By ROB NOVIT Senior writer
On the opening day of the new S.C. General Assembly session, Aiken County Legislation Delegation members cited the budget, K-12 education funding, government restructuring and tort reform as important issues this term — along with the tragic events in Graniteville following last Thursday's train accident.
S.C. Rep. Skipper Perry, R-Aiken, asked for a moment of silence in the House chamber for those killed and injured and the thousands who remain evacuated from central Graniteville.
As for top priority of Perry and Jim Stewart, R-Aiken, tort reform is No. 1 on their list. While there are plenty of conscientious lawyers, he said he resents the "vultures that have descended on Aiken in this tragedy — the ambulance chasers who give the profession a bad name. If we don't get tort reform," he said, "it will put a lot of people out of business, and there won't be access to medicine. Manufacturers will be driven to foreign shores."
With additional revenue coming into the state over the past year, Roland Smith wants to get the K-12 base student allocation to school districts to the level that the law requires within three years. The current appropriation of $1,852 is well below the $2,234 that state law actually requires in 2004-2005.
"I'd like to see at least over $2,000 this year," said Smith. "We have to start this year, because the gap will increase each year because of inflation."
Medicaid funding's shortfall worries Rep. Don Smith, R-North Augusta.
"I want to bring the tobacco tax to the national average to between 57 cents and 60 cents," he said. "We came close last year. I'm still not sure we can pass it, but it should be a lot better opportunity. If we can get money to fund Medicaid, then we'll have more money left over to for K-12 education."
Perry and Stewart would welcome a debate on "Put Parents in Charge," legislation proposed by Gov. Mark Sanford that would give parents a tax credit to use for private or home-school expenses.
"It's an interest concept with a results-oriented scenario," said Stewart. "If you don't get results, you go somewhere else. The people who are against this legislation don't know all the aspects of it. It's a very complicated piece of legislation."
A little competition will "knock some sense" into those in the public education system, said Perry.
"But I have serious concerns about that," said Don Smith. "Until we fund K-12 at the level we promised, we can't make moves that would take money away from it. I like the idea of school choice, but I don't feel we can afford to do it."
Sanford has set income tax restructuring as his own top priority, and Roland Smith generally agrees with the concept.
"I'm a strong advocate of economic development," he said. "Our income tax rate is somewhat higher than the competition, and this is something I'm going to support."
Smith expects a job creation bill to pass the House.
'We need to continue with national and international jobs across the state," he said. "Without jobs, folks can't buy new homes or cars to keep the economy growing in Aiken County and the state. I see signs of us coming out of the tough times, but this will put more emphasis on coming out of the downturn."
Contact Rob Novit at rnovit@aikenstandard.com.