COLUMBIA--Pointing to the need for jobs as the "number one front-burner issue" and restructuring state government as the second, Gov. Mark Sanford said in his State of the State address Wednesday that much has been done already to make government more accountable.
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South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford
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While similar in many respects to the message he delivered last year, Wednesday's address focused on accomplishments of Sanford's first year in office and unveiled a couple of new ideas, including a plan to bike across the state with his family this spring to emphasize physical fitness in South Carolina.
Sanford's address opened with the past year's efforts to make government more accountable to the people, even as the lagging economy put a serious dent in the state budget.
He mentioned several examples of change, such as stopping his own Cabinet members from hiring lobbyists to push for more taxpayer dollars. He asked lawmakers to go a step further this year and ban all of state government from the practice, which he said "creates an unacceptable cycle that fuels the growth of more government."
But he said the top priority is creating more high-paying jobs, and one of his proposals to do that involves reforming the state income tax.
"Our income tax is effectively the highest income tax rate in the entire Southeast, and that's rough on families, workers and retirees in South Carolina," Sanford said. "I passionately believe that cutting the income tax will stimulate job growth in this state. We need jobs, and we need to improve our economy, and I don't think we can afford to delay."
Sanford said South Carolina lost more than 3,600 small businesses and saw net employment drop by 2 percent between 1998 and 2002. "By contrast, Florida, where there is no income tax, saw the addition of almost 36,000 small businesses and a 10-1/2 percent employment increase," he said.
Last year, Sanford rolled out a plan for lowering the state's income tax by 15 percent, replacing the lost revenues with higher taxes on cigarettes and lottery tickets. He returned to the issue in his speech Wednesday night.
"I happen to think our cigarette tax for income tax idea is a good trade-off," he said. "It's also a pure rifle shot on this theme of tax reform, geared specifically at job creation."
Sanford said his second priority, restructuring, has begun already with his proposal for a balanced budget in tough economic times.
Though lawmakers will disagree on the final budget's details, Sanford asked that they "hold to a few of its principals: not cutting across the board, cutting annualizations and restoring money to trust funds where possible."
Sanford said savings have already been realized by restructuring within his own Cabinet, but that his Cabinet represents only 16 percent of state government.
"For restructuring to continue, it will now require legislative change."
Sanford's plans for state government, detailed earlier this month, include having the governor and lieutenant governor run on a single ballot. It would change several elected positions to appointed ones: adjutant general, commissioner of agriculture, comptroller general, secretary of state, education superintendent and treasurer.
Four bills addressing restructuring have been introduced to the General Assembly, the latest coming last week from Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston. McConnell's bill largely supports the changes Sanford has requested.
On Wednesday, Sanford publicly thanked McConnell for his efforts and called on lawmakers to send the matter to state voters. The elimination of constitutional officers requires a change in the state's constitution, which means the voters must decide the issue.
Sanford also unveiled a few new proposals Wednesday.
One was a plan to start a $2.5 million program at the Corrections Department requiring inmates without a high school or equivalency diploma to participate in an education program. Refusal would result in lost privileges. About 63 percent of the state's 24,000 inmates don't have a high school education or its equivalent, he said.
"It is crazy to continue sending folks out of a criminal justice system with no better educational leg to stand on and expect good results," Sanford said.
Sanford called for education reform in public schools as well.
Public school funding has increased more than 130 percent in the past 30 years, yet the state's college entrance exam scores rank near the bottom, he said. Data from the state Commission on Higher Education also show South Carolina ranks last in the nation in graduation rates, he said.
Sanford plans next month to release details on a "universal tax credit" for education. The tax credit is thought to be similar to a voucher system. He said the idea for the credit is to open up the educational marketplace by offering parents more choices.
The governor also announced a plan to bike across the state with his family this spring. The plan, meant to encourage physical fitness, drew good-natured laughs from senators and representatives gathered in the House of Representatives.
Sanford issued a challenge to South Carolina, asking that everyone in the state start thinking more about fitness. "Bottom line is that we eat the wrong things and don't get enough exercise in South Carolina," he said.
Following the speech, House Ways and Means Chairman Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, said he liked the ideas of tax reform and government restructuring.
"I think he is right," Harrell said. "The bulk of state government ought to be under a CEO-like system."
McConnell said he was particularly pleased to hear the governor call for legislators to let the issue of restructuring go before the people.
But some were disappointed.
Sen. Bill Branton, R-Summer-ville, said he wished the governor had addressed the state's highway needs.
Democrats said they were concerned about the things Sanford left out of his speech, such as the need for base student cost increases to improve education.
"Under the law in the state of South Carolina, we're supposed to be funding this coming year, each student, K-12, in our public schools, $2,234. His budget provides $1,810," said Senate Minority Leader John Land, D-Manning.
Land said Sanford didn't mention that other states have better methods for funding public education. Several rural school districts have sued the state, claiming the way the state funds education shortchanges some schools. South Carolina schools are funded with a mix of state and federal dollars along with local property taxes.
Inez Tenenbaum, state education superintendent, said she felt the governor was too negative on education.
"We need to focus on our accomplishments," she said. "If we are going to attract businesses to the state, we need to talk about the positives going on in education."
Tenenbaum, who is vying to be the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Fritz Hollings, listed several accomplishments in education. Those included progress on PACT scores and SAT scores. She said the state has improved in PACT scores every year since 1999, with the exception of English scores last year. She also said the state has enjoyed a 38-point increase on the SATs over the past five years.
"That's unprecedented," she said.
John Drummond of Greenwood, the ranking Democrat in the Senate, had a few words of advice for Sanford.
"The governor is a very bright man with many ideas," he said. "But he needs to pick the most productive one and zero in on it. And that's coming from an old man who's been here a long time."
EXCERPTS:
"My dad used to say Rome wasn't built in a day, and clearly we have many, many miles to go -- but I believe we've begun the process of changing things here in our state's capital."
"Too many people, because they were white and poor, black and rich, or just plain busy with something other than politics, have felt they had no voice in our government. And because their voice wasn't heard in many cases government wasn't as accountable as it should be. In concrete ways we have tried to change things so that people had a better voice in our government."
"Whether it's K-12 or higher ed, the international competition for jobs I talked about earlier tonight is going to be won or lost by the quality of a South Carolina education. Did you know during the last 30 years, we have raised K-12 funding in our state by over 130 percent, yet last August, we learned our state's SAT scores once again ranked next-to-last in the nation -- the third consecutive decade that we've ranked either last or next-to-last every single year."
"The number one front-burner issue for us in this next year is the number of jobs, the quality of jobs, the pay of jobs and the economy in South Carolina."
"I believe, and the data supports, that the most significant single tax change we can make to improve the climate for small business generation and job creation in South Carolina is to lower the income tax."
"I want to single out Glenn McConnell in the way he has reviewed our case and found merit to what we are asking. Glenn has been an absolute statesman in his efforts to help us with the restructuring bill."
"Quality of life is many things. It's a state trooper going into harm's way on a daily basis to maintain order on our roads, it's good drinking water. But tonight, I'd like to ask all South Carolinians to join with me in advancing quality of life on two fronts -- first, by getting personally involved in protecting the way we look and feel as a state but -- perhaps even more importantly, getting personally involved in the way we look and feel as individual South Carolinians."
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SPEECH COMPARISONS
KEY POINTS OF THE 2004 STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS
-- Proposes lowering the state's income tax rate, saying it is one good way to promote economic growth in the public and private sector, and replacing the lost revenues with higher taxes on cigarettes.
-- Plans to continue his efforts to restructure state government, calling for allowing the voters to decide on the fate of constitutional officers.
-- Plans to institute a $2.5 million program at the Corrections Department that will require inmates without a high school education or equivalency to participate in an education program.
-- Plans to release details of a "universal tax credit" for education next month. The tax credit is thought to be similar to a voucher system. He said the idea is to open up the educational market place by offering parents more choices.
-- Challenges South Carolina residents to get in shape. Sanford announced he and his family would bike across the state this spring to promote physical fitness.
KEY POINTS OF THE 2003 STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS
-- Proposed a major government restructuring, including asking lawmakers to move all constitutional officers except the attorney general into the governor's Cabinet.
-- Said he would cap growth in the state budget, stop reckless accounting practices and look for places to spend less money.
-- Said he would not support an increase in cigarette taxes to fix Medicaid unless it was coupled with a reduction in the state income tax.
-- Called for more charter schools and less duplication in higher education.
-- Outlined a wish list of change he said would eventually ease state budget woes.
-- Asked the Legislature to stop funding ongoing programs with one-time or capital money.
