South Carolina’s deteriorating roads could be free of potholes, its aging bridges rehabilitated.
And it could be done without new taxes or an increase in the gas tax.
Rather, the hundreds of millions of dollars a year needed to keep roadways from deteriorating further would come from casinos along the Grand Strand in Myrtle Beach and legalizing betting on horse races in other parts of the state.
House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford and other Democrats are offering that as an alternative to Gov. Nikki Haley’s and Republican lawmakers’ transportation plans.
“In order to pay for South Carolina’s roads, we need new money,” Rutherford said. “Either we’re going to raise people’s taxes, or we’re going to come up with new ideas.”
Haley and Republicans have offered divergent plans for dealing with the state’s $1.5 billion-a-year shortfall in transportation funding. No bills have been introduced so far. The governor set out a three-part, all-or-nothing proposal that would phase in a 10-cents-a-gallon hike in the state gas tax in exchange for a gradual cut in the income tax and centralizing control of the Department of Transportation. Legislators are proposing raising the tax on wholesale fuel sales.
House Democrats’ proposal, while not directly tied to improving transportation, emulates nearly half the states in the nation struggling with the same dilemma as South Carolina — how to keep up with infrastructure needs without raising taxes?
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South Carolina Association of Taxpayers 