you’ve probably had this experience. You give your child a minimally difficult…
It’s a Trap!
HOW SOUTH CAROLINA FELL INTO GORDON TULLOCK’S “TRANSITIONAL GAINS TRAP” At a recent debate sponsored by the Policy Council on the merits of taxpayer-financed “incentives” – the headline for the…
Here Come the Budget Busters!
State agencies have begun submitting their budget requests for next year. Ever wonder how government grows so much, so fast? Here’s where it starts. Major requests for budget hikes The…
Citizens’ Guide to the 2012 State Budget
State law prescribes a detailed and transparent process for how elected officials are to introduce, debate, and pass the state budget. Unfortunately, lawmakers have a bad habit of ignoring that law.…
Who Investigates?
IS THERE A ‘CONTROLLING LEGAL AUTHORITY’ HERE? In 1997, when Vice President Al Gore was questioned about suspicious campaign fund-raising activities, he claimed repeatedly that he didn’t know it was…
Freedom of Information?
FOR A ‘FREEDOM OF INFORMATION’ LAW, OURS DOESN’T ALLOW VERY MUCH INFORMATION Want information about the way a state agency uses your tax dollars? Here’s the good news: nearly every…
The Rules Apply to Everyone. (Except Us.)
WHY THE HOUSE & SENATE ETHICS COMMITTEES SHOULDN’T EXIST – AND WHY IT MATTERS South Carolina is often said – correctly – to be dominated by the legislature. What does that…
Why Our Legislative Session Is Far Too Long
OR, WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THESE GUYS STICK AROUND TOO LONG? We’re sometimes asked: Where’s the harm in the fact that South Carolina has a longer legislative session than most other…
Too Much Time on Their Hands?
SC LAWMAKERS SPEND MORE THAN HALF THE YEAR IN COLUMBIA. TIME TO ABBREVIATE. THE BACKGROUND South Carolina has one of the longest legislative sessions in the country. Legislators spend almost…
What Income Disclosure Would Mean for You
FOR STARTERS, YOU MIGHT LEARN THE REASONS FOR SOME OF YOUR LAWMAKERS’ VOTES Suppose for a moment that you disapprove of a particular vote cast by your lawmaker. You think…
What Can We Do about Higher Ed?
HOW ABOUT A LITTLE GOVERNANCE? Here’s an interesting exercise: Go to the Budget and Control Board’s website and download an Excel file containing the names, positions, and salaries of all…
Putting the Goodies Back In
WHY IS OUR SALES TAX HIGH? BECAUSE LAWMAKERS SPEND TOO MUCH TIME IN COLUMBIA, THAT’S WHY This week, as our policy analysts worked on our forthcoming annual guide, The Best…
Dept. of Ag – What’s it for?
AND WHAT SHOULDN’T IT BE DOING? Like every other state, South Carolina maintains a Department of Agriculture. But what does the Department do? Its stated mission is to “promote and…
South Carolina’s Killer Sales Tax
SALES TAX HOLIDAYS MASK THE TRUTH: THAT S.C., AMONG THE POOREST STATES IN THE U.S., HAS ONE OF THE NATION’S HIGHEST SALES TAXES At 6 percent, South Carolina has the…
Playing with the Tax Code
Ever wonder why our sales tax is so high? Part of the answer can be found in this abandoned amusement park. Earlier this week, one of our analysts was scrolling…
Veto Recap
LAWMAKERS REDUCED THE STATE BUDGET BY A TINY FRACTION OF A TINY FRACTION Lawmakers began public meetings on the state’s 2012-13 budget January 10 of this year – the first…
The Battle over Vetoes
SORRY, BUT TAXPAYERS LOST THE REAL BATTLE MONTHS AGO Yesterday the South Carolina House overrode the majority of Gov. Nikki Haley’s budget vetoes. The vetoes themselves were minimal – at…
Art Is about Jobs?
‘JOBS’: THE ALL-PURPOSE JUSTIFICATION FOR EVERY GOVERNMENT PROGRAM Today, as expected, the South Carolina House voted to override Gov. Nikki Haley’s veto of Arts Commission money. Specifically, she vetoed $1.9…
Microscopic cuts
THIS YEAR’S DEBATE OVER VETOES ISN’T ABOUT CUTTING GOVERNMENT This week, the legislature will reconvene to take up the governor’s budget vetoes. Gov. Nikki Haley vetoed $57.1 million from the…
Budget quiz!
THINK YOU KNOW THE SOUTH CAROLINA STATE BUDGET? 1) Including state, federal, and “other” funds, the budget totals approximately a. $6.6 Billion b. $8.6 Billion c. $17.3 Billion d.…
Airbus v. Boeing?
DID ALABAMA GET A BETTER DEAL THAN WE DID? In October of 2009, South Carolina celebrated Boeing’s decision to locate a production line in North Charleston and bring an untold…
Restructure This?
MORE STUFF THE DEPT. OF ADMINISTRATION BILL WOULDN’T HAVE DONE Last week, we attended a meeting of the Budget & Control Board. Now, oftentimes these meetings are excruciatingly uneventful,…
What’s the point of school choice?
The debate over school choice has been revived by the passage of H.4894 in the South Carolina House, and we’re glad to see the subject debated again. We just have one small…