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What’s good for business… |
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Wednesday, 19 March 2008 |
By Bill Settlemyer
With the national and state economies hitting some rough headwinds, it’s worth taking stock of efforts to strengthen the state’s economy.
In a nutshell, you can assess what we’re doing as a state by looking at the state’s legislative initiatives and funding and the implementation of public policy by the executive branch.
A good place to start in any analysis of public policy is the S.C. Chamber of Commerce’s “2008 Competitiveness Agenda.” It takes a little hunting on their Web site, but you can find (and print and read, if you’re like me) 16 pages worth of public policy positions on eight key areas of concern identified by the chamber.
Here’s a quick tour of the issues, organized according to my analysis of and views on the most critical priorities:
Education and work force development. This has always been, and still is, the state’s Achilles’ heel. There are bright spots and new developments in the implementation of the Personal Pathways to Success program and the push for universal 4K programs. Although not mentioned in the position paper, I think the new emphasis on “school choice” within the state’s public school systems is a significant shift in the right direction.
On the negative side of the ledger, the Legislature created a financial time bomb for public school funding when they shifted funding away from residential property taxes and put the load on businesses and consumers with additional sales taxes. With the economy sliding, this bomb may explode sooner rather than later if sales tax receipts come up short as a funding source.
Tax policy. Policy? What policy? The only policy you’ll hear about from many elected leaders in state government is to cut taxes, even though the state sales tax was just increased to fund public education. In reality, everywhere you look there are critical needs that can be met only with adequate government funding. The public, the business community and our political leaders need to get on the same page and stop whistling in the dark. For years, the chamber has called on the state to create a tax policy study committee that could take a comprehensive look at our tax structure and benchmark our tax policies against those of other states, and for years political leaders have failed to act.
Health care costs. While the chamber addresses concerns about direct costs to employers of providing health care, the position paper wisely looks at the broader need to improve and maintain the health of South Carolinians. A well-managed and adequately funded plan for Medicaid services is a must, in part to maximize matching federal dollars. We need to raise our ridiculously low tobacco taxes and apply the revenue directly to health care for uninsured employees and their families. The state also needs to commit adequate funds to address the nursing shortage.
Energy and the environment. The recent drought conditions in the Southeast have highlighted the challenge of protecting and conserving the state’s water resources. This is a long-term challenge that cries out for sound, intelligent public policy-making in collaboration with civic and business interests around the state.
On the energy front, the growing (and justified) concern about climate change and carbon emissions challenges all of us to support the development of energy policies that will keep the lights on and the sea level from rising precipitously. We have more control over the former than the latter, but the world is entering a new era and we should be realistic about what that means for our use of energy and the sources we rely on to produce it.
The other issues highlighted by the chamber include infrastructure needs, port expansion, support for tourism growth and immigration reform. The first two are financially challenging but doable. The third is a given, and the last one will bring us into line with other states trying to send a message to the federal government about the need to comprehensively address illegal immigration.
All in all, a full plate with some notable shifts in needs and priorities. For 2008 and beyond, we have our work cut out for us.
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