Haley criticizes port 'bickering'

COLUMBIA -- Gov. Nikki Haley asked leaders Wednesday night during her State of the State address to "quit bickering" about port competition that critics say could sink South Carolina's economic future.

Haley faces scrutiny for a controversial Department of Health and Environmental Control board decision approving Georgia's plan to deepen the Savannah River and vowed to find the money needed to deepen the Port of Charleston this year. She said her executive budget would include a port infrastructure fund.

"I have said it before, and I will say it again: I am not afraid of a 48-foot Georgia port, 36 miles up the Savannah River, confined to one-way traffic," she said. "You should not be either."

Following the speech, Sen. Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, said Haley "missed the boat" on Savannah River deepening by ignoring the environmental implications.

"It isn't about competition," he said. "It's about destruction of the river."

Haley's remarks Wednesday night often spoke directly to the Lowcountry.

She called Boeing's North Charleston factory "the greatest economic development success the Palmetto State had celebrated in almost two decades" and congratulated Mayor Joe Riley and the residents of Charleston in ousting San Francisco as the top tourist destination in the country.

But Haley devoted most of her time behind the podium to speaking about jobs for South Carolina's residents. She said that by the end of January, state government will unveil a restructured workforce training program to further drive down the unemployment rate, which fell below double-digit figures at the end of 2011.

Haley pledged to fight unions and called the National Labor Relations Board's lawsuit against Boeing "one of the most fundamentally un-American decisions ever handed down by the federal government."

"We'll make the unions understand full well that they are not needed, not wanted and not welcome in the state of South Carolina," Haley said.

Haley highlighted the 20,000 new jobs and $5 billion in new investments in 2011. She promised to continue to reduce regulations and fees imposed on businesses and also to phase out the corporate income tax.

Haley justified some "unpopular decisions" that she deemed necessary in order to stay within the spending cap. She also mentioned some added funding for the State Law Enforcement Division and its DNA lab and for state mental health initiatives.

When she took office, state government faced deficits in Corrections, Social Services, and Health and Human Services, Haley said, though no Cabinet agency runs a deficit today.

A mother of two children, Haley spoke about the importance of investing in charter schools and in giving schools districts freedom to choose how their bus fleets operate.

Haley wants to see accountability-based funding for higher education, both to squelch lobbyist demands and to ensure fair spending.

Rep. Chip Limehouse, R-Charleston, supports Haley's anti-union stance but said after her speech that he wants to hear more about public schools. Limehouse also said he also supports spending cuts that hurt him personally if they benefit the state as a whole.

"I'd be happy to forgo my pension as a legislator if she wants to forgo her pension as governor," he said.

The governor pledged to continue to fight against federal takeover of the state health care system. She also said the state must stop granting cost-of-living increases to retirees while funds continue to dwindle and said members of the General Assembly should receive the same retirement benefits as state employees.

Haley lauded efforts to restructure the Transportation Department and called for an end to the Budget and Control Board.

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Haley touched on the reasoning behind her controversial telephone greeting, "It's a great day in South Carolina." She said she asked her receptionist to try it out and so enjoyed the first caller's response that she asked all state government offices to use it.

Haley called its opposition the greatest example of negativity seen statewide.

Rep. Wendell Gilliard, a Charleston Democrat who co-authored a bill prohibiting the greeting, said he hopes the governor will take time to read the language of his proposed legislation. He said the bill challenges using such cheery language, while the unemployment rate hangs close to 10 percent and the education system sits dangerously close to the bottom in the nation.

"It wasn't about just saying, 'It's a great day in South Carolina,' "

Gilliard said. "It's about jobs, education and literally getting sold up the river with the port."