Bill Would Put More Teeth, Transparency in Incentives Deals Talbert Black, December 31, 2011 If you ask S.C. Rep. Thad Viers, he’ll tell you that it was mainly for philosophical reasons that he voted earlier this year against offering a controversial state sales-tax collection exemption to Internet retail giant Amazon.com. “My philosophy is that I don’t think government should pick winners or losers in the marketplace,” the Horry County Republican told The Nerve in a recent interview. But Viers, an attorney, also acknowledges that the state likely won’t get out of the corporate-welfare game anytime soon. That’s why he said he pre-filed a bill for the upcoming legislative session, which starts Jan. 10, that he says would bring more accountability and transparency to the process. His bill (H. 4432), titled the “South Carolina Economic Incentive Transparency Act of 2012,” would classify all state incentives totaling more than $100,000 that are offered over a five-year period to a company locating or expanding in South Carolina as forgivable loans only if job-creation targets are met. Click here to continue reading Economic Incentives Economic Policy House of Representatives The Nerve
Endorsements announced at Operation Lost Vote Presser May 14, 2012 I haven’t had time to “pretty this up”, but for those who are interested in what was said at the Columbia Operation Lost Vote presser, here are my raw notes. Press Conference Corruption – The Center for Public Integrity gave South Carolina a grade of “F” in eight categories including:… Read More
Victory over I-95 Corridor Authority! January 10, 2012January 11, 2012 You did it again!! Tuesday, January 10th, the South Carolina House of Representatives voted to sustain the governor’s veto of the I-95 Corridor Authority. The vote was 76 – 47. Your emails and phone calls put a stop to one of the largest increases in government control and spending in… Read More
Action Alerts Tell your Representative to sustain budget vetoes June 29, 2011July 8, 2011 Beggars can’t be choosers. And it seems the state is slowly turning us all into beggars by spending all the voter’s hard earned money. At $22 billion, the General Assembly passed the largest budget in state history. That’s a $1 billion in new increased spending. Even after Haley vetoed $213… Read More