CHARLESTON, SC NEWS - LIVE 5 WCSC Breaking News, Weather, SportsLawmakers react to Sanford letter on paying down state debt with stimulus
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CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) - Governor Mark Sanford sent a letter to both houses of the South Carolina Legislature Tuesday revealing his much-anticipated plans on whether he will aceept South Carolina's share of the federal stimulus package.
For weeks Governor Mark Sanford fought hard against a federal stimulus package that he says will not achieve the economic stimulus that its proponents suggest, and will leave future generations in unprecedented levels of debt.
But in his letter Tuesday he acknowledged that we've moved beyond that, and that it's time to make decisions about using the money.
To sum up: Governor Sanford says he's asking the President to approve a plan that would allow him to use roughly $700 million of South Carolina's share of the stimulus funds to pay down the State's debt instead of funding other projects or programs.
If the President refuses he says he will accept none of the federal stimulus money.
"I think that whatever I take or don't take, hopefully, is at least at some level a message that's sent to Washington, and hopefully one received," Sanford said.
But state congressional leaders say not taking the money would make no sense.
"The Republican Caucus in the House supported our Congressional delegation when they were fighting this in Washington," South Carolina Speaker of the House Bobby Harrel said. "But now that Washington has passed the bill we've decided that to not accept the money would be to have our children and grandchildren pay this debt, even though the money would go to other states."
South Carolina's U.S. Congressman, Jim Clyburn, criticized the Governor's plan in a written statement:
"Governor Sanford's proposal will not create one job, it will not keep one teacher or police officer from being laid off, and it will not turn this economy around. So as South Carolina's unemployment rate is rising to double digits, parents are losing their jobs, and families losing their homes to foreclosures, Governor Sanford will sleep well at night because he has improved his 'conservative record' and raised his national profile."
Representative Harrel says the governor's letter also fails to recognize the value the other 75% of South Carolina's stimulus money could have for the state.
"The problem is that the Governor didn't even talk about 75% of the money that's going directly to the school districts, and directly to the Health & Human Services agencies, and directly to the Department of Transportation," Harrel said. "I mean, there's a lot more money involved here than just the small portion that he talked about."
House Minority Leader Harry Ott, from St. Matthews, says House Democrats also disagree with Sanford's plan to potentially refuse all timulus funds.
But he says he does agree with Sanford's concern over the fact the stimulus money will be used to create programs in this year's budget that will require money each year that the state will then have to find a way to fund after the stimulus money is used up.
Ott also says the Legislature has already voted to go over Sanford's head and accept all stimulus money, and he says it's already included in the state's budget currently being debated.
Clyburn and Ott both said that it seems Sanford's letter and hard-line stance on the stimulus funds was just to make a political statement.
UPDATE: March 16, 2009 1:44 pm - Pres. Obama replies to Gov. Sanford's request to divert stimulus funds into state debt with a letter of his own -- rejecting Sanford's request.
