Is the state’s public safety agency properly funded? Depends on whom you ask.

An effort to oust the director of the S.C. Department of Public Safety has left legislators fighting over how much money is too much for a state agency.

Legislators voted Tuesday to eliminate the position and pay of DPS Director Leroy Smith from the state’s roughly $8 billion general fund budget, essentially firing him. The move left Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, and the remaining 19 legislators who dissented frustrated.

Cobb-Hunter argues it was unfair to blame Smith for the agency’s ills when the General Assembly, at a time when highway fatalities are rising, has not included enough money in DPS’ budget to pay for more troopers at the S.C. Highway Patrol, one of four agencies under Smith’s wing.

But a review of budget documents shows that Smith did not ask last year for money to hire more troopers. He instead requested, and got, money for raises. This year, he asked for $3.3 million for an additional 50 troopers for the budget year that begins in July.

Then-Gov. Nikki Haley did not include the money for 50 positions in her executive budget for next year. But Smith raised the need in January before the House’s criminal justice budget-writing panel.

Lawmakers should have discussed staffing needs with Smith then instead of punishing him Tuesday in a 76-20 vote on his salary, Cobb-Hunter said.

South Carolina has been downsizing government since the Great Recession, which began under then-Gov. Mark Sanford. And legislators know that agency heads were frequently told not to ask for money for new staffers.

“We knew that what was before us didn’t necessarily coincide with needs,” Cobb-Hunter said. She said it is the role of legislators to dive deeper into what agencies really need during budget hearings.

Last fiscal year and this one, the Legislature has given DPS what the governor has requested. And from fiscal year 2012-13 to 2015-16, lawmakers gave the agency a 4 percent overall budget bump.

Rep. Mike Pitts, R-Laurens, argued that despite the increase in funding, DPS has lost more troopers than it keeps. Pitts leads the House’s budget-writing panel that oversees the money that goes to the state’s criminal justice agencies. Lack of money, he said, is not the agency’s problem.

“The problem is not that they haven’t been able to hire troopers,” Pitts said. “The problem is that under Leroy Smith’s administration, they have not been able to retain troopers.”

Pitts says morale is the issue. Cobb-Hunter said other lawmakers say there are complaints about discipline and promotions.

Smith told legislators that troopers who have left the agency cited pay as their No. 1 reason for leaving. Since 2015, DPS has arranged for pay raises that have boosted a starting trooper’s salary to $38,273.

A combination of low pay, buyouts during the recession and a restructuring of the state’s retirement system has contributed to the agency’s dive in manpower. In 2008, trooper strength was at 943. As of January, there were 805 troopers after dipping to 760 in 2015; ideal manpower numbers range between 950 and 1,000.

But House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, D-Richland, said the Legislature has been “throwing him money” in recent years to address manpower shortages and got nothing in return from Smith, which led to the dispute Tuesday.

Rutherford – who was the author of the amendment that stripped Smith’s position from the state budget – said the result has been roads that are less safe.

“The numbers don’t lie,” Rutherford said. “Not only are we funding (DPS) according to their request, we have been giving them more money in subsequent requests, and the director has proven that he not a steward of taxpayer money.”

The budget still has to make it through the Senate. But Gov. Henry McMaster – who said through his spokesman that he is supportive of Smith – can still strike Rutherford’s proposal from the budget if it makes it to his desk. Two thirds of the Legislature would have to vote to override McMaster’s veto.

Smith issued a statement Tuesday concerning Rutherford’s proposal, calling it disappointing.

”As always, I look forward to continue working with legislators and other local and state partners on enhancing public safety in the great state of South Carolina,” Smith said.

This story was originally published March 15, 2017 at 8:49 PM with the headline "Is the state’s public safety agency properly funded? Depends on whom you ask.."