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Date Published: January 22, 2004
Sanford to veto USC Sumter bill
Governor gives thumbs-down to 4-year plan in State of the
State
The Associated Press
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford delivers his State
of the State address Wednesday to a joint session of the
General Assembly in the Statehouse in Columbia.
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By BRADEN BUNCH
Item Staff Writer
bradenb@theitem.com
COLUMBIA – Gov. Mark Sanford's office said Tuesday the
governor will veto the South Carolina Life Sciences Act if four-year
status for University of South Carolina Sumter remains attached to
the legislation when it reaches his desk.
The governor also
later restated his opposition to the four-year plan during his State
of the State address.
Will Folks, press secretary for the
governor, said that while the governor supports the Life Sciences
Act, promoting USC Sumter to a four-year school is not in the best
interest of the state's higher educational system.
"Decisions are made too often for political reasons and not
the needs that are out there," Folks said, citing University of
South Carolina President Dr. Andrew Sorensen, the USC Board of
Trustees and the Commission on Higher Education as others who have
opposed the change to the Sumter campus.
"The governor has
said all along that one of the problems we have in regards to higher
education is the notion of mission creep and mission
crawl."
Sanford's announcement that he would use his veto
comes a day after the USC Sumter proposal seemed to gain momentum,
passing a vote in the Senate Finance Committee by a nearly 2-1
margin.
"That's appalling that he won't allow us to do
something that won't cost the state anything," said state Sen. Phil
Leventis, D-Sumter, who has been championing the USC Sumter proposal
in the Senate.
"It's sad that the governor wants to face off
against our little community on an issue that can only be a
positive," Leventis said.
Before the governor publicly stated
he would veto the USC Sumter bill, Leventis felt the bill would pass
through the Senate floor.
A vote on the bill is expected next
week. If it passes, it will be sent back to the House of
Representatives for a single up or down vote.
Local House
members said they are preparing to defend USC Sumter.
"I wish
the governor would strongly reconsider," said Rep. Murrell Smith,
R-Sumter, adding he would continue to fight to keep USC Sumter on
the bill and force the governor to veto the legislation.
Both
Smith and Leventis called on Sanford to come to Sumter and speak
with community leaders, including the Sumter County Legislative
Delegation and other elected officials, so that the governor can see
the importance of making USC Sumter a four-year
institution.
One of the main reasons, Smith said, is to help
protect Shaw Air Force Base in the upcoming Base Realignment and
Closure process.
"We need to have ourselves in a position to
give the Defense Department every reason to keep Shaw Air Force
Base," Smith said.
When asked if he felt the USC Sumter
amendment would survive the House, Speaker of the House Rep. David
Wilkins, R-Greenville, said Wednesday he could not predict what
would happen, but that he thought there is a strong chance the bill
would end up heading to a conference committee.
If the bill
passes the Senate with USC Sumter still attached, the conference
committee would be the last chance for legislators to remove the
school before sending it to the governor.
Folks declined to
say whether another school proposal currently attached to the Life
Sciences Act having Trident Technical College in Charleston gain a
four-year culinary arts degree would also subject the bill to a
veto. Instead, Folks said the governor's office would wait to see
what the legislative process produced.
Leventis said if the
bill does reach Sanford without USC Sumter but with the Trident
proposal, and the governor does not veto it, then, "he will have
lost a tremendous amount of credibility."
Contact Staff
Writer Braden Bunch at bradenb@theitem.com or
803-774-1222.
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February 10, 2004 
