SC

SC Majority Leader “Triples Down” On Tax Cut

STAKES RAISED DRAMATICALLY IN SOUTH CAROLINA BUDGET BATTLE Earlier this week, our website published a pair of articles on a one-time $130 million state tax cut proposed by S.C. Rep. Bruce Bannister (here and here).  Needless to say, we weren’t especially impressed with this measure – which would have amounted…

STAKES RAISED DRAMATICALLY IN SOUTH CAROLINA BUDGET BATTLE

Earlier this week, our website published a pair of articles on a one-time $130 million state tax cut proposed by S.C. Rep. Bruce Bannister (here and here).  Needless to say, we weren’t especially impressed with this measure – which would have amounted to an anemic 0.47 percent of the Palmetto State’s contemplated $27.2 billion government budget.

Still, something is better than nothing … and every penny we can keep out of government’s greedy clutches is one that stays in the economy, where it belongs.

Anyway, Bannister’s minuscule tax cut caused full-on apoplexy on the part of S.C. House ways and means chairman Brian White – who reportedly tried to kill it by threatening members who supported it (and threatening various leaders of state agencies with the loss of funding for specific projects).

Hell, we’re told S.C. supreme court chief justice Costa Pleicones was informed by White’s committee that long-overdue pay raises for his entire branch of government were suddenly on the chopping block as a result of Bannister’s proposal.

So … how did Bannister respond to this gamesmanship?  Did he back down?

No … he tripled-down.

The temporary $130 million tax cut?  It’s now a $400 million tax cut – one Bannister and his allies are making recurring.

For those of you who don’t speak “budget-ese,” we’ll translate: Instead of giving taxpayers $130 million once, Bannister and his supporters want to give them $400 million every year moving forward.

Needless to say, that’s a nice chunk of change … and the fact it’s being proposed on an ongoing basis makes it even nicer.

To be clear: Even if such a $400 million taxpayer rebate had been in effect over the last seven years, the state budget would still have grown by roughly $600 million annually over that time period.  That’s a ton of new money – especially seeing as we’re talking about a state budget that was already bloated beyond measure during the previous decade.

All that money was blown with absolutely nothing to show for it, too … (which is similar to what’s happened in the aftermath of the recent increases).

Still, our initial “ehhh” impression of Bannister’s proposed tax cut has now very much moved into the “hmmmm” classification.

It’s not the broad-based relief we have consistently called for, but it’s a solid step in the right direction moving forward … and we hope lawmakers in both chambers enthusiastically embrace it.

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8 comments

afmajret March 3, 2016 at 2:18 pm

“every penny we keep out of government’s greed clutches is one that stays in the economy …”. If the government is hoarding money, then the statement has merit. If the government spends the money, then, ipso facto, it is back in the economy where it belongs. Your carp isn’t that the government is hoarding money, it is that the government is spending money on things you don’t agree with.

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Fits Ain't No Republican March 3, 2016 at 7:32 pm

In other words,

A very typical Republican.

Their problem isn’t with government spending,it’s with what the government is spending money on.

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Saul March 4, 2016 at 5:32 am

and their objection is not to giving free money away, its just that they would rather it go to fortune 500 companies than “people who wont work”.

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Mike March 3, 2016 at 3:15 pm

1. Giving money back to the taxpayer is a safe proposition to advocate because it does not have a chance in hell to pass.
2. There is no extra money. The State has borrowed money it could pay down. The State has a huge pension debt. The State has the big Education lawsuit and its ramifications to fund.The state can advance pay certain activities that will allow it to save money.

Talk is cheap. Action is what matters.

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Rocky Verdad March 3, 2016 at 3:59 pm

Same story as last year, goes nowhere, nobody addresses the roads, we get fooked.

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Fartblossom March 3, 2016 at 6:14 pm

+100 – Sadly, that is so….

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Fartblossom March 3, 2016 at 6:00 pm

I’m waiting to see how many citizens’ lawsuits (based on a Federal Case named “India Towing Co. vs. United States) are filed against SCDOT for “negligent maintenance” of the roads. Under the “tort reform” law, one can get actual damages (and added attorney fees if the citizen wins), Would be a wonderful class action suit. Case can be found in Google.

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Fartblossom March 3, 2016 at 6:02 pm

BTW: website is still bouncing around. Took me 3 tries to get the above to “take”.

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