COLUMBIA, S.C. - South Carolina's next
treasurer should work with the Legislature to revamp the state's tax
code and work more closely with the governor, said Rick Quinn, who
formally announced Friday he would run in GOP primary for the
office.
Property taxes are rising and most South Carolinians are paying
more in taxes, he said.
"We're taxing and spending more than ever, but what has it gotten
us," said Quinn, a 40-year-old former House majority leader.
In the past, Quinn has supported legislation that would make the
treasurer a gubernatorial appointee, not an elected official and he
said he still supports such a move.
Quinn said he can work with Republican Gov. Mark Sanford better
than State Treasurer Grady Patterson, who at 81 heads into the
November 2006 election cycle as the top Democratic office holder in
the state and the only one seeking re-election.
Patterson is seeking his ninth term in an office he first won in
1966, lost in 1994 and regained four years later.
Quinn said Patterson did not do enough this year to help the
state keep its credit rating.
Patterson spokesman Trav Robertson said the treasurer worked for
everything credit rating agencies wanted.
In the end, Standard and Poor's dropped the state's AAA credit
rating to AA-plus because the state has a relatively high jobless
rate and an economy that's not growing fast enough, Robertson said.
That's what "gave them pause and concern," he said.
Quinn's criticism shows he does "not understand the role that the
state treasurer plays in state government," Robertson said.
Quinn would face Jeff Willis, an Easley homebuilder and
developer, in a GOP primary. Willis, 36, announced in July he would
run.
