COLUMBIA - Legislators approved a billboard bill that makes it more
difficult for local governments to regulate that industry after it spent
$339,000 to protect sign businesses.
After Gov. Mark Sanford vetoed the legislation as a special-interest
bill that undermined local authority, legislators who had taken the
industry's political donations voted to override the veto and put the law
on the books anyway.
Lawmakers "basically said, 'Show me the money,' " said Sen. Phil
Leventis, D-Sumter. Leventis had filibustered against the bill. "This was
just extraordinary."
Most of the $339,000 the Outdoor Advertising Association spent went to
pay lobbyists or to campaign contributions for nearly a third of the
Legislature's 170 members, according to state records.
Twenty-one picked up donations of $1,000 or more during the past two
years. All but one of those voted to override Sanford's veto in what some
described as a fight for property rights and fair compensation.
The spending and donations are legal, says Scott Shockley, who heads
the Outdoor Advertising Association of South Carolina. He said his group
followed state lobbying and campaign spending laws in its lobbying
activities and expenditures that let businesses and trade give up to
$1,000 in campaign contributions for each election cycle and up to $3,500
for statewide candidates.
The records show Shockley's group spending included:
--At least $3,400 for legislative lunches and breakfasts.
--$164,000 in 2005 as it hired high-powered lobbyists including former
Lt. Gov. Mike Daniel, Dwight Drake and Fred Allen.
John Crangle, director of the government watchdog group Common Cause
South Carolina, said the outdoor advertising association's campaign
contributions constituted "legalized bribery."
Legislators say the billboard industry has a right to protect its
investment from the government and the lobbying and contributions didn't
influence them.
Area lawmakers
Four Lowcountry legislators picked up donations of $1,000:
--Sen. Ray Cleary, R-Murrells Inlet.
--Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Bonneau.
--Rep. George Bailey, R-St. George.
--Rep. Jim Merrill, R-Daniel Island.
Each voted to override the governor's veto of the billboard
bill.