Friday Follies: A Tax Exemption for … Huh?
A TAX BREAK FOR FOOD AND CLOTHING IN THE PREPARATION OF PERISHABLE FOOD. THAT MAKES PERFECT SENSE. It’s often the case, and South Carolina is no exception. Lawmakers tend to…
Disclosure: What the Law Does & Doesn’t Require
LAST YEAR’S DISCLOSURE LAW LEAVES OUT A LOT – A LOT THAT YOU CAN ASK FOR Last month, we launched Project Income Disclosure with the aim of giving citizens a way…
Why the Governor’s Budget Won’t Be Debated
SOUTH CAROLINA’S EXECUTIVE BUDGET GETS IGNORED – AND THAT’S HOW LAWMAKERS LIKE IT On websites and editorial pages across the nation, Americans are debating President Donald Trump’s proposed budget. The president’s…
Wrap-Up of the 2017 Legislative Session
WHAT PASSED, WHAT DIDN’T, WHAT’S STILL TO COME On May 11, the legislative session ended for this year. Lawmakers will return next week to finish and pass the budget and…
The Gas Tax, the Infrastructure Bank, and Lawmakers’ Word Games
• Legislature began diverting fees to Infrastructure Bank in 2005 • Diversion of Funds meant to circumvent state constitution • In 2003 lawmakers changed the name of the gas tax to…
Gas Tax Bill a Windfall for Infrastructure Bank
PROPONENTS CLAIM THE BILL WOULD FIX SOUTH CAROLINA’S ROADS. THAT’S NOT WHAT THE BILL SAYS. [NB: The bill discussed in this report is now law, the state senate having overridden…
‘Reform’ to State Pension System Now the Law
SOUTH CAROLINA’S ‘PENSION DEFICIT DISORDER’ HASN’T BEEN SOLVED On April 25, Gov. Henry McMaster signed a bill intended to reform South Carolina’s pension system. The bill, now a law, raises…
House Gas Tax vs. Senate Gas Tax: A Comparison
LAWMAKERS HAVE TO COMBINE TWO BAD BILLS. THINGS COULD GET WORSE. The House and the Senate have both passed bills that contain significant tax increases, insignificant reform elements, and negligible…
The Gas Tax Bill – A Guide for the Perplexed
● The Senate’s bill raises gas tax by 12 cents per gallon ● Includes large increases in array of fees ● Calls tax a ‘fee,’ allowing Infrastructure Bank to create more…
Project Income Disclosure 2017
WHY DISCLOSURE MATTERS – AND WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT In 2008, the Policy Council published a report recommending the mandatory disclosure of all income sources for elected officials.…
Roads: What Reform Is – and Isn’t
THREE STEPS TO FIXING SOUTH CAROLINA’S ROADS – AND NONE OF THEM INVOLVES RAISING TAXES ON A POOR AND OVERTAXED POPULATION One thing has become increasingly evident in the debate over the gas…
Where Does the Gas Tax Really Go?
IF LAWMAKERS WANT TO SEND MORE OF THE GAS TAX TO ROADS, THEY’RE FREE TO DO IT. SO WHY DON’T THEY? When the gas tax hike bill (H.3516) was going…
Tightening (?) Income Disclosure Laws
LEGISLATION WOULD TIGHTEN SOME REQUIREMENTS FOR STATEMENTS OF ECONOMIC INTEREST — AND LOOSEN OTHERS Late in March, House Republicans, including Speaker Jay Lucas, sponsored a bill requiring increased disclosure on…
Getting Rid of the DOT Commission?
BILL WOULD ELIMINATE THE COMMISSION THAT SHIELDS POLICYMAKERS FROM ACCOUNTABILITY There seems to be broad agreement (except, perhaps, among Statehouse legislative leaders) that the state’s road funding system needs structural overhaul.…
Why Revenue Won’t Solve S.C.’s Roads Problem
MORE MONEY HASN’T IMPROVED SOUTH CAROLINA’S ROAD SYSTEM – AND FOR A VERY GOOD REASON. If more money were the answer to the state’s infrastructure woes, the topic would hardly…
Budget Growth Since 2007 – Fast and Furious
LAWMAKERS OVERSEE EXPLOSION IN FEDERAL FUNDS, FINES & FEES Each year during the budget debate, legislators talk about the responsible spending included in the budget. In this year’s debate, for…
‘Small’ $497 Million Bond Bill to Hit Ways & Means
PAYING FOR ROUTINE RENOVATIONS WITH DEBT HAS BECOME A THING Update: The final version of the committee bill ended up being $497 million, nearly half of which is going to higher…
House Passes $27.3 Billion Budget
‘CONSERVATIVE’ BUDGET A FULL BILLION DOLLARS BIGGER THAN LAST YEAR’S Late Tuesday night the House passed by far the largest budget in state history, as it usually does this time of…
Freedom of Information in S.C. – An Experiment
WE SENT SIMPLE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUESTS TO ELEVEN STATE AGENCIES. HERE’S WHAT WE FOUND. The purpose of the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), passed in the aftermath of…
Reforming the Judiciary in One Short Bill
A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO RESTORE THE BALANCE OF POWER The most frequent criticism made of South Carolina’s form of government – it’s also the most accurate one – is that…
The Return of ‘Competitive Grants’
THAT’S A EUPHEMISM FOR ‘PORK BY COMMITTEE’ [Update: This proviso was struck from the House budget when the bill went to the floor.] Buried in this year’s state budget bill…
UPDATE: Senate Gas Tax Plan
THIS ONE’S A STRAIGHT-UP TAX HIKE [Update: A quick side-by-side comparison of Senate and House bills is available here.] This morning the Senate Finance subcommittee took up H.3516, the gas…
House to Chip Away at Roll Call Requirement?
RESOLUTION WOULD ALLOW HOUSE TO BYPASS ROLL CALL ON BUDGET SECTIONS In 2008, the Policy Council released a study revealing that the South Carolina General Assembly passed bills with recorded…
UPDATE: House Passes Gas Tax Increase
MODEST REFORM MEASURE INTRODUCED, BUT PREMISE STAYS THE SAME On Tuesday the House considered the gas tax hike bill (H.3516). House leadership proposed an amendment that would divert 20 percent…
Biz License Reform Bill Not Much of a Reform
BUSINESS LICENSE TAXES ARE CONFUSING AND PUNITIVE. A REFORM BILL IN THE LEGISLATURE WOULD DO NOTHING TO CHANGE THAT. By any reckoning, one of the most widely hated taxes is…
S.C. Is a ‘Low Tax State,’ Right? Wrong.
SOUTH CAROLINA IS A LOW INCOME STATE — SOMETHING VERY DIFFERENT South Carolina politicos sometimes claim that ours is a “low tax state” and that it has the “lowest taxes in…
ANALYSIS: The Pension System Reform Bill
SOUTH CAROLINA’S PENSION SYSTEM IS IN THE RED BY TENS OF BILLIONS. A NEW BILL WOULD TINKER WITH THE SYSTEM. After months of deliberations and expert testimony, the Joint Committee on…
House Leaders’ Gas Tax Bill
LAWMAKERS’ ANSWER TO THE ROADS PROBLEM IS STILL THE SAME: YOU HAVEN’T SENT ENOUGH MONEY TO COLUMBIA [The text of this analysis has been updated to reflect the bill’s most…
What Makes One Lawmaker So Powerful?
SEN. HUGH LEATHERMAN HOLDS A BEWILDERING ARRAY OF STATE OFFICES. HE IS ACCOUNTABLE TO ONLY ONE SENATE DISTRICT. THE RESULT IS PREDICTABLE. Two of the most powerful offices in South…
New Bill Takes Aim at Criticism of Lawmakers
LEGISLATION WOULD REGULATE FREE SPEECH EVEN MORE TIGHTLY THAN LAST YEAR’S ‘DARK MONEY’ BILL In its present form, S.255, sponsored by Sen. Hugh Leatherman (R-Florence), would substantially encroach on South…