Date Posted: May 28, 2003

Tuomey workers press Senate for cigarette tax

Sylvia James, administrative director at Tuomey Regional Medical Center, speaks with Gov. Mark Sanford about Medicaid funding Tuesday at the Statehouse in Columbia.

By BRADEN BUNCH
Item Staff Writer

   COLUMBIA — Debate over the proposed cigarette tax hike and the attached income tax reduction reached a frenzied level Tuesday as hundreds of health-care workers from across South Carolina lobbied at the Statehouse for more adequate Medicaid funding.
   Republicans have said they could only support the 53-cent per-pack hike to fund Medicaid as long as it is coupled with Gov. Mark Sanford’s proposal to gradually reduce the state’s income tax from 7 percent to 5 percent to make the package revenue neutral. Meanwhile, some Senate Democrats have said they oppose the income tax reduction, saying the state can’t afford it, and have threatened to filibuster the bill if the income tax reduction is included.
   Last week a bill with both measures failed to pass the Senate by a large margin.
   With less than two weeks left in this year’s legislative session, health-care workers — worried that the lack of a plan will force many Medicaid recipients to lose their benefits — came to the Statehouse to insist that some type of funding be passed. Many were from Tuomey Healthcare System in Sumter.
   Before the day’s legislative session could start, however, the governor, flanked by Senate Republicans, called on the state Senate to go into chambers and pass the coupled proposal.
   The governor has suggested the best way to approach the problem is to hold two separate votes, one on the cigarette tax proposal, and then on an amendment to the bill including the income tax reduction.
   “What can be more fair than that than to offer both of those, and then let whatever stands stand and whatever falls fall?” Sanford asked.
   “I hope there will not be politics played in the chamber this afternoon. Public policy ought to be about making a difference in somebody’s life,” he said.
   And as he did the day before, Sanford insisted that he and state Republicans had done all they could to compromise on the proposal.
   “Absolutely, positively have we continually gone out and looked for the middle ground,” Sanford said, adding that the original idea was to immediately begin the process of eliminating the state income tax over the next 18 years.
   The governor added he is willing to accept a new proposal suggested last week that would delay cutting into the income tax until 2006, no matter what happens with the economy. Previously both sides had agreed to not begin lowering income taxes until the state’s revenues reach the levels they were at in 2000 before the economic downturn.
   Sen. Greg Gregory, R-Lancaster, said he has been a supporter of the cigarette tax for 10 years, and that now with the possibility of passing one so close, “If the Senate doesn’t pass the governor’s plan, it’s going to be one of the most boneheaded things we’ve ever done.”
   Standing off to the side during the conference listening in was Senate Minority Leader John Land, D-Manning, to whom the governor referred on several occasions, saying that he had enjoyed working with the senator on coming up with the compromises.
   Land, however, said that although he, along with 17 other Democratic senators, support the cigarette tax, none of the Republicans have been able to adequately explain the specifics of the governor’s income tax proposal. Without a full explanation, Land said he could not support the income tax reduction.
   “We want to be able to look at it and see what it is,” Land said.
   After the conference, several of the Tuomey officials present said they were cautiously optimistic about the situation.
   “It’s very encouraging, as long as the cigarette tax is passed by the Senate and the House and signed by the governor,” Cox said. “The proof will be in the vote.”
   “I feel like they’ve got to put politics aside and pass this,” said Chris Caison, chairman of the Tuomey Healthcare System Board of Trustees. “We have to have funding now.”
   Health-care workers pointed to a state Department of Health and Human Services statistic to stress the need for the Medicaid funding. The study said that 2,312 children and 1,788 Silver Card members in the tri-county area alone would lose their Medicaid benefits if the cigarette tax is not passed.
   After the conference with the governor and several senators, many of the Tuomey officials headed upstairs to stand outside the Senate chamber, hoping to speak with Sen. Phil Leventis, D-Sumter.
   Leventis has said in the past that he vehemently opposes the income tax proposal.
   After sending dozens of requests into the chamber via pages for Leventis to come out and speak with them, the senator sent word for Cox and Caison to be brought to the chamber floor.
   About 30 minutes later, the two Tuomey officials returned to the lobby, saying that Leventis told them that although he is in support of the cigarette tax, he is strongly opposed to the income tax reduction and would do “everything he can” to keep the two separated.
   When asked if Leventis said he would filibuster the amendment, Cox said the senator did not indicate either way.
   Repeated attempts to contact Leventis were unsuccessful.
   Earlier in the day, however, the state House leadership implied they would make any efforts by the Senate to pass a cigarette tax plan moot when they said they would not pass any tax increase until a Medicaid reform bill had been passed.
   House Speaker David Wilkins, R-Greenville, and House Ways and Means Chairman Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, said the House would instead use the majority of $225 million coming from the federal government over the next 18 months to pay for Medicaid.
   “The most important aspect of this is that it allows us time to get our Medicaid reforms in place,” Harrell said.
   The governor, however, said that is not an adequate solution, adding that it would only delay the problem.
   “The problem we’ve had for some time is an annualization problem in South Carolina,” Sanford said.
   Sen. Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, agreed. “If we don’t fund Medicaid with a recurring fund, two years from this day we’ll be right back where we are now,” he said.
   Despite the possible snag in the House, the governor pushed hard for the package tax plan to be passed soon.
   “We’ve got to push this thing over the top today, because it’s critical for South Carolina,” Sanford said.

   Contact Staff Writer Braden Bunch at bradenb@theitem.com or 803-774-1222.

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