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Statement from Senator Hugh K. Leatherman, Sr.
I share some wonderful news with you. It has been a long struggle but today the South Carolina Supreme Court ordered Governor Sanford to apply for the $700 million stimulus package that we are entitled to.
This is a victory for our children. Without the money, hundreds of teachers across the state would have been laid off and classroom sizes would have increased.
This is a victory for our communities. Without the money, the highway patrol and SLED would have had to lay off officers, making our communities less safe.
Without the money, we might have seen prisoners released back to the streets before serving their full sentences.
Without today’s Supreme Court decision, South Carolina would have been the only state in the country that did not apply for these funds.
Our share would have gone to other states, but South Carolina taxpayers still would have had to pay the money back through federal income taxes.
Simply put, we had nothing to gain and everything to lose. It just did not make sense for us to let that money for education and law enforcement slip through our hands.
Because South Carolina has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, our budget situation is still dire. As chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, I decided to cut $1.2 billion from the state budget rather than consider any general tax increase.
The federal money will help us educate our children and protect our citizens as we work for a national recovery.
Many of us would not have voted for the stimulus package in Congress. But that decision was made months ago. The only question was whether South Carolina would take the money to stop the bleeding.
Today’s Supreme Court decision that orders the governor to apply for the funds does just that.
