Lawmakers approve $20M in projects for Richland, Lexington counties. Where is it going?

Nearly 40 projects in Richland and Lexington counties will see a combined $20 million this year after lawmakers on Thursday reinstated earmarks previously vetoed by Gov. Henry McMaster.

At least $9 million will go toward renovations at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center, in the Vista thanks to a request from two Richland County Democrats, Sens. Dick Harpootlian and Darrell Jackson, while another $1 million is set aside to help with costs of a future convention center in Lexington.

Among the other notable projects are $850,000 for road work in Five Points to make the area more pedestrian friendly and $1 million for Cayce’s 12,000 Year History Park, located at 1120 Fort Congaree Trail.

The earmarks, which are state dollars set aside for pet projects at individual lawmakers’ request, received scrutiny following more than a year of reporting by The State Media Co. and The Island Packet that revealed how legislators previously directed money to local groups through a process shrouded in secrecy, at times benefiting organizations they had close ties with.

In years past, budget writers would typically tuck tens of millions into the budget for their pet projects into the budget, typically by using state agencies as a “pass through” with little oversight and out of the public view, unbeknownst to fellow lawmakers who voted on the budget.

This year, however, both the House and Senate released a list of earmarked requests from lawmakers with the name of the recipient, project or a general idea of its intended use. Still, the lists failed to tell taxpayers exactly how all the funds will be distributed and the name of each recipient.

Harpootlian, arguably the strongest critic on earmarks, said this year was an “extraordinary” step in the right direction, allowing taxpayers and lawmakers to see what was being approved before votes occurred.

“My complaint was always the lack of transparency,” he said. “We just didn’t know.”

Among the $150 million divided up across the state:

• Greenville saw those most earmarked requests for a total of $30 million. The lion’s share of that will go toward $19 million for the county’s convention center.
• Sumter County, home to House Ways and Means chairman Murrell Smith, who has a strong say in crafting each year’s budget, came in second with at least $20 million divided up among 11 projects. In 2020, Sumter ranked first among all counties.
• Ranking third is Richland County with $17 million, though some of that funding is for organizations headquartered in the county but with other regional offices around the state. Lexington will see $3 million total.
• Bamburg, Chester and Saluda counties were the only counties with no earmarked funding approved by lawmakers, while McCormick had two $1 placeholder designations.

It’s unclear where another $7.5 million will be spent, as some of the listed projects approved by lawmakers don’t appear to have a specific receiving organization or known location of where a state agency will use the money.

In May, McClatchy’s South Carolina newspapers surveyed 95% of all 170 state legislators, finding that at least 83% favored budget reforms and laws that required more disclosures.

Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, also pushed for changes on the Senate side earlier this year, requiring a list of all requests be published. House followed the same steps, though for years ignored a rule requiring disclosures of the projects be published online.

While Massey said he is also pleased with the new level of transparency, there is still a need for accountability measures to ensure the money is spent as intended. Currently, the state has no mechanism to ensure that it is.

“The rule we adopted in January was the first step and this was the first year it was implemented, so we learned where it works and where it needs improvement,” Massey said.

“We need to provide more of a description of the project so everybody understands what its going for. We clearly need to do a better job at auditing the recipients and following up with them.”

Gov. McMaster’s office on Friday also sent a letter to 24 different state agencies that will distribute funds to organizations. The letter reminded the agencies that he vetoed the earmarks due a lack of transparency and accountability and how they can track the money.

“Public transparency must be absolute and uncompromised in order to maintain the public’s trust and confidence in their government,” McMaster wrote in the letter. “After all, it is the public’s money which we are spending.”

This story was originally published July 5, 2021 at 5:00 AM.