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Senate Finance Committee Chairman Hugh Leatherman introduced a resolution Thursday morning to override Gov. Mark Sanford should he refuse to accept federal stimulus funds. Leatherman filed the bill one day after Sanford announced he would either use a portion the funds to pay off long-term debt or not accept the money.
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
Leatherman 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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