FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Caroline Delleney
March 10, 2016 (803)734-3125
House Leadership Responds to Senate Passage of Roads Bill
Believes the Senate Plan is Not a Sustainable Solution
(Columbia, SC) – House Speaker Jay Lucas (District 65-Darlington) and several other Members issued the following statements after the Senate gave third reading to an amended version of H. 3579.
“The Senate’s deceptive plan to fix our crumbling roads system is irresponsible and prioritizes politics over a sound solution,” Speaker Jay Lucas stated. “Not only does their plan mislead the people of South Carolina into thinking that a large pot of general fund money will be available every year for roads, it also practices reckless budgeting that jeopardizes the prosperity of our economy. While I acknowledge the Senate’s governance reform efforts, kicking the can further down the road and into a giant pothole defies the test of real leadership.”
Ways and Means Chairman Brian White (District 6-Anderson) has successfully crafted responsible budgets over the last few years that appropriate available general fund revenue to road improvement.
“The Senate’s plan is not a fix for our chronic roads problem, it’s a plea for the House to budget them out of their inability to pass a comprehensive roads bill. The House has budgeted hundreds of millions of dollars for roads in the last several years and will continue to do so while we wait on the Senate to get serious about a long-term fix for our roads,” added Chairman Brian White.
Representative Gary Simrill (District 46-York), the original sponsor of the House-passed roads plan and a member of the Ways and Means Committee, has been involved in the roads debate since the House began working on its proposal in September 2014.
“As additional money was made available, the House eagerly fought to set aside resources to improve the condition of our crumbling infrastructure rather than grow the size of government. Over $1 billion in general fund money has been appropriated for road repair over the last three years. These short-term solutions proved to be a step in the right direction, but much like the Senate plan, do not provide for South Carolina’s long-term infrastructure needs,” Representative Gary Simrill said.