A plane silver lining

Gov. Mark Sanford’s injudicious use of state planes may have had at least one silver lining: Flights by future governors and state workers are likely to be monitored more closely from now on.

State lawmakers — motivated in part by questionable travel by the governor — asked the Legislative Audit Council to review two years of flight logs of state aircraft and airline tickets purchased for state employees. Ultimately, the audit turned up no serious abuse of state planes or airline tickets.

But the audit did support finding of an earlier South Carolina Ethics Commission investigation that rapped Sanford for using state aircraft at least twice to attend political functions. State law limits use of state-owned planes to officials state business.

Auditors also produced a list of suggestions for making the travel by state officials more transparent.

Auditors said records of who uses state planes should be posted online. State agencies that manage state-owned aircraft should keep better records, including information about which state official authorizes use of the state plane. And lawmakers should devise clearer rules about official travel on private airlines.

While Sanford might have misused state aircraft on a few occasions, part of the fault lies with lawmakers for failing to write hard and fast guidelines regarding official travel on state aircraft and private airlines. This audit should help remedy that oversight.

The next governor should know when and when not to fly on the state’s dime.

The (Rock Hill) Herald

A colossal waste of energy

Later in March, the House will take up a plan to increase the nation’s lowest cigarette tax by 30 cents a pack.

That’s a significant step backward from the insufficient 50-cent increase the House overwhelmingly approved last year, it’s inappropriately included in the state budget bill — and not even included in a way that will put any pressure on anyone to support it — and it is certain to provoke the governor’s veto.

That makes it tempting to call this at best a colossal waste of energy. But it serves one very useful purpose: It shines a spotlight on the refusal of the state Senate to so much as consider the tax that we know for a fact will save hundreds of children from becoming addicts every year, by pricing them out of the tobacco market.

On April 2, 2009, the House voted 97-22 to increase the cigarette tax — an astounding margin given the vehement opposition in the lower chamber to any sort of tax increase. One reason was that the increase was offset by a convoluted system of tax credits that businesses could claim for purchasing health insurance. The reason supporters worked so hard to put together that bulky package was that three-quarters of voters support the tax increase, but Gov. Mark Sanford has promised to veto it unless it’s offset by some other tax increase — and in fact did just that to a previous bill.

For 10 months, the bill has been sitting unmolested on the Senate’s calendar. Senators couldn’t get around to it last year because they were just too busy dawdling away the final month of the session bickering over a letter to the Congress informing it of the Legislature’s love for the 10th Amendment. (We like the 10th Amendment too, but we’re not lunatics about it.) ...

A majority — and in most cases a supermajority — of senators voted to jump many bills ahead of the cigarette tax for debate. Knowing full well that each debate would squander huge amounts of time. Knowing full well that this year’s session will be cut short because of the tight budget. Knowing full well that the cigarette tax debate will drag on and on, because a handful of senators oppose it. Knowing full well that every day the Senate doesn’t debate the cigarette tax bill greatly increases the chance that lawmakers will go home this year without passing it. Again.

There simply is no excuse for spending nearly an entire session placating special interests and pandering to partisan extremists, when there is significant, life-and-death legislation rotting on the calendar.

The (Columbia) State