State's lawmakers override Sanford vetoes
Decisions mean only $2M of governor's $72M in cuts were sustained
COLUMBIA — Retired state employees will get annual cost of living increases and thousands of poor children will get health care after South Carolina lawmakers Wednesday overrode some of Gov. Mark Sanford's vetoes.
The GOP-dominated Legislature also departed from the Republican governor's wishes by increasing the amount of money the state will spend to assist indigent criminal suspects in their legal defenses.
Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell said cutting that money would clog criminal dockets and cause a backlog in the courts.
That's the same criticism Supreme Court Chief Justice Jean Toal had for the proposal Monday. She also said it would saddle taxpayers with extra jail costs as trials are delayed.
Meanwhile, more than three dozen bills were on Sanford's desk Wednesday, awaiting his response. He signed into law a measure aimed at curbing the presence of illegal immigrants in the state.
Other legislation Sanford was considering on the eve of the final day of the legislative session included a bill allowing license plates with the image of a cross that reads "I Believe." Supporters say they will allow drivers to express their religious faith.
Another bill on his desk makes sure the state doesn't invest in companies with financial ties to Sudan.
Under the health care measure, the state will spend an additional $21 million to expand the federal-state children's health insurance program by raising the family income limit for eligibility. Advocates say the program will add 88,000 children.
The Senate spent about five hours on the vetoes, ultimately overriding all but one of the vetoes the House had also overridden. They agreed with Sanford's veto of a measure that would have required the state's Medicaid agency to make monthly reports to the Legislature.
Their decisions meant that only $2 million of Sanford's $72 million in vetoes were sustained after the Legislature overrode 57 of 69 vetoes.
The governor offered a blunt response.
"While we believe that the House ultimately failed to address our state's financial situation, what the Senate did in not sustaining a single dollar's worth of vetoes shows not only a disdain for taxpayers, but a complete abdication of their constitutional duty to put forth a budget that is indeed balanced," Sanford said in a prepared statement.
Lawmakers also overrode Sanford's veto of a bill that promises state retirees annual cost of living adjustments for their pension checks.
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Posted by Michael_S_Smith_II on June 5, 2008 at 2:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Governor: Budget Unconstitutional, Could Lead to Legal Challenge
GOVERNOR SAYS A SUIT MAY BE NEEDED OVER CONSTITUTIONALITY OF BUDGET
Columbia, S.C. - June 5, 2008 -Governor Mark Sanford today said the General Assembly may have broken the law in passing a budget they knew to be out of balance - and therefore unconstitutional - and that doing so could open the state up to a legal challenge.
In budget hearings earlier this year, the Education and Corrections departments both told the legislature that next year's budget would force them to run a deficit, to the tune of $28 million. In fact, when warned repeatedly about potential deficits at the Department of Corrections, Senator Hugh Leatherman suggested multiple times in an April 2 meeting that the agency run a deficit.
In the state Constitution, Article X, Section 7(a) requires the General Assembly "to provide by law for a budget process to insure that annual expenditures of state government do not exceed annual state revenue." Since the legislature has now passed a budget in which they know and are fully aware this requirement will not be met, the governor said today that the budget in effect breaks the law.
"There's no way around the fact that if the General Assembly has passed a budget that they know will require deficits, then it's not a balanced budget, period," Gov. Sanford said. "We have real concerns about the legality of this budget - and at this point, we're not convinced that a lawsuit would be a bad thing, given that it may indeed be the only way to prevent the legislature from engaging in this kind of recklessness in the future."
Last week, the governor vetoed 69 items from the legislature's spending plan, for a total of $72 million, saying that money should be put toward the anticipated deficits at Education and Corrections. Of those 69 vetoes, the legislature only sustained five that had implications for the state's general fund, for a total of $369,000. -#####-
Joel SawyerCommunications Director
Office of Gov. Mark Sanford(803) 734-5254 - work