Budget Vetoes

Thu, May 26 2005 @ 01:13 PM EDT

The House voted to override 154 of 163 budget line vetoes this week, restoring funding to shelter abused children, protect state assets and repair maintain schools. The vetoes, as they do every year, sparked a lot of talk about where tax dollars are being spent. Here is the rationale from those who supported the budget and the overrides.

Writing a state budget that supports numerous constituencies, including teachers, retirees, small business owners, and homeowners, is not easy. In this budget, we wanted to restrain growth while catching up on priorities that were underserved during the past several lean budget years.

This year’s budget is smaller than the budget passed in 2000 by more than $100 million. We placed a priority on important needs such as education, law enforcement, economic development, and healthcare.

In short, the House budget takes into account the needs of the people of South Carolina, not politics.

The House unanimously approved our version of the budget in March, after it had been deliberated in subcommittees, the full Ways and Means Committee and the House floor. It was debated again in a House-Senate conference committee before going to the governor.

However, nearly half of the vetoes came at the expense of education and economic development. These are the institutions which promise to better lives through education and the jobs this state needs to improve from the fourth-highest unemployment rate in the country.

Many of the vetoes were contrary to our objectives. One example were the vetoes that cut funding for two shelters that aid abused and neglected children and those that slashed money to preserve two iconic state landmarks. We overwhelmingly voted to restore those funds not because we were anxious to spend money, but because they are necessary.

Also, there were several million dollars set aside for maintenance at the state’s universities and technical colleges that have been deferred for years because of the recent economic problems. If left unaddressed, these maintenance problems will grow each year. Putting them off further means we will have to fix the problem and incur the added expense of extensive damage later.

In the governor’s veto message, he stated the vetoes have little to do with the merits of the programs, but were about getting to a “sum”. This simply means the governor’s was trying to reach a dollar amount for these vetoes without consideration for the merits of the projects being eliminated.

I agree that we should provide for spending limitations. This is why I introduced a bill to provide for the constitutional requirement for a spending limitation, completely in step with the process the Governor has endorsed.

The trust fund money will be repaid. The House remains concerned about the trust funds and is committed to replenishing the few remaining ones that we didn’t fully replenish this year.

The legislative process was deliberative and clearly worked for the benefit of the people of South Carolina.

In conclusion, I would like to congratulate Speaker David Wilkins breezing through his first confirmation hearing in Washington Wednesday. Full confirmation could come quickly it appears.