Oversight Lost - Why South Carolina Taxpayers Keep Paying the Price

As I sat in a meeting discussing the best use of $1.8 million by a government entity, a legislator with more than 20 years of service asked, "Representative, why are you so concerned about this $1.8 million? We're responsible for a $14.5 billion budget."

I replied, "100 here, 100 there, 1,000 here, 1,000 there, a million here, a million there--eventually, it adds up to real money, real, hard earned, taxpayer/constituent money, and I believe we have a fiduciary responsibility to guard it."

In March 2023, the South Carolina House of Representatives voted to incentivize Volkswagen, doing business under the name of Scout Motors, to locate an electric vehicle plant in South Carolina.

During the debate, I asked a few simple questions:

"Do you know how long it normally takes to do "due diligence" on a project of this magnitude"?

"Eighteen to twenty-four months" I answered my own question when the bill's proponent said he didn't know.

"How long have we known Scout was looking for a site?"

"Since December." was his reply.

Less than 3 months. Three months of knowing, no due diligence, no completed studies, no public transparency.

Then I asked, "Do you know how many miles of two-lane asphalt road we could resurface with $1.3 billion?"

"No, but I guess you're about to tell me." was his response.

"3,500 miles."

The House approved the deal 100-12. I voted with the minority, not because the project was/is necessarily bad, but because we did not have enough information to make an informed decision.

Oversight and accountability should not be partisan. Our constitutional duty is to ask; Are the laws we pass being enforced? Are the judges we elect making honorable, unbiased decisions? Is the money we appropriate being used wisely AND ONLY for the purpose intended? When we stop asking those questions, corruption and waste follow, EVERY TIME!

In 1989, Operation Lost Trust exposed legislators who were bribed and bought. In 2016, the "Quindom" scandal brought down a Speaker of the House and four others. The pattern hasn't stopped; it has just evolved.

I have no reason to believe that Columbia developer, Bill Stern is anything other than a successful businessman but the scale of his dealings with the state--and his influence as chairman of the powerful South Carolina Ports Authority demands scrutiny.

Over the last dozen years, Mr. Stern has built a real estate empire intertwined with state decisions:

The State Farmer's Market was moved to land he purchased just two years before the state decided it needed to move from downtown to his land.

The Department of Natural Resources has relocated to the same site.

The Department of Education left its state-owned 900,000 square foot building on Pendleton Street for a 600,000 square foot building built by Stern and leased back to the state on a 20-year triple net lease.

Most recently, the Department of Health reorganization conveniently led to a 20-year triple net lease in the old SCANA facility, a property Mr. Stern had under contract pending approval of that very move.

Mr. Stern and his wife also chaired Governor McMaster's inaugural committees in both 2019 and 2023--positions of significant influence. These facts do not prove corruption, but they scream for oversight.

When government fails to oversee itself, it costs the people billons:

$9 billion disappeared in the V. C. Summer nuclear debacle.

$1.1 billion was wasted in the failed Carolina Panther facility in Rock Hill.

Billions more may have been squandered by the Ports Authority through poor management.

For thirty years, we have been told we are going to get our roads fixed. That road money seems to always pave someone else's pocket.

South Carolina does not have a revenue problem. We have a RESPONSIBILITY problem. We elect representatives, not to rubber stamp billion-dollar deals, but to protect the taxpayers who have to pay for those deals.

Oversight is not glamorous, but it is sacred! When legislators shrug at $1.8 million because "we manage $14 billion," it's no wonder the public has "Lost Trust."

It's not about the money. It's about integrity, stewardship, and restoring trust in a government that belongs to the people--not the insiders who profit from it.

Tomorrow, I will issue my earnest plea to South Carolina citizens to join me as you play your part in fixing our democratic republic.