2-cent sales tax hike fails on first vote

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The measure by Sen. Tommy Moore, D-Clearwater, would have raised $1.1 billion, and would have raised the per-pupil spending on schools to $2,201 from the House-passed version of $1,643.

The Senate tied itself into procedural knots Wednesday, as increasingly severe enforcement of Senate rules struck numerous members' favorite provisions from the appropriations bill.

For example, a measure by Sen. Larry Martin, R-Pickens, to raise $1 million for the Attorney General's office to ramp up enforcement of state securities laws was axed as a violation a Senate rule that prohibits any change or suspension of permanent law in the appropriations bill.

Martin's provision, a fee increase on securities dealers, was included as a consequence of the financial failure of HomeGold Inc. and Carolina Investors, which left about 7,000 investors unsure of whether they'll recover any of their investments.

Martin said he'll redraft his amendment as a Part Two provision of the budget, but that would require a two-thirds vote for passage. He also may be able to attach the measure to some other bill currently in the legislative pipeline.

Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer sent a letter to Finance Committee Chairman Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, stating that he wished to withdraw his request for a $50,000 increase in his office budget. Bauer had been criticized for seeking an increase when most state agencies are having their budgets slashed.

Typical of the way the Senate can become bogged down on a seemingly simple issue, it spent more than two hours deciding whether to revoke a proposed $2,700 pay increase for the agency chief of the Jobs Economic Development Authority.

Sen. Jake Knotts, R-Lexington, said he did not want one agency head to get a raise when the rest of state employees will get none.

Sen. Kay Patterson, D-Columbia, sarcastically engaged Knotts, saying, "We're here about the great sum of $2,700. We're going to save education; we're going to save Medicaid; we're going to save corrections."

"But you won't vote for 2 cents to educate the children. There's something wrong with us," said Patterson, a retired educator.

The tit-for-tat enforcement of Senate rules struck a variety of measures from consideration, including a proposal by Sen. David Thomas, R-Fountain Inn, to increase sales taxes by two cents in exchange for eliminating property taxes on owner-occupied homes and personal vehicles.

Thomas said he'll try to have the amendment included in a bill separate from the appropriations bill.

The same fate awaited a proposal by Sen. Scott Richardson, R-Beaufort, for a one-cent sales tax increase for one year only.

As dusk approached outside the Statehouse, Sen. Verne Smith, R-Greer, took the speaker's stand, insisting that members sit down and listen to what he had to say. "I don't speak that often and I want you to hear this," Smith said sternly.

Smith said the use of Senate rules to thwart opposing sides had produced gridlock, "the worst fix I've seen in the Senate in 31 years."

"We've gotten so technical, so extreme on the rules that we are about to self-destruct. I've never known this Senate to get so tangled up on our own rules," he said.

He said the Finance Committee had been "neutered" in its ability to set the fiscal agenda for the Senate.

"We need to find a way for senators to act like citizens instead of eunuchs," Smith said.

Sen. Phil Leventis, D-Sumter, said passage of additional revenue measures such as the sales tax increase looked increasingly doubtful.

He said the Senate's ability to compromise appeared to be broken.

"We see it as a contest among ourselves rather than meeting the needs of our constituents," Leventis said.