Crumbs from your master’s table

Friends of South Carolina,

Some people say crumbs from the table are better than nothing at all.

Maybe that’s true for some, but when I see much more than crumbs within reach, I won’t settle for crumbs!

Yet, crumbs are all that are being offered to us with this government restructuring bill, H3066.

Are you going to be satisfied with crumbs?

I’ll explain what I mean.

Within reach is a state government that is transparent and accountable, with appropriate checks and balances and power divided between the three branches!

Yet no Senator has been bold enough to grab this opportunity by the horns and bring it to a vote.

Instead, deals are being cut, offering us bits and pieces of reform… crumbs, so to speak… while the ability to control the money and power in this state are kept by the current power brokers.

I’ll give you a timeline of what has happened below, including where it looks like Senator Leatherman is trying to take us.

But first, I want to remind you that it is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL that you contact your state Senator and tell him to implement the recommendations of the South Carolina Policy Council.

Tell him you won’t accept crumbs from their table!  You want real reform!

You can find your Senator and his contact information here.

In order to give your children and grandchildren a state full of opportunity for prosperity, the quasi-legislative quasi-executive Budget and Control Board must be eliminated.

It is run by the Governor, the Treasurer, the Comptroller, the Senate Finance Chairman and the House Ways and Means Chairman.

That’s three members of the executive branch and two members of the legislative branch of government… five people across two branches of government.  Who is accountable?

Because of it structure, it is nearly impossible to hold this five member board accountable.

And because of it, they spend more and more of your money every year.

It must be stopped!

To fix this problem, the Board’s functions must be assigned to EITHER the executive branch OR the legislative branch.

There is no room in our system of government for anything in between.  No “quasi” anything. Our nation’s founders were very wise to divide the power of government between three branches.

Here is the miserable summary of what has happened and the crumbs we have been thrown:

The first crumb we were thrown was H3066 as it came from the House.  It was the result of a compromise worked out between Haley and Leatherman.  A fact confirmed by both Haley’s staff and Leatherman’s rants on the floor of the Senate.

H3066 did create a Department of Administration… but it didn’t eliminate the Budget and Control Board.

Haley defended this bill and personally lobbied against any amendments… calling them poison pills.

However, at the end of the session last year amendment P4C was offered up by MASSEY, SHEHEEN, DAVIS, HUTTO, SCOTT and FORD.  It passed 43 – 0.

It was touted as real reform.

It turned out to be another bread crumb.

You see, it did… at least technically… eliminate the Budget and Control Board.  By name anyway.

In its place amendment P4C established the “State Financial Affairs Authority” that did mostly the same thing as the Budget and Control Board and was run by the same five people.

It really was just “Budget and Control Board Lite”.

No real reform was offered.  Instead…  breadcrumbs.

Breadcrumbs indeed… and crusty old stale ones at that!

Amendment P4C didn’t do much at all to restore transparency and accountability to our state government.

Now, after three weeks of debate this year and no votes on the record, we are handed another few crumbs with the expectation that we will lap them up!

In fact, I am getting some e-mails from organizations telling me I need to support the latest amendment, number 77, the “Davis amendment”.

More accurately, Amendment 77, should be called the SHEHEEN, DAVIS, MASSEY and SETZLER amendment.  It eliminates the “State Financial Affairs Authority” that the previous amendment offered up, but leaves our bonded debt in the hands of a five member board called the “Bond Review Authority”.

The Bond Review Authority consists of the Governor, Treasurer, Comptroller, a Senator and a Representative.

Sound familiar? 

It is the nearly the same make-up as the Budget and Control Board.

It will not be accountable and transparent… and it will have ultimate control over our state’s debt.

Really?  Is that the best we can do?

And, with Amendment 77 the state retirement system is left in the hands of the Budget and Control Board for two more years! 

This is the same body that has been managing the state retirement system through the last twelve years as it went from a fully funded solvent system to one that is $13 billion in the hole with unfunded liability.

Are they trying to completely bankrupt the state retirement system by leaving it in the hands of the Budget and Control Board for two more years?

I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of being fed breadcrumbs!

I’m ready for someone to stand up for the real reform that the South Carolina Policy Council has outlined.

This reform will completely eliminate the Budget and Control Board and anything like it.  It will immediately give us a government structure that is transparent, accountable, and responsible!

It will give our children and grandchildren a state full of opportunity for prosperity.

That is why it is critical that you contact your Senator and tell him to implement the reforms outlined by the South Carolina Policy Council. 

You can see their Citizen’s Guide to Restructuring here.

The Citizen’s Guide to Restructuring is so simple an elementary school civics student could understand it.

Why not our Senators?

One more thing…

Senator Leatherman is still trying to keep a grasp on the power and influence he wields through his seat on the Budget and Control Board.

He has been seen working the Senate floor trying to garner support for his amendment.

Though I haven’t seen what his amendment, it will likely attempt to bring back the original language of H3066 as it came from the House, bring the Budget and Control Board fully back into existence.

You know that anything Leatherman brings up will be an attempt to maintain the status quo.

And likewise, any Senator that supports it will be supporting the status quo.

Neither deserves your support!

One last time I will ask:

Who will be the hero of this generation?  Who will offer an amendment that will implement every single recommendation of the Policy Council?

Who will fight for it?

Giving a fiery speech is not fighting for it!  We’ve heard several of those already on the floor of the Senate.

Giving a speech doesn’t get policy implemented!

No, a fight for good government means:

• Introduce an amendment with all of the South Carolina Policy Council’s recommendations;
• Don’t give “common consent” to anything that prevents a vote on the amendment.  It only takes one Senator refusing to give consent to force a vote on an amendment.
• Force roll call votes on the amendment!
• Accept no more voice votes!

Please, contact your Senator!

Make sure they understand what it is they were elected to do!

You can find your Senator and his contact information here.

They were not elected to make deals in back rooms or on the side of the chamber for halfway measures!

They were elected to fight for the people of South Carolina!

They need to grow some steel in their spine and force a vote on an amendment that implements all of the Policy Council recommendations. If they lose that vote, so be it, but if they never even bring it to the floor for a vote, then they lose without even fighting!

What kind of reformer goes down without a fight?

You can find your Senator and his contact information here.

Sincerely,

Talbert Black Jr.

P.S. We have been offered breadcrumbs from the Senator’s table long enough.  It is time for some real reform.

The Senate has failed to implement the recommendations of the South Carolina Policy Council.  These recommendations will structure our state government with transparency and accountability.  That will allow us to save the tax payer money and give our future generations a state full of opportunity for prosperity.

Contact your Senator and tell him to stand up for the people of South Carolina and introduce and amendment that implements these common sense recommendations and then insist on a recorded roll call vote on the amendment!

You can find your Senator and his contact information here.