“The Voice” is moving to a new domain.

The new site is www.VoiceForSchoolChoice.com

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“The Voice” is moving to a new domain.

The new site is www.VoiceForSchoolChoice.com

Note that we have removed the article “the” from the URL.

Please update your favorites, bookmarks, and RSS feeds.

Links on and off site will be mirrored at the new page.

Both theVoiceforSchoolChoice.com and .wordpress.com will soon redirect to www.VoiceForSchoolChoice.com

“The Voice” is moving to a new domain.

The new site is www.VoiceForSchoolChoice.com

Note that we have removed the article “the” from the URL.

Please update your favorites, bookmarks, and RSS feeds.

Links on and off site will be mirrored at the new page.

Both theVoiceforSchoolChoice.com and .wordpress.com will soon redirect to www.VoiceForSchoolChoice.com

The “Achievement Gap” is a name used to describe the persistent and unjust disparity between test scores among different  racial and economic groups enrolled in South Carolina’s government schools.

New data have been released, and some are hoping it constitutes a reversal of this troubling long term trend.

The political publicists at the State Department of Education spun it this way:

South Carolina’s “achievement gap” between white and African-American students mirrors the rest of the nation’s, according to a federal government report released today.  Although mathematics and reading test scores have improved for both ethnic groups, the gap between the two has decreased only in math.

But looking past the soundbites, the data do not seem to mesh with other, independently gauged, indicators.

FITS News observes:

What’s interesting is how this new data doesn’t mesh with data taken from three independently-administered tests over the past decade.

According to the state-administered Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test (PACT), for example, the white/black disparity in mathematics scores increased from 24.4% in 2000 to 29.9% in 2008. In science, it jumped from 24.3% to 32.4%, while in social studies it rose from 21.6 to 25.6%.

Also, the white/black gap in SAT scores rose from 195 points in 2002 to 198 points in 2008, while the white/black gap in ACT scores rose from 4.2 points in 2002 to 5.3 points in 2008.

FITS is right. Even  South Carolina’s own Educational Barney Fife (the Educational Oversight Committee, or “EOC“) agrees that racially-correlated achievement gaps are growing, not shrinking, as measured by a range of different types of tests taken at different grades. Taking the State Department of Education at its own word takes quite a leap of faith.

Regular readers of the Voice know: Public educators in South Carolina like to play fast and loose with the numbers.

They like to lower their own standards.

They like to provide awards for underachievement.

They like to promote those who fail.

They like to ignore widespread failure.

They like to call “spending” and “enrollment” signs of success.

…and most of all, they like to use your money to do it!

The fact is, parents and community leaders can not rely on government schools administrators and pandering politicians to bridge the achievement gap.

Those students who need quality instruction the most have, in the current one-size-fits-all system, the least access to it. That’s why they need a choice-driven system like the type that has reduced the achievement gap in Florida. That’s why they need real School Choice.

“I think that might be seen in South Carolina as defensible.”

-Superintendent “Dropout Jim” Rex on lifting the sales tax cap on cars, planes and boats

From the time that cuts to the state budget were first considered a necessity, Jim Rex has opposed any actions that would take money from the public education establishment. Despite the fact that South Carolinians in every income bracket are struggling to deal with a negative economic climate, Rex has continued to put on an aggrieved air, and acted as if education bureaucrats are bearing the entire weight of the state’s economic woes.

Despite frequent references to the empty coffers of the State Department of Education,  Rex has been awkwardly called out by numerous media outlets for paying out large sums of money to personal political advisers and consultants. More recently, questions about administrative spending on a South Carolina Association of School Administrators (SCASA) retreat were blown off by Rex, who claimed that the excessive costs of the so-called “Leadership Conference” were “justified.”

Following the lead of the state’s top education official, several school districts have claimed to be penniless, and even jumped to fire teachers and raise taxes on already burdened taxpayers. Investigation revealed that many of the same districts eager to raise taxes were sitting on stockpiles of millions and millions of taxpayer funds (even as teachers’ jobs were being cut)!

Considering this type of behavior, it should be no surprise that Rex thinks the state should pour more money into the education bureaucracy by eliminating the $300 state sales tax cap on cars, boats and planes.

Taxpayers should ask themselves this question: “What is wrong with Jim Rex?”

After all, public schools in South Carolina will be spending a shocking $11,242 per child, for each and every child seated in their classrooms this year.

At a time when people and businesses are struggling financially, and unemployment rates have climbed frighteningly high, a state constitutional officer thinks that dramatically increasing fees and taxes is worth considering. Instead of paying 5 percent of a vehicle’s sale price with a $300 maximum payment, Rex wants you to pay out a full 5 percent. Even without the addition on any local sales tax, this additional expense could be more than many South Carolinians can afford.

The knowledge that Rex is willing to consider an option this harmful should make South Carolinians extremely wary of his possible gubernatorial bid.

Instead of looking for a way to burden the already-burdened, Rex should consider employing the private sector tactic of ” prioritization and assessment” in his administration’s spending practices. The sad fact is that districts do have money, but in many cases too much is dedicated to peripheral, non-instructional functions.

Right now, everything possible needs to be done to relieve taxpayers, and facilitate a lean, efficiently-run education system. Both of these key needs can be met by the implementation of a comprehensive school choice program. Through tuition tax credits, parents and families can experience some financial relief, while at the same time knowing that the money is going directly to the classroom where they want their child to be.

A SLED investigation into MiShawna Moore, erstwhile darling of the South Carolina education establishment and suspected test “tailor,” has come up with nothing.

As principal of Sanders-Clyde Elementary, a chronically failing public school in Charleston County, Moore came under heavy suspicion when PACT scores at her school suddenly shot up above district and state levels. When tests were carefully monitored, scores dropped significantly in every subject; drops that were characterized as “unusual” and “much greater” than other schools. Equally troubling was the higher-than-usual number of erased and corrected answers.

Moore-and other school employees- insisted that the scores were legitimate, and that drops could be blamed on harsh test monitors denying students snacks.

The Associated Press reports that the SLED investigation into the situation has ended, with nothing to show for it.

It is everyone’s hope that there was no altering of test grades, and that somehow the numerous and incredibly sketchy indications of illicit conduct are pure happenstance, but it doesn’t seem likely.

Hopefully, the schools overseers in Charleston County and in the SC Department of Education will continue to look into this situation, and prevent more children from being similarly short-changed.

It’s that time again. The time when South Carolina taxpayers can see just how much money the “strapped” SC State Department of Education has paid out to education contractors and consultants during a recession.

This month, almost $400,000 was doled out to a variety of consultants, contractors and political advisers. Unfortunately, those aren’t the only people who got paid big bucks. Teachers may be on furlough, or without work, but SCASA managed to somehow squeeze $29,000 from taxpayers. Were some of these other payments made to folks who had booths set up at the recent SCASA oceanside retreat? Rex’s frequent excuse that contractors are brought in to “save the department money” certainly doesn’t hold water in this instance.

Here is a recap of consultant spending in 2009.

• January-$296,526
• February-$358,398
• March-$366,996
• April-$397,876
• May-$333,791
• June-$391,469
• Year to Date- $2,145,056

Here is a complete list of contractors and consultants who received checks from the Department of Education in June 2009. See it for yourself here.

ZEKE STOKES LLC    $3,439.00
ZEKE STOKES LLC    $2,413.00
YVONNE JONES    $333.00
WILLIE GALE WILLIAMS    $150.00
VIRGINIA M GRAHAM PEELE    $130.00
VICTOR R BROWN    $250.00
VERA D CRIBB    $155.00
TRINA STRICKLAND RANDLE    $7,240.00
TRESE W REED    $150.00
TRACY L WILBUR    $750.00
TRACEY S SMITH    $100.00
TRACEE S SIMPSON    $650.00
TOSHIBA T STEED    $50.00
TIESHIA MCPHERSON    $125.00
THOMASENA WILLIAMS    $125.00
THOMASENA M DAVIS    $120.00
THE CENTER FOR CREATIVE LE    $720.00
THE ASSIGNMENT AGENCY    $4,305.00
TERRI D HODGE    $625.00
TERESA C ALEXANDER    $1,300.00
TAMMI CAMPBELL    $1,500.00
TAMERA BROWN    $165.00
TAMELA T USHER    $650.00
TAMARA HENNGHAN    $125.00
SYSTEM WIDE SOLUTIONS INC    $13,982.40
SYSTEM WIDE SOLUTIONS INC    $17,775.00
SWANSON EDITORIAL INC    $1,020.00
SUSANNE GRANT    $120.00
SUSAN H ELMORE    $130.00
SUE J HINES    $2,612.50
SUE J HINES    $2,612.50
STRATEGIC SOLUTIONS FOR    $1,425.00
STRATEGIC INNOVATIONS    $6,300.00
STEPHANY FLEMING    $125.00
STATE AGENCY    $1,818.26
SPENCER SHELBY BABB    $250.00
SPEAKING SOLUTIONS    $1,500.00
SHYRA L TAYLOR    $4,000.00
SHYRA L TAYLOR    $125.00
SHYRA L TAYLOR    $2,000.00
SHIRLEY ALLISON    $100.00
SHELIA ROUSE    $125.00
SHAYLA PETTIGREW    $155.00
SENADA MOUZONE    $100.00
SECA    $30.00
SCAPT    $585.00
SC ASSOC OF SCHOOL ADMINIS    $29,070.00
SARA ROGERS    $150.00
SANDRA ALTON    $140.00
SALLY A DUNBAR    $650.00
RYACUS ANTENS DEAN    $1,500.00
ROWAN ARMSTRONG    $500.00
ROSALIND WASHINGTON    $75.00
RONALD A MCWHIRT    $1,500.00
ROMANA BAGNA    $650.00
RODNEY DALE KELLY    $4,987.50
ROBIN ELIZABETH GRUBB    $130.00
ROBERTA THOMPSON    $130.00
ROBERT T LONG    $2,000.00
RENEE B SILVER    $3,000.00
RENEE B SILVER    $1,000.00
RENEE B SILVER    $125.00
R WOLFE & ASSOCIATES    $3,990.00
R EVERGRACE JACKSON    $625.00
PWS EDUCATIONAL CONSULTING    $7,240.00
PWS EDUCATIONAL CONSULTING    $6,328.00
PFES    $12,000.00
PERRY MCLEOD    $375.00
PENELOPE NEW    $1,000.00
Payee     Amount
PAULA WATSON    $100.00
PATRICIA NEAL    $125.00
PATRICIA H WILLIAMS    $100.00
PAMELA PHILLIPS MCINTYRE    $125.00
PAMELA KAY BEGGS    $500.00
NORTH SEATTLE COMMUNITY CO    $4,145.68
NORMA L ASHBURN    $617.50
NICOLE L HENDERSON    $250.00
NICK MILASNOVICH    $1,425.00
NICHOLAS RYAN BISHOP    $500.00
NEWTON JAMES & ASSOC LLC    $1,425.00
NATHANAEL D BIESTER    $250.00
NANCY E BURCHINS    $4,180.00
MYRTIS Y WALKER    $625.00
MULTI MEDIA SERVICES    $500.00
MONICA I DAVIS    $110.00
MLS CONSULTING LLC    ($9,500.00)
MILTON DON MARLEY    $2,850.00
MILLIE HOWARD GRIFFIN    $250.00
MIHAELA ALEXANDER-JOINER    $300.00
MICHELE CLEMBURY    $165.00
MELINDA DEYASI    $320.00
MELANIE D GADDY    $650.00
MELANIE BRADFORD    $100.00
MARY F BARRIER    $125.00
MARY E JONES    $75.00
MARTHA WATSON    $3,566.46
MARLENE STEPHENS    $3,000.00
MARKEDA S PETERSON    $100.00
MARILYN J GARDNER    $100.00
MARGARET THOMPSON    $125.00
LYNN T WILLIAMS    $50.00
LYDIA WINN    $110.00
LUKE DUESBERRY    $3,000.00
LOU ANGLIA PRESSLEY    $125.00
LORRAINE Y FORD LOCKWOOD    $50.00
LORETTA J ATKINSON    $750.00
LISA CARRIGAN    $2,000.00
LINDSEY R TOOMER    $625.00
LINDSAY BEESAN    $100.00
LINDA STRICKLAND    $130.00
LINDA P HAWKINS    $1,520.00
LINDA ELIZABETH HAINS    $4,800.00
LILLIAN P WHALEY    $155.00
LENA RENE’ BAKER    $750.00
LENA RENE’ BAKER    $2,100.00
LEAP CONSULTING LLC    $1,330.00
LAVONNE ANDERSON    $175.00
LAURA FOXWORTH RAND    $3,300.00
KRISTI GOODWIN    $750.00
KRISTEN W HILL    $1,300.00
KIMBERLY L CARRAWAY    $100.00
KIMBERLY J HARRELSON    $650.00
KIMBERLY BEHLING    $100.00
KENYA PEREZ    $1,750.00
KATHLEEN CARR    $3,300.00
KATELYN VEREEN    $250.00
KARIN MCRAE    $70.00
KARENA N HILL    $2,000.00
KAREN H RICHARDSON    $125.00
JULIE S HORNE    $750.00
JULIA W BALDWIN    $650.00
JUDY W TINDER    $225.00
JOY DUNCAN    $650.00
JOY A FINLEY    $50.00
JOHN BENJAMIN BEASLEY    $250.00
JOHANNA O KILLOY    $617.50
JOANN L HUGEE    $100.00
JOANN GRANT    $1,500.00
JESSICA FAULK    $100.00
JERRY STRICKLAND    $50.00
JERRY HUGHES MARTIN    $617.50
JEAN BANE POSTON    $100.00
JANICE JOLLY    $100.00
JANE W FARRELL    $1,092.50
JANE CHASTAIN    $650.00
JANE A EMBLER    $997.50
JAMES W WELLER    $250.00
JAMES P JOHNSON JR    $2,000.00
JAMES E WRIGHT    $1,500.00
JAMES E MUSSELWHITE    $250.00
JAMES BRODERICK    $50.00
JACQUELINE G MCGILL    $100.00
INTEGRITY RES & CONSULTING    $18,500.00
INGLE CONSULTING LLC    $6,000.00
INABINETTE RICHARDSON    $100.00
HINSON AND ASSOC    $760.00
HALI BROOKE HODGIN    $250.00
GWENDOLYN R MCNEIL    $2,100.00
GWENDOLYN MCFADDEN    $155.00
GRAHAM WOOD    $550.00
GLOBAL REFERRAL.NET    $1,500.00
GINA D RODRIGUEZ    $650.00
GEORGETTE J BRITT    $100.00
GENE RANDOLPH POSEY JR    $650.00
GARCIA S BYRD    $1,520.00
FRED EDGERTON    $1,000.00
FRANCES K BOUKNIGHT    $750.00
FLORIDA VIRTUAL SCHOOL    $37,500.00
FITZMAURICE INTERPRETING    $3,800.00
FELICIA M BROWN    $50.00
FAYE P COLLINS    $100.00
ETHEL M BRIGHT    $1,000.00
ERICKA R HURSEY    $750.00
ELLA M FULTON    $125.00
ELIZABETH G MCKINNEY    $3,420.00
EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT CENT    $9,800.00
EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT CENT    $3,800.00
DIANE BURGESS    $125.00
DEVINS NICKELSON    $75.00
DESIREE P SMITH    $250.00
DENNIS THOMPSON JR    $1,140.00
DENNIS M ROBERTS    $500.00
DENISE LEWIS    $840.00
DENISE D ALLEN    $1,200.00
DEBORAH L GOOCH    $2,100.00
DARLENE WILBORN    $1,650.00
DARKNESS TO LIGHT    $900.00
DAISY WILSON    $80.00
DAISY W WOLFE    $100.00
CYNTHIA R PARKER    $215.00
CYNTHIA EDGE    $125.00
CONNIE W RODGERS    $155.00
COASTAL VIDEO AND SOUND    $6,516.00
COASTAL VIDEO AND SOUND    $6,516.00
CLARKSON PROFESSIONAL    $5,510.00
CINDY LUE MARTIN    $600.00
CHRISTOPHER AVINS    $250.00
CHRISTI NICHOLE SCHRADER    $1,500.00
CHINA G COX    $250.00
CHARITY WALKER    $1,400.00
CAROLYN MIE BROWN    $100.00
CAROLYN F CAREY    $110.00
CAROLYN AMELIA FESPERMAN    $650.00
CAROLINE RACHEL TAYLOR    $125.00
CAROLINA ELEARNING    $1,996.00
CAROL ALFORD    $215.00
CARMEN BROWN    $150.00
CANDI J LALONDE    $625.00
BRUNO TORRES    $250.00
BRENDA COLLINS    $125.00
BREELYN N MILES    $250.00
BREE A JIMENEZ    $1,500.00
BILLIE A SOUTHARD CHEGIN    $125.00
BETTIE L BEDFORD    $625.00
BERNARD TED ASCHENBRAND    $650.00
BENNIE M BROWN JR    $1,140.00
BARBARA G SARJEANT    $625.00
BARBARA BRUNSON    $50.00
AUDREY LEE HART    $650.00
ANTOINETTE DEVORI DAVIS    $90.00
ANNA C CAPPS    $250.00
ANDREW LEE JENKINS    $500.00
ANDREA JILL BECKWITH    $650.00
ANDERSON RESEARCH GROU    $29,925.00
AMY T CLARK    $650.00
AMY NICOLE DAVIS    $100.00
ALPHONSO BRADLEY    $50.00
ALPHA & OMEGA EDUC SVC LLC    $380.00
ALICE TEEL SUDLOW    $500.00
ALEXANDRA E SERPE    $250.00
ALBERTHA B JARVIS    $140.00
AGNES THOMPSON    $150.00

“Not to worry, it’s not real money, it’s public money!”

A letter to the editor of the State Newspaper.

“District 5 has problem with openness”

“I read with interest school board chairman Robert Gantt’s op-ed (“Community supports District 5 building plan,” June 24) in which he said Lexington-Richland 5 made enrollment information available to voters before the referendum.

“For more than a year, the district told us enrollment was growing fast. At one point, the administration told us growth would be between 300-800 students annually. That’s growth you can look around and see, and because many residents looked around and didn’t see it, we questioned their figures.

“When this past year’s student enrollment count came out, a group of residents wrote the superintendent requesting the information. On Oct. 17, several residents filed a Freedom of Information Act request, which asked the district for the enrollment. Not a hard question, right?
“How eager was the district to let voters know whether enrollment had decreased or increased? Well, District 5 waited until after the Nov. 4 referendum to respond to the request, which should have taken just a few keystrokes to answer. (This is despite the fact that the group e-mailed several times in the interim to ask about the delay in answering this simple question.)

“It was several days after the referendum that the district answered our question, and we learned that enrollment had decreased by more than 150 students. It was shortly afterward we learned the administration is having to lay off teachers, because it had over-staffed. It overstaffed because, either intentionally or not, it had used inaccurate growth predictions to justify the bond referendum.”

WAYNE DUNCAN of Chapin

Read more about Richland/Lexington District Five’s funny numbers here.

One-size-fits-all government schools: YOUR tax dollars forcing a square peg into a round hole.

With the help of a $191,000 federal grant, an after-school program will be able starting up at an Aiken County elementary school.
“Aiken Families in Transition,” the grant recipient, will take in up to 125 students who need after-school help in a wide variety of academic and critical-thinking subjects.

According to a State Department of Education press release, Superintendent Rex expressed encouragement for the program, stating, “ Students who are struggling in class can get a real academic boost in a well-run after-school setting.”

Through a variety of grants and private contributions, some of the needy students in Aiken County are going to get the instruction they need to compete and excel. For these students, who undoubtedly have a wide variety of learning needs and aptitudes, this help is going to come from outside a traditional, public school classroom.
The focused environment of an after-school learning program, or tutoring facility, is often extremely helpful in boosting a student’s understanding of the subjects they learned during the day at school. There is no question that the one-size-fits-all environment of local public schools is not ideal for every student. Would it not make sense to give families the option of enrolling their child in a school that is already geared toward meeting that student’s learning needs? Educating children should be the true focus of education, and whether that takes place in a public or private school should not matter.

Time after time Superintendent Rex has stated the need for more education choices, and admitted the benefit of diverse school environments. Rex’s enthusiasm for the choices that parents want-and need- is always thrown out the window when it is suggested that choice outside of public schools should be available.

Choice that is limited to public schools is no choice at all, it is more of the same broken system that South Carolinians are disillusioned with, and all of Jim Rex’s repackaging will never change that.

In December and January the Voice posted summaries of legislation introduced in the South Carolina State Legislature.

Here, seven months later, is an overview of the status of those and other bills relating to the budget and state spending practices.

(Also look for upcoming reviews of K-12 Education bills, Charter School bills, and Tax bills):

S. 2 Remove and replace state spending cap

This legislation revises this limit by imposing an annual limit on the appropriation of state general fund revenues by adjusting such revenues by a rolling ten-year average in annual changes in general fund revenues and the creation of a separate budget stabilization fund in the state treasury to which must be credited all general fund revenues in excess of the annual limit. The bill was referred to the Senate Finance Committee and did not receive any further action.

S. 72 State agencies and institutions justify dollars from any source

This legislation provides that all state agencies, departments, colleges, universities, institutions, and entities shall report to the general assembly and to the governor on January 15th and July 15th of each year the justification of the dollars from any source that are received by them, and how these dollars are used to provide services to the citizens of the state, and to provide for the administration of and exceptions to this provision. The bill was referred to the Senate Finance Committee and did not receive any further action.

S. 130 Requires budget to have narrative

This legislation requires the Governor’s annual budget recommendation and the reports of the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee on the annual General Appropriations Act to be in a programmatic format by providing a narrative description of each separate program administered by a state agency and providing the elements that must be included in the narrative. The bill was referred to the Senate Finance Committee and did not receive any further action.

S. 138 Office of the State Inspector General

This legislation creates the Office of the State Inspector General and authorizes the position to address fraud, waste, abuse and wrongdoing within the SC executive government agencies and provides for the removal of the State Inspector General by the Governor. The bill was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee and did not receive any further action.

S. 147 SC General Obligation Bond Fiscal Responsibility Act

This legislation details the limitation and authorization of State capital improvement bonds and provides for their enactment. The bill was referred to the Senate Finance Committee and did not receive any further action.

S. 171 Local Economic Stimulus Grants Program

This legislation abolishes competitive grants program within the Budget and Control Board and creates the Local Economic Stimulus Grants Program and provides the program is governed by the Grants Review Committee and provides for its membership. The bill was referred to the Senate Finance Committee and did not receive any further action.

S. 219 Revises BEA forecasting requirements

This legislation provides that the final revenue forecast produced by the Board of Economic Advisors is limited to a three percent increase over the previous year’s final forecast and that half of any revenue collected in excess of the final forecast must be credited to the State Budget Surplus Tax Relief Fund (created by this legislation) and half of the revenue collected in excess of the final forecast must be credited to the Department of Transportation State Nonfederal Aid Highway Fund. The bill was referred to the Senate Finance Committee and did not receive any further action.

S. 221 Truth In Spending Act

This legislation enacts the SC Truth In Spending Act and requires agencies to keep on-line transaction register and post on-line credit card statements. The bill was referred to the Senate Finance Committee and did not receive any further action.

S. 229 Truth In Spending Act

This legislation enacts the SC Truth In Spending Act and requires agencies to keep on-line transaction register and post on-line credit card statements. The bill was referred to the Senate Finance Committee and did not receive any further action.

S. 239 Earmark Disclosure Act

This legislation enacts the Appropriations Bill Earmark Disclosure Act, to provide requirements for the disclosure of information surrounding earmarks requested by members of the General Assembly for inclusion in an appropriations bill. The bill was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee and did not receive any further action.

S. 335 Public funds to pay for lobbyist

This legislation prohibits the use of public funds to employ or contract with a person whose activities include those related to lobbying and provides for exceptions. The bill was referred to the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee and did not receive any further action.

S. 431 South Carolina Economic Development Research Committee

This Joint Resolution creates a study committee to be known as the SC Economic Development Research Committee to examine and develop innovative solutions to the economic crisis faced by this State. The bill was referred to the Senate L.C.I. Committee and did not receive any further action.

S. 577 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

This Concurrent Resolution provides that pursuant to HR-1 of 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the General Assembly accepts the use of federal stimulus funds provided to SC in this act if the Governor of SC, within the required 45 day period, fails to certify that he will request and use these funds for this State and the agencies and entities thereof in the manner provided in the federal act, and to provide for the manner of distribution of these funds. The bill was adopted by both the Senate and the House.

S. 658 South Carolina Fiscal Accountability Act

This legislation enacts the SC Fiscal Accountability Act which creates a division within the Legislative Audit Council to conduct evaluations of programs of certain State agencies and departments to determine if these program have outlived their usefulness or must be changed to address the priorities and needs of the citizens they affect and to apply “zero-based” budgeting principles to the appropriations bill. The bill was referred to the Senate Finance Committee and did not receive any further action.

S. 663 State fiscal stabilization funds

This Concurrent Resolution expresses the belief of the General Assembly that should the State accept the Stimulus Fund then the conditions imposed by Congress only last during the period those funds are expended. The bill was referred to the Senate Finance Committee and did not receive any further action.

H. 3037 Constitutional amendment – Budget Stabilization Fund

This Joint Resolution proposes to amend of the SC Constitution by eliminating the existing state spending limitations and replacing them with new limitations which provide that the State General Fund appropriations for a fiscal year may not exceed such appropriations for the prior year increased by the average annual growth rate in state general fund revenues over the preceding ten years. The legislation establishes the Budget Stabilization Fund to receive general fund revenues in excess of the annual general fund appropriations limit. Revenues in the fund must be used for budget stabilization and for declared emergencies. The bill was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee and did not receive any further action.

H. 3043 Ban agency lobbyists

This legislation prohibits the use of public funds to employ or contract with a person whose activities include those related to lobbying. The bill was referred to the House Judiciary Committee and did not receive any further action.

H. 3045 Ban state agency lobbyists

This legislation prohibits the use of appropriated funds to employ or contract with a person whose activities include those related to lobbying. The bill was referred to the House Judiciary Committee and did not receive any further action.

H. 3057 Ban state agency lobbyists with exceptions

This legislation provides that it is unlawful for a State agency, authority, or department to directly or indirectly hire or retain an independent contractor as a lobbyist. These provisions do not include foundations established by State-sponsored universities or institutions of higher education which do not receive appropriated funds on an annual basis. The bill was referred to the House Judiciary Committee and did not receive any further action.

H. 3077 Ban state agency lobbyists

This legislation prohibits the use of public funds to employ or contract with a person whose activities include those related to lobbying. The bill was referred to the House Judiciary Committee and did not receive any further action.

H. 3192 SC Sunset Commission

This bill establishes the SC Sunset Commission and a Sunset Review Division of the Legislative Audit Council. The bill outlines procedures by in which the programs of certain agencies and departments of State government must be evaluated to determine if they should be continued in existence, modified, or terminated. The bill was referred to the House Judiciary Committee and did not receive any further action.

H. 3312 Termination of the SC Community Economic Development Act

This legislation authorizes an extension of the South Carolina Community Economic Development Act by providing that the provisions of the act terminate on June 30, 2015, instead of June 30, 2010. The bill was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee and did not receive any further action.

H. 3396 Increase in Reserve Fund requirement

This Joint Resolution proposes to amend the SC Constitution by increasing from three to five percent the amount of state general fund revenue in the latest completed fiscal year required to be held in the General Reserve Fund. The bill was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee and did not receive any further action.

H. 3397 General Fund growth cap

This legislation provides that the limit on general fund appropriations for a fiscal year is the total amount of the general fund revenue estimate as of February fifteenth for fiscal year 2009-2010, increased annually and cumulatively by the lesser of six percent or a percentage determined by population increases and increases in the Consumer Price Index. The bill was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee and did not receive any further action.

H. 3533 Spending limits

This legislation reenacts provisions of the “Carnell-Felder” spending limit, limiting annual general fund appropriations by the General Assembly to the lesser of general fund revenues for the upcoming fiscal year as estimated by the Board of Economic Advisors or actual general fund revenues for the current fiscal year increased by an amount equal to seventy-five percent of the amount that the estimate for the upcoming fiscal year exceeds current year general fund revenues. The bill was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee and did not receive any further action.

H. 3540 South Carolina Truth In Spending Act

This bill enacts the South Carolina Truth in Spending Act and provides that each agency, department, and institution of state government and each local governmental entity must maintain a detailed transaction register of all funds expended each month and post that register online. The bill was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee and did not receive any further action.

H. 3560 2009-2010 Budget bill

This legislation is the General Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2009-2010. The Governor’s vetoes have been taken up by the General Assembly and now the Governor has accepted the funds.

H. 3561 2009-2010 Supplemental budget bill

This legislation is the supplemental appropriations bill for fiscal year 2009-2010. Debate was adjourned on this bill by the House.

H. 3610 Budget spending cap

This legislation provides that beginning July 1, 2010, State General Fund appropriations as contained in the annual general appropriations act combined with any other general fund appropriations in supplemental or other appropriations acts for the fiscal year may not exceed, in the aggregate, the state general fund revenue collections from the previous fiscal year. The bill was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee and did not receive any further action.

H. 3963 Local match to be calculated in owner-occupied property

This legislation establishes a twenty-first century foundation program to provide for comprehensive revisions to the state’s funding of public education. The bill was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee and did not receive any further action.