Mulvaney: Slush Fund “Needs To Disappear”
A pork-laden legislative slush fund that has been linked to allegations of bribery in the past should be the very first thing lawmakers cut from the budget when they return to Columbia this fall, S.C. Rep. Mick Mulvaney said today.
The so-called “competitive grants” program – which was first exposed by FITSNews last spring – has already blown $10 million on an assortment of questionable local projects this year, but the fund still has millions of dollars yet to be awarded during the current budget cycle.
“If the competitive grants program survives any review of this budget, it will be a disgrace,” Mulvaney said. “A program that funds festivals and carnivals needs to disappear, completely and permanently, before the first dollar comes out of education, corrections, and other vital services.â€
Mulvaney and other lawmakers attempted to do away with the competitive grants program last year, but were blocked in their efforts by House Ways & Means Chairman Dan Cooper and Senate Finance Chairman Hugh Leatherman.
Leatherman, in particular, has been accused in the past of using the competitive grants program (which he and Cooper control) to bribe lawmakers into voting his way on other issues.
South Carolina lawmakers must make cuts to the budget after yesterday’s revenue projections showed a potential $550 million hole in their 2008-09 spending plan.
Click here (and here) for more on what caused the current crisis – and click here to see what clever tricks are being used to block real spending reform.
Also, stay tuned to FITS as we hear from more lawmakers about the wasteful projects they want to see cut from the budget …
Comments
By baked on October 9th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Never thought I’d find this subject mentioned in my brand-spanking new copy of “Palmetto Golfer,” but here’s the connection……
“Sweetwater Country Club in Barnwell reopened in August after a three-month renovation. The club switched out its 328 bermuda grass for mini-verde from Rembert SC-based supplier Modern Turf, built a new irrigation pond and created new tees…much of the work was paid for with a $100,000 grant from the South Carolina legislature for tourism and economic development.”
I obviously love golf, hence the “Palmetto Golfer” subsciption…but it’s criminal that our tax dollars are paying for smoother, more heat-resistant greens for the couple hundred people that play Sweetwater annually.
By rick on October 9th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Sounds to me as if the South Carolinian taxpayer owns a part of the golf course and should have the opportunity to go dig up a piece of their turf for posterity.
By baker on October 10th, 2008 at 9:02 am
Mr. Mulvaney seems to have a clear-headed approach on this. Festivals before education and roads and jails is obviously a problem.
There may be other instances of “earmarks” — though I don’t know that it comes necessarily out of the competitive grants programs — that fund badly needed infrastructure projects in individual communities that simply don’t have the funds to get the job done. Perhaps those situations are reasonable. But Mulvaney is clearly right that our state has got to do a credible job of prioritizing spending and then sticking to it.
By Freddie Guy on October 11th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
Looks like Mulvaney is on the Will Folks payroll! (Explains this trip to Lancaster County: http://www.fitsnews.com/2008/03/25/kershaw-sc-is-geographically-challenged/
Lets play a little game of cause and effect:
Cause: Mick Mulveney runs into some trouble in his quest to hold on to Senate District 16 for the Sanford Libertarians.
Effect: Folks gives Mulvaney credit for a ‘novel new’ governmental reform idea that we have been reading about since the end of last session.
The fact that your Sanford-endorsed, Howie Rich-funded candidates keep running to the right is allowing the Dems to field decent moderate candidates, for a change. The Senate Dems learned a little after losing the Moore seat by fielding a ‘traditional’ Dem. Powers-Norrell is a smart, moderate, pro-Public Education candidate that has working class roots and can relate to the middle class voters. Mulveney appeals to Sun City carpetbaggers who don’t want to pay taxes, don’t care about Public Education and enjoy the Libertarian Party platform.
By lancastermommy on October 21st, 2008 at 2:35 am
I must respond to Mr. Guy’s above statement regarding Mandy Powers Norrell. As a Lancaster resident who is a working class citizen, I can say with full disclosure that Mandy is a hypocrite and knows very little of Lancaster’s true values. She touts her 2 summers at Springs Bleachery as qualification for State Senate and equal to those seniors in our town that worked their whole lives in the hot mills, not just 40 – so odd days to help pay for Law School.
She is a liberal liar and a typical bottom feeding lawyer that spews lies out of both sides of her mouth simultaneously.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31500757@N07/2949748872/
These are her words– check out the link above.
Mandy is too liberal for Lancaster residents.
Vote Mulvaney for SC Senate 16 on Nov. 4.
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