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YOUR GENERAL ASSEMBLY
I-73 gets go-ahead to charge tolls
From Staff and Wire Reports
South Carolina’s newest interstate highway is set to be a toll road.
Money collected from drivers will be used to pay for construction of Interstate 73, under a bill approved by the Senate Thursday.
A spokesman for Gov. Mark Sanford said he expects the governor to sign the bill, which has already been approved by the House.
The measure says the state Transportation Department can impose and collect tolls on the new highway to cover the planning, construction, operations and other costs until the state recovers what it has spent on the project. Toll amounts are not set.
The southern section of I-73 will connect the Conway Bypass to Interstate 95 — and ultimately to Michigan.
The legislation hit a snag last week when Sens. Brad Hutto and John Matthews, both Democrats from Orangeburg County, wanted to add a toll to I-95 — a major artery along the coast between Florida and Canada.
Hutto still wants a toll on I-95. “We’re just going to do it on a stand-alone bill,” he said.
In other news:
• Spending cap introduced. Gov. Mark Sanford’s plan to put greater limits on government growth into the state Constitution was introduced in the Senate.
The legislation would let voters decide whether to limit future increases in state spending to a combination of inflation and population growth. Similar legislation will be introduced in the House.
Sanford said it is similar to spending caps that Colorado used, but without the problems created there when a slower economy conflicted with other requirements in that state’s law to increase education spending.
• Tobacco draws attention. It would be illegal for minors to purchase rolling papers or any tobacco product, including cigarettes, under a bill introduced by Rep. John Graham Altman, R-Charleston.
It is already illegal in South Carolina for stores to sell tobacco to minors. However, it is not against the law for minors to buy such products.
Altman’s bill was sent to the Judiciary Committee for review.
