South Carolina Club for Growth

South Carolina Club for Growth strongly urges all members of the General Assembly to support H. 3279 and H. 3280, allowing South Carolina’s Secretary of State and Superintendent of Education to be appointed by the governor upon the advice and consent of the general assembly.

Wednesday’s (January 13, 2010) second reading vote on H. 3279 will be the first vote scored on the Club’s 2010 House Scorecard and any subsequent roll calls on H. 3279 and H. 3280 will also be scored.

South Carolina’s neighboring states have recognized that putting accountable cabinet members (appointed by the executive branch) in charge of day-to-day policy, administrative, and management decisions leads to success.  Likewise, despite recent battles between South Carolina’s current executive and legislative branches, future South Carolina governors deserve an opportunity to make their imprint on state government.

Taxpayers across South Carolina want accountable and efficient government through a true executive branch they can hold accountable for results – instead of an executive branch hamstrung by bureaucracy and competing political agendas.

SC Club for Growth says “sustain” S. 351

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South Carolina Club for Growth strongly urges all members of the SC Senate to sustain S. 351, R. 64, which makes detrimental changes to the State Ports Authority. S. 351, R. 64 will be the final scored vote before the Club releases its 2009-2010 Interim Legislative Scorecard.

In summary, the bill is essentially “restructuring in reverse” through increased bureaucracy and the potential for undue political influence. South Carolina needs an effective and well-managed ports system to remain competitive in the 21st century. However, S. 351, R. 64 will make much-need reforms very difficult by effectively eliminating the governor’s ability to remove board members.

South Carolina’s neighbors, including Georgia, have recognized that putting accountable board members (appointed by the executive branch) in charge of day-to-day policy, administrative, and management decisions leads to success.  Likewise, despite recent battles between South Carolina’s current executive and legislative branches, future South Carolina governors deserve an opportunity to make their imprint on our state government.

Taxpayers across South Carolina want accountable and efficient government through a true executive branch they can hold accountable for results – instead of an executive branch hamstrung with even more unaccountable bureaucracy.

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The South Carolina Club for Growth is a network of thousands of South Carolinians, from all walks of life, who believe that prosperity and opportunity come through economic freedom. We work to promote public policies that promote economic growth primarily through legislative involvement, issue advocacy, research, training, and educational activity.

SC Club for Growth
PO Box 11909
Columbia, SC 29211
twitter: SCClub4Growth
phone: 803.454.1134

Many of our members have asked The Club to list the SC Senators and Representatives who yesterday attempted to force Governor Sanford to apply for $350 million in federal stimulus dollars.  SC Club for Growth firmly believes the legislature’s attempt to ignore Executive Branch policy decisions clearly violates the separation of powers defined in our state’s constitution.  The three independent branches of state government exist to safeguard against one branch having too much power.

As we said in our Key Vote Alert yesterday:

“the amendments to the budget forcing the acceptance of $700 million in stimulus funds are in violation of our state’s constitution.  This is backed up by public opinions from South Carolina’s Attorney General, the Congressional Research Service, and the federal Director of the Office of Management and Budget, who have all argued that only the governor can apply for and accept these stimulus funds. SC Club for Growth firmly believes the legislature’s efforts clearly violate federal law and will score any associated veto overrides.”

SC Club for Growth encourages you to contact your legislator to either ask them “Why did you support violating the state’s constitution?” or to say “Thank you for defending responsible government.”

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SC Club for Growth to Score All Votes on Budget Vetoes

The South Carolina Club for Growth urges all Representatives and Senators to vote “NO” on overriding Governor Mark Sanford’s budget vetoes.  We will be scoring every budget veto vote as part of our 2009 Legislative Scorecard.

Unlike the alternative budgets presented in the House and Senate, we believe this year’s budget inadequately funds the core functions of government.  Much of this budget was crafted by staff members along with the finance committee chairmen and passed the House in a mere two hours – with not even the minimal 24 hours of review for legislators and the public.  South Carolinians deserve open and accountable government, instead of one that is crafted behind closed doors.

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From earlier today:

South Carolina Club for Growth strongly urges all members of the General Assembly to support Senator Lee Bright’s motion to recommit Judge Kaye Hearn’s nomination to the Judicial Merit Selection Commission. The vote will be included in the Club’s 2009-2010 Legislative Scorecard.

SC Club for Growth believes South Carolina’s judicial selection process needs significant reforms. Those reforms include moving to a more federal-style selection system, where nominees are chosen by the governor and confirmed with the advice and consent of the Senate. Judge Hearn’s now-unopposed nomination has exposed every imaginable flaw in the current system.

Mainly, political maneuvering and blatant disregard for judicial merit have characterized the process. Recommitting Judge Hearn’s nomination would bring much-needed awareness to these problems. South Carolinians deserve a judicial system served by independent and responsible judges – not by those who can survive the Columbia political gauntlet.

1. The so-called “Competitive” Grants Programs – $35,300,000
We always thought of government pork as just an analogy but were shocked to learn that this program, a legislatively-dominated favor factory, has given our hard-earned tax dollars to pay for ACTUAL celebrations of pork such as… “The Pigs on the Ridge Festival” Fairfield County “The Piggie on the Rock Festival” Union County “Squealin’ on the Square” Laurens “Chitlin Strut” (note – chitlin’s are pig intestines) Salley We are all willing to pay taxes to fund the core functions of government but are just not sure that these items quite fit into that definition either. The grants program has also recently used our taxes to pay for many other boondoggles including… “Freedom Weekend Aloft” Anderson “Hilarity Festival” Chester We’d keep going as there are countless other examples but frankly, we’re tired of this “hot air” and don’t find any of this “hilarious” because legislators are turning our hard-earned taxes into, in the words of The State newspaper,” the kind of legislative pork that they’d just as soon not have to debate in public.” The paper goes on to say that this program had “all the appearances of a secret legislative slush fund” that “should be abolished.” We couldn’t agree more.

2. Cost Overruns at the State Farmer’s Market – $ 15,000,000
Richland outbid Lexington County to be chosen as the location for the new state farmer’s market. However, engineers made mistakes about soil conditions and now taxpayers of the state are on the verge of being forced to subsidize one local county’s bid to trump another’s. This is especially galling for citizens of Lexington County in that their tax dollars are essentially being given to Richland Country to help outbid their own county.

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As the SC Senate prepares to debate the state’s 2007‐08 budget, the SC Club for Growth has released its list of the ten most egregious items of pork in the budget. A few low lights of this year’s Senate budget include the following:

• It takes nearly $1.3 billion in new revenues and creates a recurring budget deficit of $242 million by choosing to pay for recurring items with non‐recurring dollars.
• It makes a much too modest $205 payment towards our state’s $10 billion in unfunded health care liabilities for retirees. This is irresponsible in the extreme.
• It only uses 3% of the nearly $1.3 billion in new revenues for tax relief and provides no money for income tax relief.
• It grows government by another 12% on top of the last two years’ 25% increase – an amount already double the national average for government growth.
• It cuts the number of new state troopers in half and comes up short in funding our prisons ‐ while instead choosing to provide tens of million for pork projects.

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