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FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015

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Senate briefly debates bill to fix roads

Smith: Yearly money for dump a major feat

Procedural motion allows talk but no resolution

House finds money for maintenance of toxic waste site

BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com

A temporary move Wednesday in the South Carolina Senate allowed the senators to debate a bill to fund roads and cut income taxes, but the move may have done little to advance the legislation. Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler, R-Gaffney, used a procedural motion to detour around a bill on the Capital Reserve Fund being held up by a filibuster, but by Thursday the one-day motion had expired and the Senate was again facing a filibuster on the Capital Reserve Fund bill. Some members of the Democratic caucus, including Sen. Kevin Johnson, D-Manning, were criticized by Peeler for voting against the motion even though they have said they support a road-funding bill. “I voted against it because I don’t like the way they rushed it,” Johnson said. “I am for a roads bill; I think that is the No. 1 priority, and we need to address it. I am not sure that an income tax reduction ought to be a part of that bill.” JOHNSON Sen. Thomas McElveen, DSumter, also said he prefers a roads bill not linked to the income tax measure. “I think we ought to have a clean roads bill that deals with funding the highways and roads and bridges, and I think any bill concerning income MCELVEEN tax should be a separate bill,” he said. McElveen said he voted in favor of the motion to bypass the Capital Reserve Fund bill. “I have voted for two years now to have that debate,” McElveen said. McElveen said he was skeptical when voting for the motion. “I just don’t think we have enough time to flesh out debate and come up with a meaningful plan on how we are going to address infrastructure over the long term,” he said. McElveen and Johnson criticized the income tax proposal because it would effectively shift the cost of the proposed gas tax in the roads bill to those South Carolina residents who are too poor to owe a state income tax. “About 25 percent of South Carolinians don’t have any income tax, so they won’t have any benefit from the income tax reduction,” Johnson said. Johnson said he thinks coupling the income tax reduction with the gas tax proposal is unfair. “With the income tax reduction, the more wealthy South Carolinians will see a pretty good size income tax reduction, the middle class will not see as much of a savings, and the lower class will not receive any kind of benefit,” he said. McElveen said he doesn’t think many senators have made the road bill their priority. “It will not be a priority until they make it a priority,” he said. McElveen said the debate needs to include a way to ensure more funding is distributed to rural areas. “It would be very hard for me to come back to Sumter or Lee or Kershaw county and tell a working man ‘You are going to pay more gas tax, but you are not going to get an income tax reduction, and you are probably not going to get your roads paved either,’” he said. “Being a senator from a rural area, that is pretty hard for me to stomach.”

A $3.9 million line item in the 2015-16 House budget that would fund monitoring and maintenance at the Pinewood Site toxic landfill appears headed for approval, said Rep. Murrell Smith, R-Sumter. On Thursday, the House approved an amended version of the budget bill, which originated in the House

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and returned it to the Senate. Smith said getting the recurring funding would be “no small feat.” “I think it is very, very important that in the House we put SMITH in $3.9 million for monitoring. “We were able to bring this issue to the forefront with a lot of people’s help like the Coastal Conservation League and the Sierra Club,” he said. Smith said the local General Assembly delegation was informed by the Department of Health and Environmental Control that it was

about to run out of money to monitor and maintain the site. “I talked to my counterparts in the Senate, and Sens. (Thomas) McElveen and (Kevin) Johnson did a wonderful job of convincing people that this is necessary,” Smith said. “It is an effort that we all need to be proud of in Sumter because that was no small feat there, I think.” Smith said getting recurring funding can be especially difficult. “These are dollars that happen every year, so you are fighting with higher ed and all that, and to get almost $4 million shows you the

SEE PINEWOOD, PAGE A8

Sumter police taking it to the streets

KEITH GEDAMKE / THE SUMTER ITEM

Amarii Tindal, 5, sits in the driver’s seat of a Sumter Police Department cruiser as Recruitment Sgt. Tyshica Gayle places a patrolman’s hat on her head during Sumter Police Department’s Taking it to the Streets campaign. The community event seeks to let residents get to know the police. A truck and firefighters from Sumter Fire Department were also on hand.

First responders host community event at South Sumter Park BY KONSTANTIN VENGEROWSKY konstantin@theitem.com Sumter Police Department hosted a community outreach event on Thursday in South Sumter. The goal of the event, called “Taking it to the Streets,” was to give an opportunity for the residents of the community and the police department to interact in a relaxed atmosphere. This was the first of four events that the department is planning on

doing in various communities in the Sumter area. Sumter Police Chief Russell F. Roark III said this was a collaborative effort between the department and South Sumter-area churches. The event was held at a lot owned by Jehovah Missionary Baptist Church across the street from the church’s school. “It is very important to continue the connection that we have been building between the department, the community and the churches

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which are a part of that community,” Roark said. Roark said that crime is down in Sumter 15 percent from last year. “It’s very important to be proactive, not only with this project, but with the other things that the police department is doing throughout the city,” said the Rev. Marion Newton, pastor of Jehovah Missionary Baptist. “We have always had a good relationship with the

SEE POLICE, PAGE A8

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