Resolution filed to override Sanford on stimulus

By Molly Parker
mparker@scbiznews.com
Published March 12, 2009

Sen. Hugh Leatherman introduced a resolution Thursday morning to override Gov. Mark Sanford should he refuse to accept any portion of South Carolina’s share of federal stimulus funds.

House lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to insert similar language into a budget bill passed on Wednesday, according to House Speaker Bobby Harrell’s office.

Previous coverage:
House Majority Whip Clyburn urges S.C. lawmakers to bypass governor on stimulus
Sanford wants to pay down debt with stimulus money
Details about state’s stimulus funds surface slowly
U.S. Department of Education provides details on stimulus funds
State and local law enforcement to get $38M in stimulus funding

Hugh Leatherman files resolutionLeatherman filed the Senate bill one day after Sanford announced he has requested permission from the Obama administration to use a portion of the money to pay off long-term debt.

If permission is not granted, as it’s not expected to be, Sanford said he plans to reject about $700 million, roughly one-quarter of the money headed to the state under the program.

“If my house is burning down, I don’t get in my car and drive to the bank to pay off the mortgage. I put out the fire,” said Leatherman, R-Florence. “I think that’s where we are in the state of South Carolina today. We need to put out the fire.”

The bill was moved to the Senate Finance Committee, of which Leatherman is chairman. Because of Sanford’s and other Republican governors’ opposition to the stimulus plan, the federal legislation included a provision that allowed state legislatures to bypass any governor who declines the money.

During several hours of impassioned debate this morning on the Senate floor, a handful of conservative Republican lawmakers said they did not agree with the federal stimulus plan but thought the state should accept the money and not risk having it sent elsewhere. Numerous references were made to the state’s unemployment rate, which crossed into double digits in January at 10.4%.

“We’ve got to quit playing politics with people’s lives. We’ve got to quit that,” said Sen. John Knotts, R-West Columbia.

Sen. Mike Rose, R-Summerville, said it was imperative for lawmakers to ensure the money does not have strings attached that could cost the state more in the long run.

“The question is, if we vote for a cure, what are the side effects?” Rose said. “I want to know the side effects before I swallow this.”

The Democratic Governors Association also teed off on Sanford, encouraging the S.C. Legislature to override his rejection of the money.

“Every state should be laser-focused right now on one issue: jobs, jobs, jobs,” said Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, vice chairman of the association. “Governors are supposed to get things done, and nothing is more important than putting people to work using every tool you have to create jobs. This rejection is less about the people of South Carolina than it is Sanford’s political ambitions.”

Sanford told S.C. legislators in a letter that he wants to reject the money unless he can use the money exclusively for paying off debt because “I believe doing so would not help our current economic problems and would do real harm to our future financial picture.”

But O’Malley said, “Americans need help now to get through these very difficult and uncertain times. Any governor who refuses to help the people of his or her state is putting failed ideology ahead of schools and unemployed families.”

The stimulus funding, he said, is being used in other states to invest in roads, bridges and mass transit; in keeping teachers in classrooms; and for police officers on the street.

“If this weren’t really happening, it would be a joke,” said Nathan Daschle, the association’s executive director. “Real people in South Carolina are suffering. They’ve been laid off. They’re struggling to put food on the table. They are poring over want ads that get thinner every day. And now their governor thinks he’s too good for this help, even as the economy gets worse. He even wants to give cash to banks instead of putting it back in the economy. If I were them, I’d move to North Carolina.”

On Wednesday, House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., also took Sanford to task, saying Congress never intended that the money be used to pay off old debts.

If S.C. leaders do not accept the funds offered by Congress, the money will be redistributed to other states, Clyburn said.

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Comments:

Added: 12 Mar 2009

Regardless of SC takes the so-called stimulus money, we taxpayers in SC are required to pay the bill. We can not opt out. Our Legislators at both the state and national level have grown more and more wasteful over time. They continue to commit to spending "other people's money" very casually and the waste continues to grow. Governor Sanford has struggled over the last several years to change the course of spending set by a cavalier legislature and many government employees who benefit directly by that spending. In my view, he must (in order to live with himself and with the TAXPAYERs of SC) express some objection to continuing down this path to destruction. Since the Legislature can over-ride his decision, let them over-ride it. At my house, I can not afford to spend money that I do not have for things I can do without! Yet, our Legislators do it every day just to pander to various voting segments assuring they can continue in office. When the bill comes due, they don't have to pay it, just wring their hands and say they need more money from taxpayers. That doesn't work when I try it at home or in the business world. These Legislators seem to perceive taxpayers as sheep to be fleeced, all the while building a "dependent class" which they can only control by shelling out more goodies paid for by those fewer and fewer taxpayers. We have now reached a point where there are more people "taking than giving." Someday those taxpayers will say "enough is enough!"

David O. Johnson

Added: 12 Mar 2009

Keep taking bailout money to patch the budget and not trim dowm down. Next year when the economy gets worse and you have to cut even more with no stimulus check you are going to cry harder ,that there is no money. I guess everyone thinks they can spend their way out of a depression. The feds tried this in the 30's and 40's. It took until 1956 for the economy to come back because of goverment bailouts. History is going to repeat itself.

bargeman

Added: 13 Mar 2009

I agree !00% that we need to accept this money to create jobs and help everyone that needs to be. Sanford should not be allowed to make such a reckless decission at the expense of the people of SC. If he isn't going to represent us like he should, maybe its time for him to step down.

Claude Byrd

Added: 14 Mar 2009

With all due respect, Mr Letherman, our house is not on fire. We have only lost our job. And we have a lot of debt. That said, the best thing to do is not to "employ" ourselves by borrowing more and embarking on home improvement project. Take some time and read what some smart people think about this unbelievably insane and dangerous strategy of spending our way out of debt: http://www.cato.org/special/stimulus09/alternate_version.html . Or, consider the morals of this anecdote: While touring China, a businessman came upon a team of nearly 100 workers building an earthen dam with shovels. The businessman commented to a local official that, with an earth-moving machine, a single worker could create the dam in an afternoon. The official’s curious response was, “Yes, but think of all the unemployment that would create.” “Oh,” said the businessman, “I thought you were building a dam. If it’s jobs you want to create, then take away their shovels and give them spoons!”

Alex Fabijanic

Added: 16 Mar 2009

I think it is insane of our governor to even think about not accepting the stimulus money. The people of South Carolina are hurting and need all the help available. Our roads are in terrible shape, we have the second highest unemployment rate in the country. We have the best and hardest working population there is. We need a governor who is more concerned with caring about the people he is elected to serve and quit thinking about his political ambitions. Every one I know is furious with this posturing.

Elizabeth Bowen

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