Increase accountability, not taxes at SC Transportation Department

‘Raising taxes is rarely the answer, and it’s not the answer in this case.”

That was Gov. Henry McMaster expressing opposition to a proposed increase in the state gas tax. A spokesman for the governor added that he “believes that the revenue generated by the current gas tax needs to be directed to improving roads and bridges before raising taxes on the people of the state is even considered.”

Gov. McMaster is absolutely right. A lack of funding at the Department of Transportation is not the problem. The reason we’re having problems today is that the agency is chock full of waste and inefficiencies — serving the parochial interests of powerful legislators rather than the needs of the entire state. Reforming this broken bureaucracy should be the focus of any legislation.

__________

Could reform be the essential piece to road-funding puzzle? (Hint: Yes)

Yes, your gas taxes do go to pay for SC roads

What a difference an amendment can make

__________

Some state lawmakers have been arguing for years that raising taxes is the only option. The latest effort is H.3516, which would increase the state portion of our gas tax to 26 cents per gallon over the next five years. That’s more than a 62 percent increase over the current rate, and comes on top of roughly 18 cents per gallon in federal taxes.

Meanwhile, state lawmakers continue to squander the taxes we already pay. The department’s current structure allows legislators to pressure commissioners into approving pet projects, resulting in what former Gov. Nikki Haley called “short-sighted regionalism and political horse trading.”

The best example is the State Transportation Infrastructure Bank. A majority of its board is appointed by the Senate president pro tempore and House speaker, enabling them to assert outsize influence over spending decisions. Created to help the state finance large infrastructure projects, today it’s more focused on doing what’s best for influential lawmakers’ districts than the whole state.

Consider: The bank approved a nearly $150 million project to widen 24 miles of Pamplico Highway to four lanes. This despite it seeing less than half of the traffic of other major highways in need of repair. It just so happens that Pamplico Highway is in Senate President Pro Tem Hugh Leatherman’s district, giving it a de facto priority status for new transportation projects.

Other examples like this abound throughout the state.

All in all, through January 2013, fully 95 percent of all Infrastructure Bank funding went to just six counties, while 35 counties received no funding at all. And every dollar of funding went to expansion projects, rather than maintenance like we need today. South Carolina doesn’t need higher gas taxes; we need more accountability in how our Transportation Department and its funds are managed.

The good news is that state Senate Republican Leader Shane Massey recently introduced S.301, which would fix many of these problems. S.301 would make the Transportation Department a Cabinet agency accountable to the governor. It would also eliminate the unelected commission and the legislative Joint Transportation Review Committee — another legislative control over how state transportation funds are spent. These reforms would curtail the ability of legislators to pressure the department into putting parochial interests ahead of the state’s.

S.301 also changes the budget process to look 20 years ahead, rather than one legislative session at a time. And it specifies qualifications needed to serve in high-ranking Transportation Department positions, while including audit provisions to increase transparency in spending decisions.

Until state lawmakers make more efficient use of the tax dollars we already pay, we shouldn’t be forced to fork over more of our paychecks. Passing S.301 is the first step in that direction.

This story was originally published April 2, 2017 at 6:03 PM with the headline "Increase accountability, not taxes at SC Transportation Department."