Why S.C.’s Deeper in Debt Than They Say

THE HOUSE IS DEBATING A $497 BOND PACKAGE. IT’S TERRIBLE IDEA, FOR LOTS OF REASONS. NOW TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT LAWMAKERS WANT TO SPEND THE MONEY ON. This week the House will consider a nearly half-billion dollar Capital Improvement Bond bill. The proposal is being considered as Part III of the General Appropriations Act. The bond bill […]

Gov. Haley’s Budget: Same Deal, More Money

THE GOVERNOR DOUBLES DOWN, PHONES IT IN Update* Budget documents prepared by the Executive Budget Office not available at the time of initial publication reveal an even larger executive budget. The full executive budget comes in at $26 billion, an $890 million increase in total appropriations over last year’s budget. Gov. Nikki Haley has released her […]

What Will the State Do with the Surplus?

PROBABLY NOT WHAT CHESTER ARTHUR WOULD HAVE DONE You might have recently heard that South Carolina ended the fiscal year with a higher-than-expected surplus – a surplus big enough to cover the entire list of items on lawmakers’ $235 million surplus priority (a.k.a. “pork”) list and still give them an extra $32 million to “distribute” […]

Governor Vetoes 0.07 Percent of the State Budget

HOORAY FOR LIMITED GOVERNMENT, RIGHT? After the General Assembly rammed through a record high $25.5 billion state budget with little public debate, Governor Nikki Haley had the opportunity to make some substantial vetoes of items in the bloated budget. Her vetoes amounted to roughly $18.5 million. That may sound like a lot, but it comes […]

State Budget: Enough to Fund Roads Already

THE GOOD NEWS: THE STATE HAS ENOUGH TO FUND ROADS. THE BAD NEWS: LAWMAKERS WILL NEED TO GO WITHOUT PAY HIKES, CORPORATE WELFARE, AND PORK. State budgets are a big deal. They’re more than just lists of things to spend tax dollars on. State budgets are comprehensive guides that show what the role of state government […]

Hey Senators, Here’s What to Cut

WE KNOW, YOU WON’T CUT MUCH. BUT COULD YOU AT LEAST SKIM A LITTLE? The Senate is set to take up the budget recently approved by the Senate Finance Committee. When including General Funds, Other Funds, and Federal Funds (and the federal food stamp funds lawmakers for some reason no longer include in the budget), […]

State Budget Skyrockets in Ten Years

SO THIS IS THEIR IDEA OF “CONSERVATIVE” BUDGETING? Despite South Carolina politicians’ claims over the past decade that South Carolina has a “conservative” budget, the FY 2014-15 budget passed by the House is significantly larger than the 2005-06 budget. When accounting for inflation – converting 2006 dollars to 2014 dollars – the $25 billion House […]

The Ways & Means Budget Is Here

  SHORT VERSION: MASSIVE HIKES FOR THE USUAL SUSPECTS The House will begin debate on another record high budget today. At $25.4 billion (assuming a $1.5 billion food stamp item for some reason no longer listed in the budget), the Ways and Means Committee’s proposed budget is over $1 billion higher than last year’s ratified […]

Contract, Clarity, and a Return to Sovereignty

  HOW TO STOP FEDERAL COERCION – INCLUDING OBAMACARE – AND ENACT FREE MARKET REFORM   [PDF of full report here; a briefer version of the report here.] For three years, policy experts, citizen groups, and politicians have argued for multiple approaches to either blunting the effects of ObamaCare or abolishing it altogether. The Affordable Care Act […]

What Will Gov. Haley Veto?

  DO TAXPAYERS WANT TO PAY FOR EVERYTHING IN THIS YEAR’S $24.3 BILLION BUDGET? Last year, Governor Nikki Haley vetoed $57.1 million of a $23.6 billion budget – less than one quarter of one percent of the budget. While she was able to get rid of a few expendable appropriations, billions of dollars in unnecessary […]