Legislators Should Tackle Really Tough Issues

One of the amazing things about what goes on in the state General Assembly is what doesn’t go on — how some issues are continuing hot potatoes. Lawmakers just won’t touch them or get near enough to deal with them because they’re too political, too hard to resolve or they just don’t want to hear about them.
In last week’s commentary, we again suggested Palmetto Priorities — major issues that the General Assembly needs to engage on to get the ship of state moving in a direction that will really help people. Examples: Ethics reform, reducing prison populations, cutting the violent crime rate and curbing the dropout rate.
This week, let’s look at some issues that South Carolina lawmakers should engage in because they’re the right thing to discuss. But more than likely, these major issues will be left to fester, victim of timid elected officials more worried about their hides than their constituents.
Comprehensive tax reform. Every few years, a blue-ribbon panel meets and suggests in no uncertain terms that the legislature needs to completely overhaul the state’s tax code to make it fairer and make it more efficient. Every time, the panel’s report gets a lot of editorial support, but ends up sitting on a shelf to collect dust. Instead, politicians who know that road and education programs are critically underfunded start looking for a way to cut more revenue instead of dealing responsibly with it.
Road taxes. As outlined in our Priorities, state road and bridge needs over the next 20 years are $29 billion. That means the state Department of Transportation’s budget needs to be increased by $1 billion a year — just to deal with maintenance needs. Yet the state lawmakers harrumph about raising our gas tax, one of the lowest in the nation. Just this week, news reports highlighted how the state had the lowest gas prices in the nation for the second year running. A few cents extra at the pump will go a long way to making sure we have good roads for residents — and for businesses that need them to move commerce.
Minimum wage. All across the country, states have increased the minimum wage to $8.50 an hour or are considering it. But in a Deep South state like South Carolina, such a proposal likely won’t even see the light of day. Earth to legislature: Could you live on $340 a week — before taxes? Most people can’t.
Marriage equality. More and more states are adopting laws that allow for gay marriage to remove discriminatory treatment of up to 10 percent of residents. How would you like it if you weren’t allowed to visit a loved one in the hospital because you weren’t “family?” This is a tough issue in the Bible Belt South, but shouldn’t we at least discuss it?
Educational funding. Talking about how to change how state public education is funded has been like yelling into a vacuum, but there are some rays of hope that legislators will look at how to approach this thorny issue that’s been done one way for so many years that it’s “comfortable” and hard to shake off old approaches. Yet we need to look at consolidating school districts and steering more funding to rural schools where it takes more money to hire good teachers. As one state senator says, “You’re not going to get quality teachers out there unless you pay them.”
Voting districts. Getting politicians to make their voting districts more competitive is like asking for a black eye. It’s not something that they want to do. But because of how our gerrymandered districts are structured, there’s not much real competition during elections, especially for the millions of moderates. Instead, the system is built to attract from fringe, more radical elements of conservative and liberal sides, which does not bode well for democracy. Let’s establish an independent commission to draw district lines so we take the partisanship about legislative lines out of the General Assembly.
If you want state legislators to engage on issues that you believe are being ignored, write letters and put pressure on them to do more than the same old, same old.
Andy Brack is publisher of Statehouse Report. He can be reached at: brack@statehousereport.com.