Editorials from across South Carolina: gas tax, prison progress

Your 2 cents worth

South Carolina drivers and travelers in the state have been paying 2 cents a gallon more at the pump for gasoline for a year now. The hike was the first of five that will see the tax increase by 2 cents a year on July 1 through 2022. The money raised is funding road and bridge improvements in the state.…

A key component of the 10-year plan is a dramatic increase in the paving program across the state. In year one, SCDOT has awarded contracts totaling 2,200 miles, which is more than a doubling of the paving program, (DOT Secretary Christy) Hall said. The 10-year plan calls for essentially another doubling of the paving program as the gas tax increase is fully phased in.

On June 21, the SCDOT Commission added to the first-year success by approving a $417 million paving program that represents approximately 600 miles of additional ranked paving projects for year two, which begins today.

SCDOT has also met targets in the Bridge Replacement Program in year one.

The agency is responsible for 8,431 bridges in the state system. Hall said the majority of bridges (92 percent) are in good structural health. The 10-Year Plan is targeting the remaining 8 percent, with priority going to major-highway bridges that have weight limits or are classified as structurally deficient.

To accomplish the goal, SCDOT has doubled the funding allocated to bridge replacements, Hall said. The 10-year goal is to replace 465 bridges in the restricted or deficient categories.

At the end of year one, 51 bridge projects are under construction. The plan for year two is to have another 41 bridge replacements under construction.

Prison progress

Why should we care about what happens in South Carolina prisons? Because 87 percent of inmates will be freed in five years.

And that’s a short time for turning around an individual — or a 21-prison corrections system with roughly 19,000 inmates and more than 5,000 employees. But it is happening.

When prisons chief Bryan Stirling took on the Herculean job in 2013, he inherited a Department of Corrections starved of funding since the Great Recession. He realized “we were losing officers left and right.” But turning the tide on retention and recruitment took years.

Now, the overall number of correctional officers is rising, pay is more competitive and the agency is on pace to fill several hundred more authorized positions. Average starting pay for guards is now more than $33,000, up a whopping 28 percent from 2016, and average pay for veteran officers is about $42,000 per year.…

The state’s long-neglected prison system is far from being fixed, but Mr. Stirling is making real progress. He deserves the support, funding and patience needed in order to turn out inmates with a better shot at becoming productive citizens, to provide a safe environment and workplace, and to continue to reduce recidivism and the overall prison population.