Harvey Peeler

Contrary to what some liberals in Washington might think, you can’t spend your way out of a recession. Take, for example, your average family.  Mortgages, car payments and other bills put strains on the family budget. Now, suppose the family income drops. There are decisions to make – hard ones. But one decision that doesn’t make any financial sense is borrowing more and spending more, because while that may make the present seem fine, the long-term outlook goes from bad to worse. You have to pay back your debts.

But that’s what they’ve been doing in D.C. The debt climbs and climbs from more spending that we simply cannot afford. Fortunately, in the states, the “laboratories of democracy,” the situation is a little different. Here in South Carolina, we’re constitutionally-bound to pass a balanced budget. In the Senate, conservative leaders have been working hard to develop common-sense solutions without the borrow-and-spend, or tax-and-spend methodology that is so popular along the Potomac. During the 2009-2010 legislative session, Senate Republicans made significant accomplishments to move South Carolina forward.

Last year, Senate leaders teamed up with the State Ports Authority to keep international shipping company Maersk from leaving Charleston. The contract between Maersk and the SPA was set to end this year, and the conventional wisdom held that South Carolina’s standing as a cargo hub was going into decline. Thankfully it didn’t happen that way, and Maersk agreed to renew its contract and keep South Carolina ports bustling, which keeps commerce flowing to every region of our state.

Let’s not forget about bringing Boeing to South Carolina. Having the 787 Dreamliner assembly facility in North Charleston means 12,000 new jobs and $787 million in new investment in our state. This is the sort of benefit reaped when a positive business environment is created and government helps business, not over-regulating and over-taxing it.

One way of creating that environment is also having a flexible workforce. South Carolina doesn’t need labor union bosses coming in here and strong-arming state workers like they would be able to do under a card-check law that has been debated in Congress. Now, an amendment to the state constitution is on the November ballot to protect our workers from intimidation and coercion. One reason Boeing came here is that back in Washington State the machinists’ union was causing the company no end of problems with wage disputes and work stoppages.  By approving the constitutional amendment in November, South Carolina can send a strong message to Congress and the Boeings of the world that we are the most business-friendly state in the U.S.A.

It’s more than just new business coming here; we’re attracting new technologies, too. We were able to work with Clemson and its Restoration Institute to bring in a wind turbine energy project that also means millions of dollars in investment and tens of thousands of new jobs. While laying the foundation for new jobs – and new revenue, without raising taxes or borrowing – more work had to be done to assist the unemployed.

It took the entire session, but reform of the former Employment Security Commission was a top priority for the Senate GOP majority. The situation didn’t seem right with the agency, and after senators called for an audit, the Legislative Audit Council came back with a damaging report that showed all we had feared and more. Now, though, the ESC does not exist, replaced by the state Department of Employment and Workforce. Ineffective bureaucracy has been cut out, and changes made to make sure that people who receive unemployment benefits genuinely deserve them. Also, the new department is focused on placing people in jobs, not only cutting checks.

Another needed reform effort was to tackle the South Carolina tax code. For decade upon decade, a lobby or a legislator with a particular interest would pursue a sales tax exemption for this or that, along with other creative tax breaks. Nobody likes paying taxes, but our system has to be simplified. That was the impetus to create the Taxation Realignment Commission, which recently came out with its preliminary recommendations. Many of these suggestions involve the repealing of sales tax exemptions, but it balances out. The proposals are revenue-neutral and actually reduce the overall tax burden on South Carolinians.

It’s not all about dollars and cents. It’s also about standing up for family, for life. We’re extremely proud of being able to pass the 24-hour abortion waiting period bill, which gives a mother time to seriously think about what she’s considering to do, and hopefully make the right decision and change her mind.

Finally, Senate Republicans are proud of our state, and proud of our self-governance without the overreaching hand of those in Washington. Barack Obama and the Democratic Congress have taken unprecedented steps to unconstitutionally meddle in state affairs. We pushed through the stalling tactics of Senate Democrats and passed a resolution that lets Obama and our Congressional leaders know that the 10th Amendment isn’t something that can be ignored.

The past session was a good one, but the work never ends. Our state will have budget trouble again next year, and there are a lot of other reforms that weren’t accomplished. We’re going to get back to work and keep fighting for conservative values in the Senate.

Sincerely,

Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler