Budget language makes waves

AIKEN - South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford will unveil his executive budget today with a call to earmark $200 million to pay down debt and pay back money raided from other accounts.

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The governor's proposal also will challenge lawmakers to limit spending increases for the next fiscal year to 3.6 percent and to revamp the state retirement system to eliminate some big-ticket benefits, including a program that allows teachers to draw retirement while continuing to work.

In a prepared statement, the governor underscored fiscal moves made by legislative leaders in his own party to balance the past two budgets without raising taxes.

He also focused on a doubling of the state's bonded debt, from $1.1 billion in 1999 to $2.2 billion in 2002; a jump in the money raided from state-controlled trust funds, from $34 million in 1999 to $655 million in 2004; and a leap in the state retirement system's unfunded liability, from $178 million in 1999 to $4.2 billion today.

"By anybody's account, that's a pretty bleak financial prognosis," Mr. Sanford said in the statement.

Predictably, some Aiken County lawmakers, both Republican and Democrat, saw the statement as another shot at the General Assembly.

"If that's the way you want to play - fine, we'll play," said state Rep. Robert "Skipper" Perry, R-Aiken. "But don't be surprised if we don't bow down and scrape the floor like he's emperor."

State Sen. Tommy Moore, D-Clearwater, said the governor appears to be blaming lawmakers for the ongoing fiscal crisis.

"Looks like there's already finger-pointing," said Mr. Moore, who noted that Republicans control both legislative houses. "Seems like the governor's taking to task the budget writers of the past few years. It's an old tried and true adage - when in doubt, blame the General Assembly."

However, Will Folks, the governor's spokesman, said Mr. Sanford was not taking a shot at lawmakers.

"That's not where he's coming from," he said. "It's not about personalities. We're not pointing fingers at anybody."

The governor, Mr. Folks said, is dealing with "the hand we've been dealt."

While lawmakers said paying down debt is fiscally responsible, they wondered whether the state will have enough to earmark $200 million for that purpose and meet obligations for education, Medicaid and other programs.

"I hope some of it's negotiable, because we'll be looking to put some of that new money into education," said state Rep. Roland Smith, R-Langley, chairman of the Aiken legislative delegation and the House Ways and Means subcommittee on public schools.

State Sen. Greg Ryberg, R-Aiken, voiced support for Mr. Sanford's debt reduction plan. He said lawmakers needed to pay back money raided from trust funds to balance the budget.

"We've made the term 'trust fund' a sham in South Carolina," he said. "It's most imperative we pay that money back."

What's next:

Today, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford will unveil his 300-page executive budget, which includes $200 million for debt reduction and $54 million for law enforcement, corrections and juvenile justice. The next session of the Legislature starts Tuesday.

--From the Wednesday, January 5, 2005 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle