Editorials from across South Carolina: road funding, ethics reform, Senate majority leader
Road funding
More funding for the state Department of Transportation has been at the top of this year’s legislative agenda, recognizing the worsening condition of South Carolina’s roads and bridges. A comprehensive report on the DOT by the Legislative Audit Council underscores that point — highway infrastructure has gotten significantly worse in just the last six years. And the audit recognizes that the agency doesn’t have adequate funds to make the necessary improvements.
But the LAC report cites numerous shortcomings that the DOT itself could address on its own to ensure that its limited funds are spent in the most productive manner. For example, the audit finds that the DOT has failed to live up to the standards mandated under the 2006 reform legislation, requiring it to list projects on a priority ranking and fund them accordingly. And the agency hasn’t kept that list updated to reflect current conditions, the LAC concluded.
Nor has the DOT always taken the most efficient route to maintain and repair crumbling roadways. The difference in cost for repairing a road that is listed as needing “preservation” and one requiring “reconstruction” is nothing short of phenomenal. The first costs $21,900 a mile and the second $188,000. Allowing roads to decline into a terminal state of disrepair is dangerous to drivers and painful for the DOT’s maintenance budget.
The LAC also questions the oft-repeated estimate of the annual $1.4 billion shortfall in road funding needs, cited by the DOT. The figure is based on “a large number of assumptions, some of which have become less accurate in the time since the estimate was made.” Clearly a more accurate measure is required as the DOT seeks additional funding to bring state roads and bridges up to an acceptable standard of safety and utility.
Ethics reform
The S.C. Senate stumbled on approving much-needed ethics reform last week, but it still has plenty of time in the legislative session to create a system that builds public confidence.…
Senators who insist that the current system is working are simply ignoring the way the situation looks to the voters and taxpayers.
South Carolina has faced major ethics scandals that have resulted in the resignations of a lieutenant governor, a speaker of the House and a senator in the past few years.
The attorney general and a special prosecutor are currently embroiled in a court battle over another investigation into public corruption within the General Assembly.
Clearly, a new ethics enforcement system is necessary. Lawmakers cannot continue to insist that, unlike other elected officials, they can police themselves and need no other authority to provide oversight.
They will build public confidence in their conduct if they show a willingness to submit to independent investigations and disclose their sources of income. If they continue to refuse, South Carolinians will be justified in wondering what they are trying to hide.
New Senate Republican leader
A word of congratulations is in order for State Senator Shane Massey on his election this week to Senate Majority Leader. …
Massey said one of the state’s biggest issues is the condition of the state’s roads and bridges, an issue he said he hears the most from constituents in his district, which includes a portion of Aiken County.
Nationally, Massey said, the Republican Party has the image of being the “old white man’s party,” but noted he was the youngest senator for five years when he was elected and remains the third youngest in the body.
“In a body that is very protective of seniority, these guys and lady, they really took a big step today,” he said.
This story was originally published April 11, 2016 at 2:29 PM with the headline "Editorials from across South Carolina: road funding, ethics reform, Senate majority leader."