Proposed bowl game in trouble

A state contribution to a proposed Palmetto Bowl was in jeopardy Tuesday night as legislators debated other ways they’d like to spend the $700,000.

Some lawmakers wanted more money for indigent defense. Some wanted to offset increases in the state employee health plan by $12 per person.

Others wanted to put the $700,000 toward libraries, whose per-person state contribution is dropping to 80 cents from $1 next year.

The Palmetto Bowl is a proposed Division I post-season football game to be sponsored by ESPN and played in Charleston at The Citadel.

The House budget, as proposed, would set aside $700,000 to help expand The Citadel’s football stadium to the 35,000 seats required for NCAA certification.

Rep. Gary Simrill, R-York, said he would buck his party’s leaders and fight to spend the money elsewhere — particularly at the John de la Howe School for troubled children, which had its funding slashed in the budget proposal.

“We’ve got money for the Palmetto Bowl, but we don’t have money for that?” Simrill said. “Priorities are in the eyes of the beholder.”

Rep. Bobby Harrell, who chairs the budget-writing Ways and Means Committee, said the state’s contribution would be a small price to bring a major tourism attraction, one that could net $48 million a year in hotel, restaurant and other spending.

Harrell, R-Charleston, has led the fight for the Palmetto Bowl, amid opposition from Democrats and some Republicans.

He downgraded his plan somewhat Tuesday, saying that the bowl would only require $380,000 next year. Local governments would match the cost with $320,000 in contributions.

But Harrell acknowledged that the state would be paying that $380,000 contribution every year for 15 years. He pointed out that the game could bring the state as much as $3 million in sales and other tax revenues each year, too.

“It would be incredibly short-sighted of us to say we’re not going to spend $380,000 to bring in a $48 million impact to this state,” Harrell said.

House members are debating the $5.3 billion budget this week, their fourth consecutive year of cutting budgets and personnel.

The Palmetto Bowl contribution is a fraction of overall spending, but it has become symbolic because of what it represents, said Rep. Herb Kirsh, a York Democrat who often votes with Republicans.

“I know we’re going to make money, maybe, but it’s not a question of that,” Kirsh said. “It’s a question of the perception that we’d spend money for this in these times.”

The House is expected to decide the Palmetto Bowl question by Thursday.

Reach Bauerlein at (803) 771-8485 or vbauerlein@thestate.com