Immigration And The Sham Budget

Shortly before the S.C. Senate adjourned last Thursday, “Republican” Sen. Larry Martin took to the podium to accuse one of his colleagues of “misleading the body.”

Specifically, Martin accused freshman Sen. Tom Davis (R-Beaufort) of not shooting straight when Davis told Senators that the Finance Committee budget (a.k.a. the “let’s make Gov. Mark Sanford look as bad as we possibly can” spending plan) didn’t fund enforcement costs associated with the state’s new immigration law.

Wait … what?

Lawmakers spent literally all of 2008 beating their chests on how they had crafted the “toughest immigration law in America.” Hell, it was the only thing that got several status quo incumbents reelected.

How on earth could they turn around now and fail to fund its enforcement?

Or was this something else? Perhaps another ploy on the part of Senate Finance Chairman Hugh Leatherman?

After all, Leatherman has proven quite adept at playing politics with the state budget by focusing revenue cuts on those few government services that the public either a) needs or b) views favorably.

Apparently this was something else, however, because Martin’s whole point in taking the podium – at Leatherman’s behest – was to assure Senators that the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (LLR) had sufficient funds at its disposal to enforce the new immigration law.

And obviously to tell them that Davis – who has spent the last few weeks crafting a real spending plan for the state – was full of it.

There was just one little problem with Martin’s statements, however – namely that the budget crafted by Leatherman’s Finance Committee did not fund immigration enforcement.

Not even a little bit.

In fact, LLR director Adrienne Youmans blasted out a four-page letter to Martin and other lawmakers on Friday not only making this point exceedingly clear, but warning of dire consequences if legislators kept taking money from the agency’s budget to spend on “cultural agencies.”

Meticulously, Youmans documented every dime that has been sent to – and taken from – her agency, including the $4.3 million Senators want to strip from it to fund a bunch of artsy-fartsy spending.

“If our accounts are raided to the extent the Senate is considering, an increase in licensee fees may be required to run this agency,” Youmans wrote to Martin.

As for the enforcement of the new immigration law, Youmans’ letter is crystal clear:

If the General Assembly cannot fully fund the implementation of the Illegal Immigration Act in this budget, we will not be prepared to meet the July 1, 2010 date for enforcement of the law statewide.

Martin, of course, never bothered to ask Youmans any of this when he cavalierly strode to the Senate podium carrying Leatherman’s water.

“I have talked to the Finance Committee and that’s good enough for me,” Martin said of his false claims.

Exactly …

Tim Smith of La Liberbad (a.k.a. The Greenville News) chronicles what happened next:

Martin said before he read the letter that he was surprised that Youmans didn’t have the money she needed after what he had been told by Senate Finance Committee staff. He said after reading the letter that he plans to do what he can to find extra dollars in the budget to provide the “cushion” Youman needs.

“That program needs to be funded,” he said, “and it would be a huge diappointment (sic) to all of us if it’s not.”

Wow. The French have never retreated so fast from a position.

More importantly, though, Senators are beginning to recognize that the Finance Committee budget is a house of fabrications – a hastily-erected sham that was engineered exclusively to inflict political suffering on the governor, not to run the state.

FITS has spoken with several Senators – including a few not ordinarily inclined to support Sanford – who agree that Leatherman has overplayed his hand.

Incidentally, the budget proposed by Davis last week included the $2 million for immigration enforcement.

WEB EXTRA

Adrienne Youmans letter to Sen. Larry Martin

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