In the same direction: SC Senate Republicans work together on roads plan

Something unusual happened in the S.C. Senate this week — Republicans agreed with each other.

The state’s crumbling roads brought together factions within the Senate’s dominant party on the biggest spending issue debated inside the General Assembly in years.

Senate GOP leaders said they hope the agreement within party ranks on a $400 million a year roads plan could weaken the Democrats’ ability to win influence by aligning with wayward Republicans.

“They saw the future,” Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler, R-Cherokee, said.

Democrats were angry.

“Fraud alert! Last night in the cover of darkness the Republican majority in the S.C. State Senate, in a conspiracy with the governor, killed the roads bill,” state Sen. Vincent Sheheen, D-Kershaw, emailed supporters Thursday. “Absolute power, corrupts absolutely!”

Democrats will have a chance to debate the proposal and offer amendments next week before a crucial vote Republicans want to hold late Wednesday.

“We’re far from being through,” Senate Minority Leader Nikki Setzler, D-Lexington, said. “We want to have a reasonable discussion.”

Despite holding a majority in the Senate, Republicans have been roiled in recent years by a number of new members who believe in fiscal restraint and limited government. They call themselves the William Wallace caucus, named after the 13th-century Scottish warrior portrayed by Mel Gibson in the 1995 movie “Braveheart.”

They will break ranks with fellow Republicans and work with Democrats. And they were willing to scuttle any roads plan containing a state gas-tax hike, which was part of the Senate proposal.

Some Republicans want to raise the fuel tax as a sustainable revenue source paid by drivers, including those from out of state.

But S.C. Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, filibustered the roads plan in the final weeks of the session last year and started a new filibuster in mid-February. Davis argued the state had no reason to raise taxes with an extra $1.2 billion to spend in 2016. They won some support.

“There was not a willingness to sit them down, because they were not completely off base,” S.C. Sen. Wes Hayes, R-York, said. Peeler added: “‘Fix my road,’ did not mean, ‘Raise my taxes.’ ”

In a meeting Wednesday, a majority of Senate Republicans latched onto a proposal from state Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Berkeley, that would spend $400 million a year from the state’s newly bolstered general fund. The proposal contains no gas-tax increase and also would give more authority over the state transportation department to the governor.

Grooms pitched the plan, while Peeler shared the reality. “He said, ‘This is all we can get,’” state Sen. Ray Cleary, R-Georgetown, said.

In a sign of unity, Republicans voted together on a motion Wednesday that set a debate on the roads proposal. Davis said he expects Republicans to stick together on the plan even though its differs from a House proposal that includes a gas-tax hike.

Senate President Pro Tempore Hugh Leatherman, a Florence Republican who was described as reluctantly going with the plan, said in a statement Friday he has concerns about drawing additional roads money from the budget that’s used to pay for education, health and public safety.

“What we have now is a springboard to get a solution, but there’s more work to be done,” Leatherman said. He did not elaborate on what steps he might take.

Legislators admitted upcoming elections played a role in the roads debate and the filibuster that locked up any movement for weeks. Americans for Prosperity, a Koch Brothers-funded limited government group based in Virginia, pushed social media campaigns to oppose any gas tax hike. Filing for S.C. elections starts March 16.

“We were just held hostage by groups that are represented by out-of-state people,” Cleary said. “And you know what? The out-of-state people won.”

The Senate’s Williams Wallace caucus see their fight over roads paying off.

“This momentum will help when the Senate debates the budget,” state Sen. Kevin Bryant, R-Anderson, said. “Everyone will realize how much more extra revenue we have. I’m happy the filibuster worked.”

This story was originally published March 4, 2016 at 6:41 PM.