The Buzz: SC governors’ fights with lawmakers not always clean

South Carolina’s governor has limited authority compared to the General Assembly, so the soapbox is sometimes the best bet to get attention.

Republican Gov. Nikki Haley got plenty of that last week by suggesting to a group of real estate agents that they would need a “good shower” after a State House visit. The governor’s office swore she was not referring to anyone in particular, but the six minutes House Speaker Jay Lucas, R-Darlington, spent on the floor slamming her remarks showed lawmakers thought otherwise.

Haley’s chances of winning over legislators to her ethics reform and roads funding plans certainly took a hit.

Former Republican Gov. David Beasley and former Democratic Gov. Jim Hodges said the relationship between governors and lawmakers is too important to allow tension to get out of hand.

Beasley said when he was governor he addressed differences behind the scenes with personal meetings with Senators or House members – not news conferences.

“The leaders of the state should reach to the highest standard possible – and that is the golden rule of doing unto others (as) you would have them do unto you,” he said.

Haley doesn’t seem to care so much.

“If you can’t take a joke, you don’t need to be in the game,” she said Friday according to The Greenville News.

Former Republican Gov. Mark Sanford is remembered for his joke of bringing pigs, nicknamed “Pork” and “Barrel,” to the State House to point out excess spending in the state budget.

He riled legislators with his stunt, much like Haley’s comments a decade later.

If governors try to exert control, they’re going to get push-back, Sanford said last week.

The conflict between governors and lawmakers results from the lack of power in the executive position, Sanford told The Buzz on Friday.

The S.C. Constitution weakened the power of the governor because post-Reconstruction political leaders did not want an African American chief executive in the wake of the Civil War.

“The curse of the South Carolina governorship is … you’re in charge but not in control,” he said.

Beasley said there “will always be days of friction or contentiousness” between governors and Legislatures.

However, “(lawmakers) are a very important part of any governor’s agenda and moving the state forward,” Beasley said.

Republican Gov. Carroll Campbell won over a Legislature overwhelmingly dominated by Democrats by building a coalition of votes in the State House to sustain vetoes, his former chief of staff Warren Tompkins said.

Campbell eventually got the Legislature to pass restructuring state government, which took persuasion and making tradeoffs, Tompkins said.

“It was at times rocky,” Tompkins said, adding Campbell’s popularity “was everything the Democrats feared.”

Haley, also popular proven by her re-election victory by nearly 15 percentage points in November, has had her own legislative victories. She successfully passed her education initiatives and her own restructuring of state government.

But Haley should not expect to win all the battles against lawmakers who don’t want to give away too much of their power, such as with the fight over restructuring the state transportation department board.

Hodges said he had to compromise to win the legislation that would allow voters to start a state lottery.

He accepted the Legislature having more control of seats on the Lottery Commission and using lottery money to pay for school buses and other K-12 items.

Overall, when it comes to the relationship between the governor and lawmakers: “We can make too much of a bad day or a bad week,” Hodges said.

“The important thing is for the governor and Legislature to be able to get past that and work together on the things that they both care about so they can find a way to do people’s business.”

Another Virginian speaking at SC Dems dinner

The S.C. Democratic party (hearts) Virginia’s U.S. senators.

Sen. Mark Warner will speak at the party’s annual Jefferson-Jackson fundraising dinner on April 24, a year after his Old Dominion senate counterpart Tim Kaine headlined the same event.

The pair of former governors have been mentioned as possible vice presidential picks in 2016.

“Virginia is doing it right,” S.C. Democratic Chairman Jaime Harrison said. “They have good leadership.”

Simrill’s Fury I-77

State Rep. Gary Simrill, R-York, didn’t get his bill to raise money for roads through the House Ways and Means committee Thursday without a few jolts.

On his way back from the State House on Wednesday evening, Simrill was driving one of his high-end car dealership’s Porsches when he hit a pothole on I-77 north of Blythewood.

Simrill said the hit was “jarring.” Within 30 seconds, his tire pressure light came on.

Despite having a tire that is supposed to resist deflation, “by the time I came off the exit, the tire was shredded,” Simrill said.

The irony was not lost on him.

“We’re talking about fixing roads, and then I hit the pothole,” said Simrill, who alerted the state Department of Transportation after the incident.

Earlier Wednesday, Simrill rode the new Fury 325 roller coaster at Carowinds. The roller coaster ride was much smoother than his drive home from Columbia, he said.

“If South Carolina roads can become half as good as that roller coaster track – we’ll be in very good shape.”

2016 in SC: An actual presidential candidate is coming

South Carolina is getting its first visit by a major candidate to formally announce a run for president next year.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, will come to Rock Hill, Spartanburg, Greenville and Aiken for town hall meetings on April 3-4.

Cruz announced his bid last week at Liberty University in Virginia. He stands eighth among GOP White House hopefuls in a composite of national polls and 11th in South Carolina, according to Real Clear Politics.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, appears like the next of the major candidates to formally announce a White House run. He will visit the USS Yorktown in Mount Pleasant on April 9, two days after announcing his bid in Kentucky.

Meanwhile, another pair of likely GOP presidential prospects who have not announced officially are heading to Greenville next month.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum plan to attend the Greenville County Republican Party convention on April 18, The Greenville News reported.

Kasich also will speak at an April 17 lunch sponsored by the Upstate Chamber Coalition at the Spartanburg Marriott, the newspaper reported.

This story was originally published March 28, 2015 at 11:07 PM.