North Charleston, SC (AP) -
State Rep. Leon Stavrinakis is upset about how the governor and her administration has handled the security breach at the state department of revenue. Tax information of nearly 4,000,000 South Carolina taxpayers and nearly 700,000 businesses were accessed by a hacker.
"To expect that that information was stolen and not being used is living in fantasy land," Rep. Stavrinakis said.
The state representative from Charleston County says now he wants an independent audit of South Carolina's hacked tax returns.
"People deserve accurate answers, and we're not getting them, so we have to go in a different direction," he said.
Gov. Haley says so far one audit has been done, but she isn't opposed to a second.
Stavrinakis is also calling for tax credits for residents who are being forced to purchase identity theft protection. He released a draft of his proposal, which he says will have bi-partisan sponsorship by state lawmakers.
Local businesses say they're feeling unsettled, hoping their tax information wasn't compromised.
"You would have thought that our government would have had something in place to take care of all of that. Yeah, I was quite disappointed," Heads You Win Salon owner Robert Getsinger said.
Some taxpayers would like to see more protection in place.
"I think that it would be right if they did more to protect us past the one year," taxpayer Steve Strieter said.
"Honestly they need to do whatever it takes to protect us. We shouldn't be held liable for any identity theft as a result," taxpayer Tierney Simpson said.
As Rep. Stavrinakis made the call for an independent audit of the hacking, in the midlands Sen. Vincent Sheheen and Rep. James Smith made the same call.
Rep. Stavrinakis has requested that the Legislative Audit Council, a non-political agency, conduct the hacking audit. The director of LAC says when they get a request like this, members meet and decide whether they are able to take on the project.
