Investment Fail: “Economic development” deals that flopped

After the headlines, after the press releases and fanfare, where do all these investments go? Some of them go south and take millions of tax dollars with them.

Opening closed doors: Bringing sunlight and fairness to state-driven economic development

For years, the General Assembly has shut the door, cut deals with lobbyists and given away billions of dollars in incentives. Here’s what you can do about it.

SCPC President Ashley Landess calls for public disclosure in secret ‘incentives game’

Wednesday, April 20, 2011 – Today South Carolina Policy Council President Ashley Landess was joined by taxpayer advocates and grassroots leaders from across the state to present SCPC’s research on taxpayer-funded “incentives” to private companies. The Policy Council’s research proves that incentives have failed as an economic policy and that lawmakers are “investing” millions of public dollars while providing taxpayers with no meaningful information about the investments.

A Major Transparency Win For South Carolina

In 2008, the South Carolina Policy Council wanted to know why state spending was so high, so we started to look at how lawmakers were voting. We found there was no record of votes – and so we hand-counted thousands of pages of House and Senate journals to find that in 2008 lawmakers recorded their votes only 8 percent of the time.

A Major Transparency Win For South Carolina

In 2008 the South Carolina Policy Council wanted to know why state spending was so high, so we started to look at how lawmakers were voting. We found there was no record of votes – and so we hand-counted thousands of pages of House and Senate journals to find that in 2008 lawmakers recorded their votes only 8 percent of the time.

5 (Poor) Excuses for Opposing Roll Call Voting Reform

Every lawmaker in South Carolina seems to support roll call voting. And for good reason. Citizens have a fundamental right to know how their representatives are voting. Still, legislators continue to voice objections to roll call voting and the Senate has yet to pass a statutory roll call voting requirement.

Legislative Analysis: Roll Call Voting Bills

As the 119th session of the General Assembly begins, roll call voting remains a hot button issue. Of the 11 bills currently before the General Assembly, we’ve identified five of the most pertinent.

Legislation Passed Without a Roll Call Vote in the Senate

In 2009 and 2010, the House and Senate combined only recorded 25 percent of their votes. Significant laws that didn’t receive a recorded vote in the Senate range from multimillion dollar economic incentives deals to the creation of new state agencies to the imposition of new fees and regulatory burdens. Meanwhile, South Carolina has one of highest unemployment rates in the nation, virtually no economic growth over the past 10 years, and an educational system that is failing our state’s children. You be the judge as to whether these laws were important enough to receive a roll call vote.

A Review of 2011 Roll Call Voting Legislation

As South Carolina Senators are deliberating a Senate Resolution (cf. S 9) to require roll call voting in the S.C. General Assembly, we have analyzed more roll call voting bills introduced this session.

South Carolina Counties Score Low in Transparency

South Carolina Counties Score Low in Transparency Download the PDF In 2009 the General Assembly passed legislation (H 3352) requiring all school districts to post a transaction register online, as well as a copy of the district’s monthly credit card statement. Initially, school districts had until October 2009 to comply with the new law, but [...]