House OKs bill that raises additional $600M yearly for roads

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - The House passed a bill Wednesday that eventually pumps $600 million yearly into fixing South Carolina’s roads after defeating efforts to offset a gas tax increase with income tax cuts.

The House voted 97-18 on legislation supporters call essential for safety and economic development. That represents a veto-proof majority for that chamber. A perfunctory vote Thursday will send the bill to the Senate, where another possible filibuster looms.

“For every year we don’t do something, roads continue to deteriorate further,” said House Majority Leader Gary Simrill, R-Rock Hill, who’s led the chamber’s road-funding efforts for several years. “Now is the time to act.”

The lack of a road-funding solution is adding roughly $350 million in costs yearly, as roads decay to the point of needing to be completely reconstructed, rather than repaired, Department of Transportation Secretary Christy Hall said after the vote.

More than 60 percent of the bill’s additional revenue comes from a 10-cent hike in the gas tax, to 26 cents per gallon over a five-year phase-in. The bill also increases the vehicle sales tax cap from $300 to $500, raises the biennial vehicle registration fee by $16 and creates several fees.

Proposals to cut income tax rates or provide South Carolina tax filers a credit were either ruled out of order or voted down overwhelmingly.

Opponents argued the House’s latest plan will meet the same fate as one the chamber passed in 2015, which died in the Senate with opponents of a gas tax increase blocking a vote.

While “there’s no question” roads need to be fixed, said Rep. Mac Toole, “this bill is dead on arrival.”

Toole, R-West Columbia, suggested raising the gas tax by just 2 cents to “give ourselves some time” to figure out where in the budget to find the rest. He argued the House plan will either die in the Senate or be vetoed by Gov. Henry McMaster.

While the new Republican governor has repeatedly said he’s unconvinced a gas tax increase is necessary, he’s stopped short of saying he’d veto the bill. McMaster issued no comment after the vote.

First-term Rep. Katie Arrington, R-Summerville, told her colleagues voters elected them to fix the roads, and they shouldn’t let the possible actions of the Senate or McMaster stop them from voting for the bill.

“If they choose not to do something, let them deal with it,” she said, adding that two of her constituents, a mother and son, died earlier this week after her vehicle left the roadway and flipped several times. “I beg of you today do the right thing.”

“It is not a crazy amount of money we’re asking” from taxpayers, said Arrington, whose impassioned speech came after her tax-credit proposal was rejected.

Rep. Joseph Jefferson, D-Pineville, said he’s tired of South Carolina’s roads being a laughingstock of people traveling through the state.

“Folks, let’s grow a backbone,” he said. “You come to South Carolina, you’ve got potholes on the interstates. We need to wake up. … Don’t worry about the governor. Let’s do what we need to do.”

Rep. Neal Collins, R-Easley, tried unsuccessfully to amend the bill to eliminate the DOT commission and give the governor’s office full control - a provision former Gov. Nikki Haley had demanded.

“How can we put forth a bill that’s a tax-only bill?” he asked, calling the reform approved last year a myth. “I see a public image problem. We have to be bold.”