Well, there is a first time for everything – I actually voted for an annual appropriations act. My opposition in the past has revolved around a refusal to prioritize our resources and apply them to the core functions of government. After finally getting the changes this year that we have been fighting for combined with a couple of other components of the bill, I felt compelled to support it.  I voted for the state budget for the first time ever for three main reasons:

  • This budget, for the first time since I entered the Senate, funds roads in a meaningful way with money that we have on hand – NOT borrowed money, NOT new taxes, but money that we already have on hand. I have fought long and hard for that policy, and this budget includes it.
  • I successfully worked with Senate leadership to gain flexibility for our schools that already employ successful reading programs and to avoid the duplication, and cost, of new mandates from Columbia. It simply lets good teachers do what works instead of what Columbia thinks is best.
  • This budget prohibits SC DSS from spending any money on refugee resettlements – in Spartanburg or anywhere else, without approval from County Council. We need this provision because Governor Haley refuses to help Congressman Gowdy protect South Carolinians from potential disasters such as the recent arrest in MN of refugees seeking to join ISIS. Remember, this isn’t about whether or not to help people seeking refuge, but how to protect our citizens from threats, disease, and other unintended consequences.

I appreciate my Senate colleagues working with me to adopt these important elements within the budget. With all involved in the process, there will never be any such thing as a perfect budget, but this one does more to meet the real needs of South Carolinians than any in my previous six years in the Senate. I’m glad we’ve made the progress we have and to be able to finally support one.