The New Year brings with it change and this year in our legislative body we have seen some changes. There is always room for further improvement and Senators Ross Turner and Danny Verdin along with Representatives Garry Smith, Mark Willis, and Eric Bedingfield attended a Town Hall meeting hosted by Fountain Inn, SC, on Thursday, February 6 at the local History Museum to discuss those relevant topics.
Smith, who recently received a pen from Governor Nikki Haley that she used to sign a document to the passed Department of Administration Bill, began the town hall discussion on the topic. For his efforts in seeing the legislation through, Smith was awarded an honorary pen from the Governor as a token of gratitude for his actions.
Turner added his view on why the legislation passed the Senate. Republicans awaited a long filibuster on the topic of constitutional carry in restaurants but were surprised when the bill passed with minimal opposition. Later, Turner was informed that the reason the legislation was passed quickly was because Senator Vincent Sheheen wanted to pass the Department of Administration bill before the State of the State speech so that it wouldn’t be pinned on his back.
“That’s how anything good is going to get passed because the numbers are not there. It is a numbers game. Department of Administration happened because Senator Sheheen wanted it to happen,” said Turner. “Not because it was great and we needed it.”
Smith talked about numbers and the state budget. This upcoming year brings with it 400 million dollars in additional revenue, but Smith says that the amount can be a little misleading. It’s estimated that only 220 million of that money is an amount that we can expect every year.
1.9 million dollars has been submitted in new requests. One of the problems that Smith sees is the ever growing pot of money that goes into social programs such as food stamps, Medicaid and other programs. In 2003 52% of the budget went toward K-12 education. Now that percentage is down to 48 due to the fast growth of social programs.
Smith also wants to put a handle on higher education. With the one-time monies that the state will receive this year Smith would like to see an investigation into how higher learning programs are spending their money.
During the “Great Recession” revenue from the state went down 13%. During that time federal funding was on the rise over a ten year period by 72%. Expenditures by higher learning during that time since 2003 went up 64%.
“Do we have a revenue problem,” said Smith. “No. Do we have an expenditure problem? Absolutely. I want to take some of that one-time monies and use it to fund a study on higher education. I think it’s high time we do that before we put any more money into higher education.”
Smith told of a book that the College of Charleston has placed on their mandatory reading list for freshman that disappoints him. The graphic novel Fun Home by Alison Bechdel is a homosexual graphic novel that at times refers to Christians as lesbian terrorists and depicts homosexual sex.
“I wouldn’t have gotten arrested if I would have gone out in the street and handed [Fun Home]to a 17 year old for contributing to the delinquency of a minor or giving pornography to a minor,” said Smith.
The College of Charleston spent $59,000 purchasing 4,000 of these graphic novels. Bechdel was also given $13,000 to come and lecture on campus. Smith would feel better about the graphic novel if students were granted material on the topic of a counter-issue, but since there isn’t any Smith feels that it is “pure promotion.”
Turner informed the crowd that the Senate was currently discussing ethics. Even though Turner doesn’t feel that income disclosure has strong opposition he does know that an independent investigative body will be the largest hurdle in getting the legislation passed.
“Some people don’t want to give that up,” said Turner.