Competitive Grants Are Back!

Lawmakers at the S.C. State House are jokingly calling it the “Andre for Governor” bill, but it’s not the overtly political elevation of Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer to lead some ridiculous new governmental entity that concerns us most, it’s the potential for this entity (controlled by legislative appointments, of course) to revive an old State House tradition of indiscriminate pork barrel spending.

Of course, this might explain why some lawmakers are pushing so hard for all that bureaucratic bailout cash from Washington.

By way of background, it’s been two years since FITS broke open South Carolina’s “competitive” grants scandal, exposing a $46 million slush fund that powerful budget writers were flagrantly abusing to achieve their big government ends.

This pork-laden “favor factory” – as Gov. Mark Sanford later called it – paid out millions of tax dollars for local parades, balloon festivals, Elvis impersonators, deep fryers and all sorts of non-essential spending (all in the name of economic development).

Of course, it was well-known around the State House that cash from the fund served as a reward for lawmakers who towed the status quo line – and punishment for those who didn’t.

This “competitive” grant fund has since been “zeroed out” due to public outcry, but now that Washington is pumping bureaucratic bailout cash into the state, it looks like the pork barreling is gearing up again.

Specifically, we noticed the following provision in State Rep. Bill Sandifer’s new legislation creating the “Emergency Local Economic Development Council,” which will be chaired by Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, but controlled by legislative appointments:

“The council is authorized to seek funds and disperse grants, to be awarded only for Emergency Local Economic Development projects,” the legislation reads.

Hmmm … a legislatively-driven committee seeking funds and dispersing grants for local economic development projects.

Here we go again …

Sandifer’s bill also bestows upon our esteemed state lawmakers the title of “Emergency Local Economic Development Ambassadors,” and positions Bauer as their chairman, giving him a built-in “economic development” platform for his upcoming gubernatorial campaign.

Sandifer and Bauer, not coincidentally, share the same political consultant.

Curiously enough, this new governmental entity would not be limited to using taxpayer dollars, either.

An odd provision of the legislation allows for “the use of campaign funds in furtherance of the (its) purposes.”

Lawmakers who spoke with FITS on condition of anonymity also told us that the bill could open the door for legislators to start claiming taxpayer mileage, per diem and other expenses for attending “economic development” events once again, even though the practice was discontinued recently when funds for such frivolous travel began to dry up.

Stay tuned …

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