Recent Posts

Curbing Economic Development Incentive Excesses

A bill prefiled with the S.C. Senate last week could go a long way toward limiting the excesses of economic development incentive agreements between government and private business.

S. 134, with senators Tom Davis and George Campsen as sponsors, would tighten down on not only what, but how governments can give away public money as an economic development incentive.

Most importantly, it would make the process transparent so the taxpayer could see in advance just how much public money is being thrown at a company to relocate, or expand its business.

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Bureaucracy to prevail at expense of the taxpayer

Prefiled S.C. Senate Bills

Ethics reform and a gas tax increase head the bills prefiled in the S.C. Senate December 3rd.

Sen. Larry Martin is again attempting to end the practice of the S.C. House Ethics Committee and the S.C. Senate Ethics Committee from policing members of their own bodies and meeting in secret. Martin is proposing revamping the State Ethics Commission so it will have first look at ethics complaints against state legislators before those complaints go to the House or Senate ethics committees.

Martin’s bill would also require candidates and public officials to disclose more details about their incomes; bring political groups back into the reporting fold for revenue and expenses and tighten laws on how campaign funds may be spent.

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More Atlantic Beach Bikefest Planning

A meeting of a Myrtle Beach south end citizen’s association last night discussed planning for the upcoming 2015 Atlantic Beach Bikefest.

Attended by Myrtle Beach police chief Warren Gall and several additional officers involved in planning for the event, the discussion was somewhat heartening for south end residents.

Gall discussed the goals and specific of the planned traffic loop and other areas that it is hoped will allow for less interference with south end neighborhoods and greater crowd control over Bikefest attendees during the 2015 event.

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Atlantic Beach Bikefest Planning

The Atlantic Beach Bikefest announced tentative agreement on a 23-mile traffic pattern yesterday achieving its number one goal.

The goal? Sealing off the north end neighborhoods of Myrtle Beach from bikefest traffic as much as possible.

Beyond that goal, there doesn’t seem to be much planning at this point.

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Bureaucracy to prevail at expense of the taxpayer

S.C. Education Lottery Expenditures

A story making its way around the state is that S.C. Education Lottery scholarships are costing taxpayers money from the state’s general fund budget.

This is one way of looking at expenditures on the LIFE and Palmetto Fellows scholarships, but it’s too simplistic.

The LIFE scholarship pays up to $5,000 per year to qualifying students statewide while the Palmetto Scholars scholarship pays $6,700 for the freshman year and $7,500 for the sophomore through senior years of college matriculation to qualifying students.

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Rep. Greg Duckworth v. The Public?

A post earlier this week in The Nerve told of newly elected Rep. Greg Duckworth (SC House District 104) pursuing libel lawsuits against two supporters of outgoing Rep. Tracy Edge.

Duckworth’s libel claims concern letters to the editor by Charles Collins and Bren Gibson during the 2012 election season. Edge defeated Duckworth in the 2012 Republican primary but lost to him in 2014.

The first thing that comes to mind – “Is this guy serious?”

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Random Thoughts on Ferguson, Missouri

As riots go, even in this country, the one in Ferguson, Missouri is a pretty small deal.

But, it does demonstrate that this supposed nation of opportunity, at least equal opportunity, is still more myth than reality.

Riots generally result from frustration and at least perceived injustice and inequality whether it be Lexington and Concord in 1775, Paris in 1789, western Europe in 1848, Russia in 1917 or Ferguson today.

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Budgets - Cuts, Spending and You

S.C. General Assembly and New Taxes

The S.C. General Assembly will be hearing proposals for new taxes in January and they won’t be coming from Democrats.

It looks like Grover Norquist and his pledge will be forgotten when the S.C. General Assembly convenes in January looking for more money for the state’s crumbling roads and inadequate schools.

Need more funding for road maintenance and repair? Raise the gas tax.

Need more money for schools? Pass a new property tax.

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HCSWA Bid Process Flawed

The process for bidding for work at the Horry County Solid Waste Authority (HCSWA) appears to have serious flaws with respect to how public dollars are spent.

The flaws became apparent during a workshop held Thursday November 20, 2014 to discuss why approval of a change order in the amount of $395,000 was justified for current work on the East Hill Fill Closure Project.

When an RFQ for a project at the HCSWA is publicized requesting bids, authority contract engineer Vance Moore told the board, the specifications in the RFQ for scope of work and material needed are only estimates.

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More Freedom of Information in South Carolina?

A S.C. House Ethics and Freedom of Information Act Study Committee will recommend legislation that could make government information more open to request.

The committee is proposing to put a time limit on the production of public documents of between 30-35 days after an FOIA request is agreed to.

However, like everything regarding public information in South Carolina, there is a hitch. After two free hours of work on producing the documents, a public agency would be able to charge the citizen requesting the documents up to $100 per hour for the time needed to fulfill the FOIA request.

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