IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
The Sun News (Editorial): Gov. Haley Trims the Fat
http://www.myrtlebeachonline.
…And the governor is entirely right in her contention that this is not the time for pork barrel spending. The state simply cannot afford to carelessly spend our tax dollars on the pet projects of legislators. The governor struck a number of these from the budget, and hopefully legislators will agree to turn the money to better use. With a still uncertain economy ahead of us, one year of better budget news should not signal a return to profligate spending on noncritical and provincial expenses.
Much as we appreciate the program and those who are working so hard to bring it to reality, the North Myrtle Beach Area Historical Museum falls into that category. A worthy effort that deserves our local support, it is nevertheless not a state priority and as such was rightfully stripped of its $300,000 grant. There are simply other, more important areas that state money should be directed toward.
It was also heartening to see Gov. Haley veto the absurd decision by legislators to divert federal mortgage aid money into business incentive funds. The money should go to those struggling homeowners for whom it was intended, not to pad the accounts of corporations. The plan to do otherwise was a callous, short-sighted and asinine move from the start, and it’s to the governor’s credit that she recognizes it as such even as she continues to campaign for more jobs.
Finally, one area where we partly agree with the governor is on her concern about using one-time money to pay for ongoing expenses, in this case raises for teachers. As Haley points out in her veto message, using nonrecurring money to fund what many teachers will assume is a permanent salary increase is simply bad budgeting. Legislative budget writers should know better. We don’t dispute that our educators deserve a bump in their paychecks, but if one-time money was all that legislators could find, a better solution might have been a one-time bonus for teachers, rather than a salary increase with no a plan for paying for it in the coming years. …
