It’s a safe bet that some South Carolina lawmakers will keep suggesting casino gambling as a way to pay for our state’s long-overdue road needs. But the General Assembly has repeatedly and wisely resisted past pitches for that supposedly easy money — and it should do so again.

As reported in Monday’s Post and Courier, House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, D-Richland, wants to let voters decide, via statewide referendum, whether to legalize casino gambling.

Rep. Rutherford made his case this way last month: “If you have casinos on the coast and dedicate them as a funding source on our roads, you have something that goes into fixing a problem.”

But if you have casinos on the coast you also have other problems, including a notoriously unreliable source of funding from a cruel tax of sorts imposed to a significant degree on the poor, the gullible, and compulsive gamblers.

Yes, the costly tab for fixing our highways is unlikely to be fully met by Gov. Haley’s call for a gas-tax hike in combination with an income-tax cut.

Yes, the S.C. Education Lottery has produced more than $3.4 billion in state revenue since its launch in early 2002.

Yet such casino attractions as slot machines, video poker, roulette and card games exert a much stronger grip on habitual gamblers than lottery tickets.

For the full article click the link below:

http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20150215/PC1002/150219543

Members of the South Carolina House of Representatives have filed two bills with very different agendas. If either were to become law, it would have a huge impact on road construction in the state. In section 5 of House Bill 3579, introduced Wednesday, includes language that would not allow new road construction until July 1, 2020.

“This section must not be construed to prohibit the expansion of roads that existed on June 30, 2015,” the bill language clarifies. “This section applies to the department and any other entity authorized to construct roads in this State.” Section 13 of the bill calls for a reduction of the state gas tax from 16 cents to 10 cents per gallon. Section 17 outlines an excise tax on the wholesale price of motor fuel could not exceed 16 cents per gallon, and that all funds must go to the State Highway Fund. The bill can be read in its entirety here.

Read the full article by clicking the link belwo: http://www.equipmentworld.com/bill-introduced-to-sc-house-seeks-to-increase-gas-tax-while-another-wants-to-halt-all-road-construction-for-5-years

There is gas tax outrage over raising taxes on the right. And there is outrage over the specter of spending cuts on the left. This “same ol’ same ol’” response to Gov. Nikki Haley’s plan to trade a gas tax increase for an income tax cut has missed the big point. And it leaves most South Carolinians with little faith that we’ll ever overcome our challenges.

In any corner of our state you’ll find people united by a shared desire: They want the opportunity for a good job to provide themselves and their children with a better future.

How do we attract and grow these jobs? For a long time, we’ve relied on our status as a right-to-work state. But as more states like Michigan — home of the United Auto Workers — discover this secret, we’re losing that competitive advantage. In fact, South Carolina has fallen to 31st on the Rich States, Poor States Economic Competitiveness Index. (Our neighbors, North Carolina and Georgia, are sixth and ninth respectively.)

So how do we stay in the game as a state and still fund critical priorities like our crumbling roads? The single greatest thing we could do to ensure a bright outlook for South Carolina’s future is comprehensive tax reform.

Read the full letter by clicking the link below:

http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20150213/PC1002/150219737/1021/

Two different bills to get more money to South Carolina roads have been introduced in the state House.

One bill is the idea of a special House panel that would lower the state’s gas tax and raise the sales tax on fuel. That bill was written by Rock Hill Republican Rep. Gary Simrill and started with 64 sponsors including House Speaker Jay Lucas.

The second bill is Gov. Nikki Haley’s proposal to raise the gas tax 10 cents. That bill was introduced by Greenville Republican Rep. Tommy Stringer and started with 36 sponsors including Majority Leader Bruce Bannister.

Haley says she can only support that tax increase if lawmakers lower South Carolina’s personal income tax rate by 2 percentage points.

Both bills would raise about $400 million a year.

Legislation offering two different ways to raise more money for South Carolina roads will be introduced in the House this week, House Majority Leader Bruce Bannister said Tuesday.

The bills released Wednesday will include both Gov. Nikki Haley’s plan to increase the state’s gas tax by 10 cents and reduce income tax rates by 2 percentage points over 10 years and a special House committee’s idea to cut the gas tax while adding a sales tax on fuel, Bannister said after House Republicans met behind closed doors for 90 minutes.

Both plans would raise an additional $400 million a year for highways and bridges. Haley was invited to the caucus meeting and promoted her plan for more than 30 minutes. As she left, she said only that she had a good meeting.

Bannister said she was received warmly. But he said members decided it was best to put both plans on the table. He had no prediction which one might get more support.

A new bill introduced to the General Assembly last week proposes major changes to South Carolina’s Business License Tax.

The Business License Tax Reform Act affects cities across the state. Currently, each municipality is in charge of its own licensing rates. In Myrtle Beach, the amount varies based on a business’ gross income rate. The new bill proposes that a uniform tax rate of no more than $100 be placed on all businesses.

According to Spokesperson Mark Kruea, Myrtle Beach receives $19.1 million in business license fees. If the bill goes through, that amount will drop to $500,000 annually.

 “How do you cut 19 million dollars worth of service that’s the real question,” said Kruea.

He said the changes will lead to massive cuts or a massive deficit in the city’s budget. An existing law prohibits the city from increasing the property tax by more than 3.8 mills, so Kruea said the funds would have to come out of city services.

To read the full article click the link below:

http://www.wbtw.com/story/28076720/new-bill-proposes-uniform-tax-rate-on-business-licenses

We’ve all noticed those fees and taxes tacked on to our monthly cell phone bills, but recently some South Carolina lawmakers are proposing legislation that could add on even more fees to help pay for the services provided by land lines, a proposed law that some major wireless carriers do not favor.

The fees on your cell phone statement are surprisingly not for the wireless carriers, but instead support public programs. One in particular, the Universal Service Fund which was created in 1997, was required by the Federal Communications Commission to ensure everyone in the country has affordable and equal telecommunication services.

Right now some major wireless carriers are fighting this bill to prevent consumers from paying about 1.1 percent more on their bills. They argue the proposed law would make the over 4 million cell phone users in South Carolina pay into a program that does not benefit them.

Michelle Robinson, VP of Government Affairs for Verizon Wireless said, “…Without any proof that they need the money and without any evidence they’re going to put the money toward its intended purpose, they would like to see 4 and half million South Carolinians, nearly the whole population of the state, pay more than they’re already paying – to us that’s not fair.”

However, State Senator Luke Rankin, R-Horry County, a sponsor of the bill, said the fees are not exactly taxes, but rather fund for a dated system, that serves and benefits everyone is the state. Rankin said without land lines, wireless calls would not exist.

For the full article click the link below:

http://www.wmbfnews.com/story/28066904/sc-lawmakers-proposed-tax-for-cell-phone-users

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?

To read the full article click the link below:

http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20150210/PC1603/150219963/1177/democrats-x2019-proposed-fix-for-state-x2019-s-roads-doubles-down-on-gambling

A majority of House members do not yet support the road-funding plans of either Gov. Nikki Haley or a House infrastructure committee, House Speaker Jay Lucas says.

Lucas also told The Greenville News that he prefers that there only be one bill on the issue.

“Right now I don’t think the majority of the House has coalesced around any one plan,” he said. “We are continuing to talk with the governor and the members to see if we can build a consensus around one plan. What we would prefer not to happen is three or four competing plans. I think if we could build consensus around one plan it would benefit not only the House but our state.”

Lucas made his comments as State Treasurer Curtis Loftis began lobbying against any plan that includes a gas-tax increase.

“South Carolinians deserve a safe and reliable infrastructure because it is essential to our State’s economic growth and prosperity,” Loftis said in an email message. “But a gas tax increase will only fuel special interests, damage job creation, and cost South Carolinians more at the pump.”

Americans For Prosperity South Carolina, a limited government group, is hosting a Statehouse rally Tuesday against the gas tax, featuring Loftis.

To read the full article please click the link below:

http://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/politics/2015/02/09/lucas-house-majority-yet-backing-road-plan/23138579/

Murrells Inlet Garden City Fire Rescue crews want you to vote in their favor for a referendum to increase its districts’ tax millage cap. It comes with the stance that by paying more on your property taxes, you could actually save money in the long run. On top of that, the district would be able to get an entire new station.

The fire department already owns a plot of land on McDowell Shortcut Road. It’s the same spot the department has been trying to build a fourth station for the district since 2007 when the land was purchased. A vote on the property tax increase, described as minimal, would allow the department to finally build it.

“We’re at 10 mills now, we’re asking to go to 14 mills, which is not a whole lot,” says Al Hitchcock, the Chairman for Murrells Inlet Garden City Fire Rescue. “Georgetown County is at 29 mills, Horry County is at 21 mills. So this is not an unreasonable request.”

To put it in a dollar amount, “It would be about 37 dollars on the average home in our district,” Hitchcock calculates. “The average home is about $235,000 dollars. “

Hitchcock says the increase in taxes could save you more on fire insurance when the department is evaluated. This could happen once the fourth station is built and new equipment is purchased. Without the increase, your fire insurance could go up.