Fighting for taxpayers
The House of Representatives approved our state’s budget this week after a marathon 23-hour session Wednesday night into Thursday.
No budget is perfect. I believe this budget is in line with our conservative principles because we cut the size of government, we did not raise taxes to plug the revenue shortfall, and we made tough choices about how to spend your tax dollars.
My colleagues on the other side of the aisle were clearly not as conservative. Back in January, the Democrat House leader told the media: “We can’t raise taxes.” And went on to say the House would “have to figure out how to provide the absolute necessity of services” with that restriction.
Instead, my fellow House Republicans spent most of Wednesday night knocking down more than three dozen Democrat attempts to raise taxes – attempts that totaled more than $7 billion. To put that in perspective, the entire General Fund budget totaled $5.1 billion.
Nobody’s wallet was safe from the proposals. Democrats proposed a state-wide property tax and a cigarette tax increase that topped 1,300 percent. They tried to repeal the property tax relief that was a central part of the Republican agenda in 2006.
One Democrat also proposed re-instituting the sales tax on milk, bread, and other groceries because, as he said, “people at the grocery store don’t know we repealed it.”
The House Republicans lined up and struck down most of these proposals on party-line votes.
The House Democrats were not done. They proposed a sweeping repeal of essential tax credits that included doing away with tax credits for small business that create jobs, credits for the installation of fire sprinklers to save lives, and credits for strengthening buildings against hurricane damage. In an amazing move, the Democrats proposed a sweeping repeal of tax credits for saving energy, including credits for energy-efficient home improvements, hybrid cars, biodiesel manufacturing, and the installation of solar panels.
Raising taxes to plug the budget hole is absolutely irresponsible and it is unnecessary. The budget we approved this week prioritized spending and targeted cuts. Despite the more than $500 million budget hole, we did everything in our power to fund education so students would see a few changes. We held funding at this year’s levels for our neighbors with disabilities and special needs – the most vulnerable among us.
Republicans also fought to end taxpayer-funded abortions through the state health plan. If the Senate approves the budget, the only exception is to save the life of the mother.
As a point of full disclosure, the budget sent to the floor by the House Ways and Means Committee did raise the cigarette tax by 30 cents, bringing our tax in line with North Carolina and Georgia. No money from the tax increase is spent in this year’s budget – instead it goes into a trust fund to help off-set potential cuts to health care in future years. Also there has been much talk about the 10 million dollar loan for the Heritage Golf tournament. Just for the record I didn’t vote for that since I don’t believe that is the role for government to play. The county could have easily gotten a special source revenue bond against the tourism revenue stream to provide that money.
I wrote last week that writing and approving the state budget is the most solemn and serious task that you trust your representatives with each year. This is not a perfect budget, but I do truly believe that it is a good budget for our state that stands firmly with our conservative principles.
Helping Companies Create Jobs in South Carolina: A Statehouse Report
Our shared conservative philosophy dictates that the only thing government should do to create jobs is get out of the way of business and do whatever is necessary to help the private sector create those jobs.
The House Republicans took two major steps in that direction this week with the passage of two pieces of landmark legislation – the end of the corporate income tax in our state, and true tort reform.
My Republican colleagues have worked for years to improve the business climate here in our state, and as our state climbs out of recession, we are seeing the fruit of our labors. Last fall’s announcement that Boeing was locating a major manufacturing facility in North Charleston was a boon for the coast. Proterra’s decision to make a revolutionary new bus in Greenville was a second major boost for our economy.
But we can’t rest on those laurels. Every day, businesses looking to relocate examine the business climate in South Carolina versus other states – and other countries around the world. Every day, one of your neighbors starts a new company that they hope will bring their family financial security.
If our jobs bill is approved by the Senate, the phased-in elimination of the corporate income tax means South Carolina would become the fifth state to completely eliminate the corporate income tax (joining Wyoming, South Dakota, Washington, and Nevada).
The elimination of the tax is a major step in allowing corporations, large and small, to put money back into their businesses. This will make it easier to grow and expand, hire more workers, and become the next great corporation. Democrats criticized it as only helping large corporations, but with the ease and low cost of starting a corporation these days, many people running companies as small as one employee are corporations. This bill will start putting money back into their pockets.
Critics also claimed during the debates this week that the House hasn’t done enough for small businesses. They couldn’t be more wrong. The Tort Reform bill we approved on Wednesday will help small businesses even more than large corporations.
Many small businesses operate in fear of an unfounded lawsuit that could sink their company. They can’t afford a legion of attorneys to protect them. A single unfounded lawsuit could cripple your local boutique owner, the bike shop on the corner, or your favorite family-owned restaurant. Tort reform will protect them and hopefully bring down the cost of the insurance they carry.
The bill also protects you. It still ensures you have the right to litigate if you have been hurt through no fault of your own and will allow you fair compensation for any damages inflicted on you. Our legal system needs to protect everybody. It’s too bad that some people out for a quick buck could destroy years of your neighbor’s hard work.
Both of these pieces of legislation will help every business in South Carolina grow faster as the economy begins its recovery. That will create jobs and ensure that our business community – whether it is Boeing or your favorite local Italian restaurant – will remain strong through the next inevitable downturn.
That will make South Carolina a better, more stable place to live and work in the long term.
As always, thank you for the privilege of serving you in Columbia. If I can ever be of assistance to you, or if you have ideas on issues you want me to share with the rest of the General Assembly, please don’t hesitate to contact me at 864.595.1137
Mike Forrester Wants To Continue Working for Job Creation
New State Representative Has Become Known As Jobs Advocate
Spartanburg, SC - March 3, 2010 - After just one year in the State House of Representatives, Mike Forrester has become known as a strong advocate for job creation through conservative reforms. Forrester has been a consistent voice for restrained spending, lower taxes, and government restructuring, doing what it takes to support the business community and to empower South Carolina’s workforce. In announcing his bid for re-election today, Forrester released the following statement:
“I’m going to run by doing the same thing I did last time. I’m going to walk to as many doors as possible to talk directly with voters about the tools it takes to grow our economy and create jobs.
Businesses won’t expand or relocate here just because we cross our fingers and hope. The groundwork needs to be laid beforehand. The departure of many jobs from the Upstate means we have to rethink the
sort of jobs we’re going to have. We’re already seeing growth in the high-tech manufacturing industry, creating new workforce requirements and a new demand on our education system.
One of my goals is to work to make two- and four-year colleges more affordable so that people can go back to school and adapt to the changing economy.
As well, we can’t ignore basic infrastructure needs – one of the last things a business owner wants to hear is, “You can’t get there from here.” When the government spends money, it should be on necessities like keeping up our roads. South Carolina’s location, in addition to the Port of Charleston, sets up our area to be in a good position when it comes to transportation. We need to ensure that those trucks have good roads to travel on.
And, those roads should lead to Spartanburg County. That particular task is not as easy as it once was, and not just because of the economy. Over the past two elections, the Upstate has lost a lot of its clout in the General Assembly. That means it’s even more important for Upstate legislators to band together to look out for your interests in Columbia.
There are few interests more important than having a good job. A number of bills are already in the works to facilitate job creation – lower taxes, government restructuring and spending caps. Big government is as bad for business as it is for your wallet. By cutting away bureaucracy, we’re able to save your money and keep to Thomas Jefferson’s axiom that, “government is best which governs least.” With common-sense government reforms like zero-based budgeting and spending caps, the stage is set for legislators to control and limit the growth of government.
Efforts to bring about spending caps and pass meaningful tax reduction on businesses haven’t been too successful lately. It’s past time for the General Assembly to act and provide meaningful results to South Carolina companies. Legislators also need to stand up for small business. While bringing in big companies like Boeing and BMW is not something to discount, it’s also important to pay attention to the
small businesses that supply the big ones. We need to look at creative ways to help our smaller companies grow their businesses and remain competitive. Additionally, we need to focus on ways we can help entrepreneurs on the road to opening new businesses. Bringing in jobs from out-of-state and helping existing businesses prosper is good, but we need to allow people the opportunity to grow companies from the bottom up.
Let’s not forget about tort reform, either. The increasingly outrageous cost of insurance – health and otherwise – is being driven by frivolous lawsuits in the civil court system. Businesses are bearing the brunt of these costs and addressing and fixing the tort system in our state will go a long way to making South Carolina a more hospitable place to do commerce.
It’s a full plate, but the work is needed, and so much remains to be done. That’s why I’ve decided to run again to represent District 34 in the State House. We need to keep up the fight in Columbia to make this a great place to work. ”
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