At one point during Thursday's meeting of the Senate's Ports Authority Subcommittee, Pinckney called the Ports Authority an "800-pound gorilla" and Sen. David Thomas, R-Fountain Inn, said the state agency, which has filed a lawsuit against Jasper in the state Supreme Court, is fighting the county's plans because it's afraid of competition.
Jasper officials, including County Council Chairman George Hood and County Ad-ministrator Andrew Fulghum, traveled to Columbia to pitch their plans for the controversial port to the subcommittee.
"Jasper County is ready to develop this terminal with no burden to the taxpayers," Fulghum told the subcommittee.
Jasper has spent more than a decade trying to bring a port to 1,863 Georgia-owned acres and reached a development, management and loan agreement with private port developer SSA Marine in January.
But the Ports Authority is pursuing its own Savannah River port plans and has challenged Jasper's legal right to build and operate a port.
On Wednesday, Pinckney, D-Ridgeland, presented a compromise that has the support of about 70 state legislators from both sides of the aisle. But while Jasper and SSA Marina have said they're willing to consider the senator's deal, the Ports Authority immediately rejected it.
Under its deal with SSA Marine, Jasper would act as landlord while the private company develops and manages the site.
Jasper officials stressed that taxpayer money wouldn't be needed to pay for the project, which would benefit the entire state.
"Half-a-billion dollars doesn't drop out of the sky every day. It's not just about a Jasper County project, it's something for the state," Pinckney said Thursday.
Under Pinckney's proposal, Jasper would collect $4 million a year over the port's first 32 years, but the $2 per-container fee that Jasper would receive under its deal with SSA Marine would be paid to the Ports Authority. The shipping terminal would be turned over to the Ports Authority after the first 32 years.
Ports Authority officials responded to Jasper's argument Thursday by questioning turning a public port over to a private developer.
"It would be disingenuous for anyone to tell you when the terminal process could be completed," Bernard Groseclose, executive director of the Ports Authority, told the subcommittee. "Daniel Island should have opened this year. At one time (SSA Marine) announced they'd have a completed Jasper Port last year."
Pinckney said he wants to hear from the agency next week about working on a resolution.
"It's a question of control; it's not a question of funding or operations or any of those," Groseclose said. "Is the state controlling the infrastructure that generates economic opportunities? That's the question."
Sen. Scott Richardson, R-Hilton Head Island, said the debate needs to address a larger "philosophical question" as to how the legislature wants to run ports in South Carolina.
"That question will be discussed before the full Finance Committee," Richardson said after the meeting. "I don't see us micro-managing to this degree."
Sen. Harvey Peeler, R-Cherokee, chairman of the subcommittee, said the group will draft a report for the Senate Finance Committee.
"So often counties do not travel to Columbia to meet with us," Peeler told the Jasper crowd. "It means the world to us to see you here today."