Many Thanks to The State for publishing our op/ed
COLUMBIA, SC
There’s no detour around this issue: South Carolina roads and bridges need repair. However, I strongly disagree that the only way to fix our roads is to raid your wallet.

Lt Gov Kevin Bryant SAM HOLLAND ll<

The billions of dollars raised by the penny tax over several decades have not fixed education. Likewise, another $600 million taken out of your wallet every year, one dime at a time (per the House legislation), will not fix our roads. Instead, we’ll all be standing here 10 or 20 years from now asking the same sort of questions that we ask of K-12 education: Where did all our money go, and why are roads still broken?

__________

Could reform be the essential piece to road-funding puzzle? (Hint: Yes)

Yes, your gas taxes do go to pay for SC roads

What a difference an amendment can make

__________

I oppose taking the fruits of your labor in the name of fixing our roads, as if your hard-earned money is pixie dust that will magically make everything better. Hardworking taxpayers should not have to be punished for the failure of government to use your money wisely in the first place.

We often hear that a state agency cannot operate in 2017 on a 1987 budget (the last time politicians successfully raided your wallet at the gas pump). But the Department of Transportation is not really operating on the same basis as it was in 1987, or even just a few years ago.

The state budget contained approximately $1.3 billion for our roads and bridges in fiscal year 2005, when I entered the Senate. The state budget contained $2.2 billion for our infrastructure in the last fiscal year. We’re budgeting almost 70 percent more on our roads and bridges now than in 2005. Yet we’re told by politicians that this isn’t enough.

FILLING POTHOLES SHOULD COME BEFORE CUTTING RIBBONS.

The politicians tell us that you must pay more because more people live here. But the population has only grown by 15 percent since 2005. Our 70 percent spending growth should have accommodated a 15 percent population growth. Yet the politicians still say it is not enough.

Dumping more money into a broken system is not the solution to our roads problem. The answer lies in how we spend the money, and I support these few, simple changes to our infrastructure spending and governance policies.

We have to remove politics from infrastructure spending, and that means eliminating the politically appointed, and therefore politically motivated, Transportation Commission in favor of a Cabinet agency headed by a gubernatorial appointee.

SIMPLY TAKING MORE MONEY OUT OF YOUR WALLET, WITHOUT CHANGING ANYTHING ABOUT THE BUSINESS AS USUAL, WON’T HELP US UNCLOG THE DRAIN IN COLUMBIA.

One person, elected statewide, would be accountable for our roads and bridges. Taxpayers could decide every four years if that person is doing the job and make a change if they so choose.

We must transfer local roads to local governments, with the requisite funding, and allow local taxpayers to make local decisions through their locally elected officials.

Filling potholes should come before cutting ribbons. We must prioritize, in statute, maintenance and repair over new construction. The state spends far more on new construction than on fixing the existing roads and bridges.

We must abolish the State Transportation Infrastructure Bank. It was created to fund the needed Ravenel Bridge in Charleston. But since then, it has become a piggy bank for politically popular projects that further seep money away from maintenance and repair — and raise our debt. It must go away.

I believe that the adoption of these reforms will make a huge difference in the condition of our roads and bridges. Simply taking more money out of your wallet, without changing anything about the business as usual, won’t help us unclog the drain in Columbia.

Lt. Gov. Bryant served in the Senate from 2005 to 2017; contact him at ltgov@scstatehouse.gov.

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/opinion/op-ed/article139206528.html#storylink=cpy

Thank you so much Pastor Duncan, it is an honor to be here today.
Yesterday, Pastor Duncan kept calling me Lt. Governor.
I need to let y’all know that when I was first elected to the Senate in ‘04, a supporter spoke with us on the night of our victory. She said you’re a big Senator now aren’t you. My wife Ann (raise your hand Ann) interrupted her and said “nope, he’s plain old Kevin and I’m going to make sure he stays that way.”
That’s a campaign promise she’s kept.
I don’t know about the other husbands here, but inflated egos don’t last very long at our house.
And Pastor Duncan, being a pharmacist also, you’ve got a drug dealer and politician in the sanctuary.
Thank ya’ll for allowing us to join you this morning.
Let us pray.
Heavenly Father, thank you so much for these sons and daughters of yours that are here at Gethsemane Baptist Temple.
Thank you for their commitment to your Word and thank you for their testimony to this world.
Father, thank you for the freedoms we have and that are granted by You, and You alone.
Thank you for the freedom of speech and assembly. We thank you for those in uniform that put themselves in harm’s way all around the world to protect those freedoms for us all.
We also thank you for the Freedom from sin which was given to us by You and through your son, Jesus Christ:
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him:
And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.
The King of Kings and Lord of Lords made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Yet it pleased you Heavenly Father, to bruise him;
put him to grief:
when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin,
He was wounded for our transgressions,
he was bruised for our iniquities:
the chastisement of our peace was upon him;
and with his stripes we are healed.
Please bless this day, in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

It was an honor to address the SC Restaurant & Lodging Association’s meeting in Greenville on Monday. Thank you for the opportunity!

Last week, various media outlets reported that state Republican legislative leaders and the powerful Chamber of Commerce agreed to organize a campaign to push for a Gas Tax hike during the 2015 legislative session.  The article did not mention any specific reforms to the Department of Transportation or transportation spending in SC, nor did it refer to any possible coinciding long-term tax relief efforts.  We oppose this proposal and any stand-alone gas tax increase.

AFP – SC agrees that many of our roads and bridges are in need of repair.  We believe road construction and repair is one of the core functions of government. “User fees” that draw money from those who use the roads – and use that money to actually fix roads, is the best way to do this. However, raising taxes without any serious spending reform and long-term tax relief is a dangerous road to travel.  South Carolinians simply don’t trust that the tax they pay at the pump is actually going to fix the roads they drive, instead of unrelated expenditures

We all know that raising taxes on fuel will hurt all South Carolina citizens, particularly neighborhood businesses and fixed-income families. Just a nickel increase would destroy nearly 1000 jobs, end the possibility of $10.8 million in new investment, and cost South Carolina families an additional $78/year.[1] However, the proponents of this proposal want to double the misery by throwing more of our money at a department, and budgetary process, that is in serious need of reform.  Currently, all gas tax revenue collected ends up in Treasury where legislators have discretion over how it is spent.  There is no accountability of where the money is going, nor is it dedicated to only repair roads and bridges.

[1] Beacon Hill Institute – South Carolina Income Tax, Manufacturer Tax, and Gas Tax Study

The South Carolina General Assembly must reprioritize spending and find creative solutions to ensure that road and bridge repair are properly prioritized and funded.  Until legislators regain the trust of South Carolina families that their hard-earned money is actually going to fix the roads they use to drive to work, school, or home, there is no way a Gas Tax hike should be considered.  When the revenue and the spending are so disconnected, South Carolina will never succeed in earning the trust from its citizens.

AFP – SC and our 23,000 grassroots activists are prepared for the nearly inevitable fight in the 2015 session.  Call your legislator today and urge them to oppose this Gas Tax hike proposal.