Baby Steps Back from the Brink



Sunday’s editorial chronicles some of the more optimistic news for our area that we found in the state budget so far:

We’ve heard the dire talk about the state’s finances for months now. Hundreds of people will be laid off, benefits will be cut, taxes could go up. The reality so far has been less harrowing than many had dreaded, though some of those fears have proven true.

State workers would pay more for health benefits under the plan the House passed. Money for state colleges would be cut again. And funding for a variety of health programs, including cancer treatment, sickle cell programs, hemophilia treatment, rape prevention and crisis centers, Emergency Medical Service upgrades, genetic services and trauma care would all drop by about 20 percent.

But there are also a few bright spots hidden in the fine print of the state budget, which still has to go through the Senate and survive the governor’s veto pen.

The 2-for-1 tourism match that has brought the Grand Strand more than $30 million for promoting the area is still in the budget and could yet grow in the Senate. The program’s reliance on private industry to raise money before public money kicks in requires all of those involved to have a stake in the endeavor, an important way of ensuring accountability. Simply put, local promoters are likely to be just a mite more deliberative when spending their own money than if it were all from taxpayers.

Gov. Nikki Haley has also signaled her support for the statewide program, as opposed to the local sales tax that she panned in February. Her backing for the 2-for-1 program means a better chance of it surviving the process intact.

The House budget also continues to inch toward the completion of I-73/74. The current plan gives $1 million to the project and includes an instruction inserted by Rep. Tracy Edge for the Department of Transportation to move forward on plans to extend S.C. 31 to the North Carolina border. Besides the traffic improvement for North Strand residents, this four-mile expansion would help ensure the eventual completion of I-73, fulfilling a bargain made with the North Carolina DOT to secure their support. It’s tough to get real excited about $1 million more for a road projected to cost $2.4 billion in South Carolina, but we continue to claw and crawl closer to the goal.

And the state’s fire safety has also received a small but needed boost. While many agencies can expect smaller budgets again next year, the House wisely decided to maintain the current level of funding for the state’s Forestry Commission, whose brave members have spent the past few days battling wildfires on our coast. The budget also gives the commission an extra $3 million – of a $20 million request – for new firefighting equipment.

It’s a good start toward supporting an agency that does critical emergency work in keeping us all safe. Residents should be in no doubt as to the importance of the commission, having seen their work in putting out the massive 19,200-acre fire at Barefoot Landing in 2009, as well as their work this week on the fire near McClellanville.

Joel Felder, the state’s deputy forester, said the commission certainly appreciates the money appropriated by the House, but “it doesn’t go a long way toward what we need.”

The agency tries to replace its equipment on a 15-year cycle and next year will have 75 units – costing $250,000 each – that are at least that old. The money would pay for replacing 12 of those. Felder said, and we echo, that the main concern is the safety of those operating the machines that contain the fires. “They’re depending on that tractor to get them through the woods and out the other side,” he said.

An extra $3 million will mean some firefighters will be safer next year, and we applaud the legislature for that, but as Felder said, “it’s a step in the right direction, but not a huge step.”

 

The 2-for-1 tourism match that has brought the Grand Strand more than $30 million for promoting the area is still in the budget and could yet grow in the Senate. The program’s reliance on private industry to raise money before public money kicks in requires all of those involved to have a stake in the endeavor, an important way of ensuring accountability. Simply put, local promoters are likely to be just a mite more deliberative when spending their own money than if it were all from taxpayers.

Gov. Nikki Haley has also signaled her support for the statewide program, as opposed to the local sales tax that she panned in February. Her backing for the 2-for-1 program means a better chance of it surviving the process intact.

The House budget also continues to inch toward the completion of I-73/74. The current plan gives $1 million to the project and includes an instruction inserted by Rep. Tracy Edge for the Department of Transportation to move forward on plans to extend S.C. 31 to the North Carolina border. Besides the traffic improvement for North Strand residents, this four-mile expansion would help ensure the eventual completion of I-73, fulfilling a bargain made with the North Carolina DOT to secure their support. It’s tough to get real excited about $1 million more for a road projected to cost $2.4 billion in South Carolina, but we continue to claw and crawl closer to the goal.

And the state’s fire safety has also received a small but needed boost. While many agencies can expect smaller budgets again next year, the House wisely decided to maintain the current level of funding for the state’s Forestry Commission, whose brave members have spent the past few days battling wildfires on our coast. The budget also gives the commission an extra $3 million – of a $20 million request – for new firefighting equipment.

It’s a good start toward supporting an agency that does critical emergency work in keeping us all safe. Residents should be in no doubt as to the importance of the commission, having seen their work in putting out the massive 19,200-acre fire at Barefoot Landing in 2009, as well as their work this week on the fire near McClellanville.

Joel Felder, the state’s deputy forester, said the commission certainly appreciates the money appropriated by the House, but “it doesn’t go a long way toward what we need.”

The agency tries to replace its equipment on a 15-year cycle and next year will have 75 units – costing $250,000 each – that are at least that old. The money would pay for replacing 12 of those. Felder said, and we echo, that the main concern is the safety of those operating the machines that contain the fires. “They’re depending on that tractor to get them through the woods and out the other side,” he said.

An extra $3 million will mean some firefighters will be safer next year, and we applaud the legislature for that, but as Felder said, “it’s a step in the right direction, but not a huge step.”