Posted on Thu, May. 11, 2006

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S.C. House approves gas-tax break

By Zane Wilson

The Sun News

COLUMBIA - Motorists would get a state gas-tax break this fall under a measure the House tacked onto the state budget Wednesday.

The House voted to cancel the 16.8-cents-a-gallon state gas and diesel tax between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, and to pay for the loss with about $100 million in excess revenue expected for the year.

Gov. Mark Sanford requested the tax cut for the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day, but members changed the dates so that residents instead of tourists would get most of the benefit.

"I'm excited about our rebate to the taxpayer, and it shows that we don't need to spend every penny of tax that comes through the doors," said Rep. Alan Clemmons, R-Myrtle Beach.

Clemmons proposed the gas-tax moratorium a few weeks ago to other members of the House Republican Caucus. A similar plan was also briefly discussed during the Senate's budget debate.

The revised budget was sent back to the Senate, where the gas-tax moratorium's reception is likely to be lukewarm.

Sen. Ray Cleary, R-Murrells Inlet, said he thinks people would rather see extra money spent on overdue road projects such as four-laning U.S. 521 between Andrews and Manning. The project has been on the planning books since the 1970s.

Coastal residents want better roads and evacuation routes, possibly more than a gas-tax moratorium that will last a few months, he said. Interstate 73 needs money that has not yet been allocated and so do other projects, Cleary said.

"I'd like the voters to tell me," he said.

Road projects were also suggested for the money during the House debate.

"We need to raise our gas tax 6 cents so we can do maintenance on our roads," said Rep. David Umphlett, R-Moncks Corner.

Rep. Thayer Rivers, D-Ridgeland, said all he hears from his constituents near the coast is complaints about bad roads. The state should spend the money on roads instead of a gas-tax cut "that Yankee tourists get half of," Rivers said.

The prospect of tourists benefiting from the moratorium that would be funded with taxpayer money is one reason the dates for the relief were moved into the fall and winter.

Rep. Rex Rice, R-Easley, said a tax credit on residents' income tax is better.

"I don't feel like it's right for us as taxpayers to subsidize out-of-state people," Rice said. But his proposal for a credit on the income tax failed.

Rep. George Bailey, R-St. George, proposed the fall and winter dates.

"It's Christmastime, it's holiday time," and it puts money in people's pockets for the holidays, he said.

"This would more directly benefit working people in South Carolina," said Rep. Harry Ott, D-St. Matthews.

Rep. Tracy Edge, R-North Myrtle Beach, said having the moratorium in the fall is not a bad thing for tourism.

"From the tourism standpoint, it could give us an advantage during the shoulder season," at a time when the state has to try harder to attract visitors, Edge said.

Other than road projects, other uses for the extra money were proposed, mostly early-childhood education and assistance to the state's poorest schools.

Those schools came under scrutiny in a lawsuit over equitable funding filed by some of the poorest districts.

A judge ruled the state is providing adequate education but that more attention should be paid to 4-year-old kindergarten.

It is "an utter shame" not to use the money for those school districts, said Rep. Doug Jennings, D-Bennettsville.

The House put $6 million in the budget for early-childhood programs and that is not enough if there is $100 million extra, Jennings said.

Ott said there are 4,000 children in poverty that the state says it cannot afford to provide health care for.

That and more money for poor school districts would be a better use of the money, he said.

"We shortchanged the citizens of South Carolina today," said Ott, who is the House Minority Leader.