Back to June 2007 Releases
6/19/2007
Governor: DOT and Workers' Comp Reform, Tax Cuts a Must
Governor Calls for General Assembly to Finish Work on Income Tax Relief, Reform Measures
Columbia, S.C. - As the General Assembly began its extended session today, Governor Mark Sanford once again called on legislators to reform the state's Department of Transportation and workers' compensation system, as well as to send a significant dividend back to South Carolina taxpayers.
The House and Senate this week will be considering passage of a workers' compensation reform compromise, as well as continuing to hash out details of a DOT reform bill. In an effort to bring South Carolina's DOT more in line with the structure present in 47 other states, the governor has laid out three markers for DOT reform - an at-will executive director, giving that director administrative control of the agency, and a board with statewide perspective. The governor also called for a significant dividend to be returned to taxpayers out of the additional $1.5 billion in new money sent to Columbia this year, in the form of a cut to the top marginal income tax rate. Currently, the Senate is only contemplating a net tax cut of $23 million, a plan that would return less that two percent of those new dollars back to the state's hardworking taxpayers.
"South Carolina's taxpayers can't afford another six months waiting for reforms to our DOT and the workers' compensation system," Gov. Sanford said. "As well, with this much new money coming into to Columbia, there's no reason in the world that the legislature shouldn't be able to provide substantive tax relief to the people of this state in the form of a cut to the top marginal income tax rate, because we believe cutting that top rate is the best way to positively impact the state's economy. Time after time this year, some in the Senate have resisted reform on each of these fronts, and that's something that has to change if the General Assembly has any hope of accomplishing what the people sent them here to do."
A November audit found a number of problems at the state DOT, including overpaying by tens of millions of dollars for contracts, purposefully manipulating account balances, and violating state law on hiring practices for temporary employees. All told, the report found more than $60 million wasted by the agency that could have been used for infrastructure needs in South Carolina.
Last year, South Carolina's workers' compensation premiums grew more than 18 percent and our state ranks second in the nation since 2000 in terms of how quickly rates have increased. Meanwhile, reform in other states has produced insurance premium rate reductions for their businesses - California has seen a cumulative rate reduction of 55 percent since July 2003 while Florida's workers' compensation filings, which impact the cost of premiums, have seen a 13 percent decrease this year alone.