COLUMBIA — Rep. Becky Martin, R-Anderson, is holding court in the foyer of her office in the Blatt Building next door to the Statehouse.
She is by turns arguing with and agreeing with a gaggle of visitors who have come to talk to her about supporting funding for the Conservation Bank, which was created by the Legislature two years ago but intentionally left penniless. She tells them she is glad to have their viewpoint to balance out other voices on such issues.
"You don’t know what we go through on the other side," the representative tells Diane Eldridge, who, along with land trust coordinator Dana Leavitt, 22-year-old intern Justin Krieg and volunteer Maria McKibbon, is representing Upstate Forever in the largest concerted conservation lobbying effort to hit Columbia in years, maybe ever.
Conservation Lobby Day was organized by Christie Renken and Scott Wilburn with the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League as a way, as Ms. Renken put it, to "even the playing field" with lobbyists representing well-heeled interests not quite as sensitive to ecological concerns.
Fifteen organizations, from Upstate Forever and Friends of the Reedy River to the Conservation League and the South Carolina Sierra Club, sent more than 150 volunteers to Columbia on Thursday for a breakfast. Afterwards they spread out to the legislative offices to work through talking points about wetlands, the conservation bank, hog farms and other issues with their elected officials.
Back in Rep. Martin’s foyer, Mr. Krieg challenges the legislator to support the Conservation Bank regardless of the budget crunch, because it is that important.
"I don’t think the budget problem is going to be solved in two years," he says, referring to the time some legislators have pitched for withholding $10 million intended for the bank from real estate transfer fees. "Tourism is a major economic force in South Carolina. Destroy that land and people will stop coming. The Conservation Bank is what will make the difference."
"I’m not voting against it," Rep. Martin says. "Just not (supporting funding) this year."
Walking down the hallway on the way to the Senate building, Ms. Eldridge debriefs the "legislative contact." It was a qualified success, and a lesson in how to prepare for future lobbying efforts.
Rep. Martin was interested in more details about the bank, but was steadfast that funding should again be postponed. The legislator also argued the bank was intended to give tax breaks to large landowners for private playgrounds they never intend to sell anyway, an assertion Ms. Eldridge had to "respectfully disagree" with. Rep. Martin proposed bringing the issue home to legislators by getting before them ordinary landowners who felt pressure to sell to developers.
"Just like everybody else, she’s processing information from everybody," Ms. Eldridge says. "I’m glad we were here to present our position."
Kelly Davis can be reached at (864) 260-1277 or by e-mail at davisk@IndependentMail.com.
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