Senate panel again OKs Confederate group's fund-raising plates

COLUMBIA -- The Senate Transportation Committee approved a bill Wednesday that lets the state collect money for a Sons of Confederate Veterans license tag and give profits to the group.

The panel approved the bill two weeks ago with no discussion. When some members learned what the legislation did, the Senate sent the bill back to the Transportation Committee.

The tag and how it raises money is a sensitive issue for some South Carolinians, Sen. Clementa Pinckney, a black Democrat from Ridgeland, told the committee. "There are many people who feel this is not a good use of state funds," Pinckney said.

He also said that the state's budget wouldn't be helped by giving up the money the tag raises.

But Sen. Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence and the Senate Finance Committee's chairman, said the state's budget wouldn't be hurt by losing the $16,000 the tag raises.

Sen. Danny Verdin, R-Laurens, sponsored the bill. Verdin, 40, has been a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans since he was 16. He says the group should be treated like the 30 other private groups are that keep money from tag sale profits.

Pinckney and Sen. Gerald Malloy, D-Hartsville, voted against sending the bill back to the floor. Pinckney said he will try to derail it later.

Moving the bill to the Senate floor was fair, said Robert Slimp, chaplain for the Lt. Gen. Wade Hampton Camp. "To discriminate against the Sons of Confederate Veterans is very wrong," he said.

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