News Views

Environment

Clear-cut landscapes cannot always be replanted, filled marshland cannot be unfilled and contaminated water cannot easily be purified. So time is of the essence when new developments pose a threat to sensitive ecosystems.

To that end, South Carolina law places an automatic stay on state environmental permits when a concerned party files an appeal. The stay prevents development from moving forward until an administrative court can address concerns raised in the appeal. …

But a bill currently in the state Senate would undermine important protections by limiting automatic stays to 30 days. … Forcing the issue within that time frame would substantially burden groups seeking simply to ensure that environmental permits are properly granted and sufficiently protective. And adding the time constraint risks the possibility that projects could move forward before a judge can address the appeal.

Roads bill

(W)hile the plans coming from the House and Senate finance committees aren’t perfect, each is a significant improvement on the long-awaited plan that Gov. Haley unveiled in January that could reasonably be described as an effort to cut an extraordinary amount of state taxes while raising a relatively small amount for state roads. Gov. Haley acknowledged the need to increase the gas tax to improve state roads, but she married her plan with a whopping decrease in the state’s income tax.

An agreement to support an increase in the gas tax essentially was used as leverage by the governor to try to gain a reduction in the state income tax from the top rate of 7 percent to 5 percent over 10 years. If enacted into law, the governor’s plan would blow a hole in the state budget. …

Let’s fix South Carolina roads, and do it in such a way that tax increases are not back-breaking but instead are fair and realistic. Let’s also do it in a way that is fiscally responsible and doesn’t eventually cripple other essential state services. It’s possible to accomplish all of these goals if the House and Senate work together.

School changes

This is clearly a time of transition for the state’s education system. Consequently, it’s a positive sign to see the governor out visiting schools, surveying what’s making a difference in classrooms across the state.

(Gov. Nikki Haley has) wisely worked to initiate improvements in the state’s education system — although her efforts largely came during her reelection campaign and have been pushed forward as part of her second term.

The governor, in particular, successfully pushed to put reading coaches in schools. She’s also helped to initiate technology improvements, especially in rural schools.

As the state works toward making changes to the education system, such upgrades should be a continuing focus for the governor, legislators and administrators at schools.

▪ “We feel that we are greater than we know.”

▪ “He is risen.”

This story was originally published April 4, 2015 at 7:00 PM with the headline "News Views."