Legislators: Contentious relationship may harm Haley agenda

Following her decisive re-election win, Gov. Nikki Haley is pulling no punches, as she publicly chastises her fellow Republicans on social media and at events in their districts.

While legislators caution the tactic may backfire, Haley insists nothing’s changed and her criticism isn’t personal.

“You’ve got a problem with your delegation you need to know about,” Haley told a Rotary Club in Spartanburg, as she called out area senators who supported an amendment she said “basically killed ethics” reform during debate on the Senate floor. Their explanations, she said, are mere excuses.

She’s giving similar speeches across the state, all recorded by her office videographer and posted on YouTube.

At a Greenville Rotary Club, she again cited Ways and Means Chairman Brian White of Anderson, whom she’s repeatedly blasted for a borrowing proposal her opposition on Facebook helped kill. She also disapproves of his committee’s road-funding plan, saying the accompanying income-tax cut he sponsored doesn’t go nearly far enough.

In Florence, Haley singled out Senate President Pro Tem Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, accusing him of leading the charge against ethics. She’s championed the legislation since a then-GOP-dominated House ethics panel twice cleared her in 2012 of accusations she violated ethics law.

Legislators’ frustrations with Haley flared last week, after she told a group of Realtors they needed to “take a good shower” after leaving the Statehouse.

House Speaker Jay Lucas, R-Hartsville, took the podium, saying such middle-school insults are not helpful to the debate process. Leatherman dismissed her comments as “pretty childish.”

“In my opinion, what she’s been doing is not good for this state,” he said.

Perhaps the most stinging barbs came in Spartanburg, where she cited senators who usually align with her ideologically. She told the Rotarians no other delegation is causing her as big of a problem collectively.

“There are members that are upset,” Sen. Lee Bright, R-Roebuck, said of senators. He’s among members of the conservative, self-named William Wallace Caucus whom Haley called out. “I don’t think it helps what she’s trying to accomplish.”

The contention is reminiscent of Haley’s early tenure, when she tried to force legislators back to Columbia to pass her agenda and got rebuffed by the state Supreme Court. In 2012, she flew around the state to lambast legislators for not writing into the budget her plan to eliminate corporate taxes and reduce personal income taxes. The Legislature instead provided tax relief to small businesses.

Haley’s since seen more progress on her agenda, as legislators praised her for taking a more cooperative approach. On the campaign trail, she touted passage of education funding reforms, a road-funding bill seen as a start to fixing the state’s infrastructure, and a government restructuring law called the largest overhaul in two decades – all successes of the past two years.

Haley insists her approach has never wavered.

“I have been the exact same. I have always been blunt on where I stand on issues. I’ve always used social media to educate,” Haley told The Associated Press. “What has changed are the policies we’ve been debating. None of this is personal.”

The issues are emotional, she said.

“I’m sorry if they don’t like where my stand is, but that’s my job,” Haley said.

The contention between Haley and the Legislature is definitely stronger than with previous administrations, largely because the spats play out publicly, rather than in backroom conversations, said Rep. Rick Quinn, R-Cayce, first elected in 1988.

“It’s more overt and more contentious,” said Quinn, a campaign consultant and former majority leader. “It has consequences. If it gets personal, all of a sudden, the feelings become almost as important as the issues you’re discussing.”

Contention has revved up, he agreed, because of the topics. Road funding and tax policy are dividing the GOP base, he said.

The relationship has not, however, reverted to the days of former Gov. Mark Sanford, Quinn said.

Sanford’s public stunts included bringing squealing, defecating piglets inside the Statehouse. The hostility between Sanford and GOP leaders stymied most of what he pushed – including the government restructuring bill that passed last year.

“Sanford used to relish the idea that he wasn’t getting along with the General Assembly,” Quinn said. “I won’t say she hasn’t made some mistakes in terms of her relationship with the General Assembly, but we’ve all got to be big boys too.”

This story was originally published March 31, 2015 at 1:49 PM with the headline "Legislators: Contentious relationship may harm Haley agenda."