By FITSNews || A proposed $134 million handout for a wealthy out-of-state developer is dominating debate at the S.C. State House, another example of how totally tuned out state lawmakers are with respect to the sort of reforms needed to truly advance job creation in South Carolina.
The handout – which is for a company owned by politically-connected GOP developer Mel Sembler – has pitted free market conservatives against the typical RINO-Democrat coalition, with State Sen. Tom Davis emerging as the leader of the fiscal conservative movement.
Davis, who is planning to filibuster the bill, has been hamstrung in recent days by S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford, though. The governor, who originally was going to let the bill become law without his signature, flip-flopped earlier this year and decided to veto the legislation.
Great, right?
Wrong.
Sanford is now reportedly working with pro-Sembler lawmakers to make sure that his veto is overridden, an odd reversal for a governor who once brought pigs into the S.C. State House to protest lawmakers overriding his vetoes.
Anyway, there are multiple late-breaking developments with respect to this bill.
First, we have the vote count in the State Senate, which is currently 21-20 in favor of the bill – with five lawmakers undecided. That count – provided by an opponent of the legislation – was later confirmed by one of its proponents, which leads us to believe that it is an accurate number (for now). Obviously, that means that Sembler advocates will have to peel off five Senators in order to override a Sanford veto, assuming one is still forthcoming.
Speaking of Sanford, our story Tuesday about his maneuverings on this legislation shook things up at the State House, prompting a rather odd response from one of the state’s top environmentalists.
“FITS is hardly a reliable source,” reads an email from Angela Malloy, South Coast Office Project Manager of the S.C. Coastal Conservation League. “Unfortunately, they have transmitted a rumor or two on this bill that has played out to be true -– which speaks more to the bizarre nature of this incentives bill, than to the credibility of this source.”
“Turned out to be true …”
You don’t say?
Funny … it wasn’t too long ago that the state’s top environmentalist, Conservation Voters of South Carolina leader Ann Timberlake, was blasting FITS for “making inaccurate charges” that her organization was “not responding to.” Of course Timberlake made those comments in a blast email response to state lawmakers that later acknowledged the accuracy of our reporting.
Of course, had the environmentalists been actively engaged in the Sembler debate from the beginning like they should have been, then they would know what was going on now that it is reaching its climax.
Unfortunately, they’ve been sitting on their hands on the fringes of this particular battlefield, relying on several State Senators whose reelection efforts they actively opposed – like Davis and Mick Mulvaney – to carry their organization’s water.
Also, it is worth noting that the environmentalists have approved numerous other developments like this one in the past, including developments that weren’t spending anywhere near as much as Sembler is on environmental protection-related costs.
Once again, the environmental lobby is just clueless in this state.
Another odd twist in the Sembler saga within the last few hours was the release of a position paper from South Carolinians for Responsible Government (SCRG), an organization we thought would be against this sort of deal.
Surprisingly, SCRG’s white paper described the proposed incentives package as “a modest rebate” and “limited tax abatement” that would “spur significant and novel economic activity in an under-developed area that continues to face rising unemployment and plummeting public revenues.
We disagree.
If lawmakers want to do something for Jasper County, they should stop blocking efforts to build a public-private port there, not give some big shot GOP donor a handout to build a “Mega Mall” that’s only going to put homegrown retailers out of business.
Again, we oppose this deal vehemently – and not just because of this developer’s poor track record, the questionable legality of the incentives being offered and the fact that the proposed facility will cannibalize sales from local retail establishments – but for a much more fundamental reason, namely that government shouldn’t be picking winners and losers in the marketplace.
Mel Sembler can build his “Mega mall,” fine by us … just don’t take $134 million of our tax dollars to do it.
WEB EXTRA
Malloy SCCCL Email
By Dave March 4, 2010 at 7:53 pm
Sembler needs 31 votes.
By Portly March 4, 2010 at 9:26 pm
You mention the port in Jasper…and rightly so. The Sembler deal is the kiss of death for the Jasper Port. This is what Jasper is getting: a shopping mall. No port.
When the Jasper folks come asking for their port next year (or next, or next, or next) they will very politely be told that they got “their deal.”
Sembler is a way not only to pay off some big GOP contributors, but to bury the Jasper Port forever.
By Billy Bob March 4, 2010 at 9:31 pm
Where are the Lost Trust investigators when you REALLY need them. More money has passed over the transom on this thing than you can ever count
By Conservative Republican March 4, 2010 at 9:48 pm
“Mel Sembler can build his “Mega mall,” fine by us … just don’t take $134 million of our tax dollars to do it.”
Amen Will. We’re furloughing teachers in the low country and they’re talking about early releases from our overcrowded prisons, and these RINO’s can find 134 mil to give to a GOP donor????? VOTE THESE BUMS OUT OF OFFICE STARTING WITH MCCONNEL, HARRELL AND LEATHERMAN. We’d expect this crap from Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, BUT NOT HARELL AND MCCONNELL!!! VOTE EM OUT!!!
By Conservative Republican March 4, 2010 at 9:50 pm
Will, when did tar and feathers become unpopular?? LOL
By Holly March 4, 2010 at 11:25 pm
This $134 million could produce $670 million in Medicaid benefits if used to provide services for people who have disabilities. That would create more jobs than the Sembler deal ever will. Despite $195 million of federal stimulus funds paid for Medicaid being held in a rainy day account, the House Ways and Means Committee budget for DDSN slashed funding so that nearly all services provided in the home will be terminated. For years, families have taken their loved ones out of costly institutions and kept them at home relying upon promises of supports in the community. Many of these parents are elderly and will be unable to keep their adult children at home if these cuts occur.
This is absurd that legislators would give this man money that is needed by South Carolina citizens who, through no fault of their own, depend on state funding to remain out of institutions.
By Old Bike Dude March 5, 2010 at 7:29 am
Poochie (aka Hey Nikki Hey Nikki) saved the day in the Bass Pro Shops Jackpot vs Taxpayers when she asked for a roll call vote. That request for another taxpayer supported bunch of bullshit…ummmm retail operation, was denied when it would have passed on a voice vote. Funny how this accountability thing works. Requiring a roll call vote for Semblers Welfare Check may have similar results.
Meanwhile, I think I hear fiddle music coming from the roof of the LuvGuv shack.
By beentook2 March 5, 2010 at 7:49 am
Don’t get your panties in a wad. There will be no deal because Sembler will not be around to collect. Word out of Beaufort is that a local politician has contracted with a root doctor on one of the barrier islands to put a spell on Sembler.
By the end of next week Sembler will announce that he is abandoning the project, will marry Boss Hog McConnell and they will move to Cuba.
The ceremony will take place in a moss draped cemetery on the Jasper County line bordering on Highway 17. Sanford will be the Best Man Idiot, Andre Bauer will be Maid of Honor, Boss Hog Knotts will carter the event(pork rinds and goat cheese) and Boss Hog Leatherhead will be the flower girl.
Speaker Harrell, idiot in training, will sing “All the guys who turn me on turn me down” to the tune of the wedding march.
By Anarchy in SC March 5, 2010 at 8:18 am
“In South Carolina, more than half of local and state government tax revenue is spent on K-12 public education. SCRG works to keep parents and community members informed about how that money is being spent and works aggressively to expand options available to parents. We are firmly committed to the belief that every child in South Carolina deserves equal access to a wide range of classrooms -public, charter, magnet, independent and home school- in order to receive the most effective and appropriate instruction possible.” SCRG’s Website
I guess removing $100,000,000.00 of capital from the hands of the people and giving it to one company is choice.
By Scott March 5, 2010 at 8:19 am
What seems to be lost on many in this debate is that this is a $400 million investment. There are specific, targeted goals that have to be reached and maintained BEFORE any “incentive” is given. If goals are not met, no money period.
By Mallory March 5, 2010 at 9:05 am
Scott, you’re a moron. The capital threshold is $200 million, which will be met by Jasper County issuing special revenue bonds (the bill doesn’t require Sembler to put up the capital; the county can). The state law definition of “new job” is modified in the Sembler bill so that jobs shifted from existing stores can be counted (the state’s omnibus incentive law requires that new jobs created actually be, well, “new”). The state’s chief economist, in the formal assessment of the Sembler deal’s impact, says that no new jobs will be created, thus the need to strip the “anti-shifting” clause from the definition of “new job” in Sembler’s bill. Even the “total sales” threshold is fake, with Sembler allowed to take the highest selling two quarters in any given year and annualize it (Christmas and Thanksgiving, anyone?). The thing is a joke bringing to mind that “pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered.” And make no mistake, it will be slaughtered, publicly, on the Senate floor, with the state watching.
By Pinckney's Ghost March 5, 2010 at 9:10 am
Why does beentook sound so much like Roger Pinckney’s books?
By Push out March 5, 2010 at 9:33 am
Just because there are “targets” it is still welfare for a corporation. If you think lower taxes spur development then lower those rates for everyone. Shame on special interests!
By big government rino March 5, 2010 at 10:57 am
I’ve heard the sc realtors are now opposed to the sembler deal as well. coastal conservation league, realtors and will folks all on the same side of one issue. today must be the day hell froze over.