Lawmakers offer views on top issues facing state

HARTSVILLE, S.C. _ A group of nearly 50 Hartsville and Darlington County residents began their day on Thursday by listening to local legislators detail what issues they think will be the hot topics during the coming year.

The Greater Hartsville Chamber of Commerce hosted the “Ask Your Legislators” session at the First Baptist Church Family Life Center. While listening sipping coffee and eating breakfast, those in attendance heard Sen. Gerald Malloy, Rep. Jay Lucas and Rep. Robert Q. Williams touch on such topics as the state Voter ID law, redistricting, the state pension plan, the state’s $913 million surplus, and State Department of Education Superintendent Mick Zais’ proposal to opt out from parts of the No Child Left Behind program.

Following comments from each of the legislators, questions were taken from those in attendance.

Lucas, who represents Dist. 65 and serves as the Speaker Pro Tempore of the S.C. House, said he expects 2012 to be yet another difficult year in terms of revenue. He said that how to spend what he referred to as “new money,” the $913 million left over from last year’s budget will likely dominate conversations in Columbia over the first part of the year.

“Everyone will want a piece of the pie, so to speak, but the questions will be who gets what,” Lucas said. “The most important thing is we need to get our physical house in order, pay down our debt and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

He said he believes the state did a “fairly good job” of managing its budget deficit of a year ago. He compared South Carolina to other states such as California or Illinois, both of which are facing deficits nearing 50 percent.

Lucas also spoke on the state pension plan, which many believe needs revising. State workers presently receive 55 percent of their base salary as part of their pension plans.

He also said he recently met with Gov. Nikki Haley to discuss the subject of tax reform, including corporate taxes, simplifying the tax plan and sales tax exemptions.

“I don’t know if reforming the sales tax is something that will benefit the people of South Carolina and our state,” Lucas said.

Williams, on the other hand said tax reform was “something we very much need to look at.”

Representing District 62, Williams spoke briefly on the legislation to create an I-95 Corridor Authority which was vetoed in June by Haley. The Senate voted 30-10 to override the veto, though the House adjourned in July without taking up the veto.

“This would provide a huge boost for this region, not only through jobs, but in other areas as well,” Williams said. “This region seems to always get overlooked financially. We want to work and make sure that it gets its fair share.”

Malloy, who represents the Senate’s 29^th District, began by commending both Lucas and Williams for their hard work and efforts. He agreed with Lucas that determining what to do with the state’s surplus of money “will be difficult.”

“Local governments, education, transportation, health care – they are all going to feel as if they are entitled to deserve that money,” Malloy said. “We will need to make absolutely certain that we do not end up with deficit spending.”

He touched briefly on sales tax exemptions, the state’s Budget Control Board, and on prison overcrowding.

Following the comment period, legislators fielded several questions on a host of topics, including the Voter ID law, Medicaid misappropriations, the state’s unemployment rate, and immigration.

All three legislators agreed they anticipate a very busy year in Columbia.