Responsible Spending
Big money unaccounted for. Local money wastefully spent.
$1.8 BILLION “Found” and Nobody Can Account For It.
How is it possible that our State Treasurer, Curtis Loftis, is unable to account for an almost $2B balance in a bank account that had to be brought to his attention by a newly appointed State Comptroller? (AP)
How is it conceivable that Governor McMaster didn’t respond with outrage? He didn’t even raise his voice or bat an eye! Instead, he shrugged his shoulders and signed off on millions of dollars worth of forensic auditors to figure this out. (WLTX19)
Surely, our local Representative, John R. McCravy III, would’ve flexed his fiscally conservative bona fides and weighed in on this scandal. Did he? No. Not a peep.
Signing Onto Earmarks Without Reading Them
Rep McCravy signed onto an earmark for $1.5 million to build a Bible school in Greenville. Not only was this forbidden by the South Carolina State Constitution, he admitted to not even having read it when he put his name on it!
Burns and McCravy both said they hadn’t read the proposal before sponsoring the project (The State)
This led to a lawsuit costing the state even more money to defend this budget item. Ultimately, the state lost. And so did we the taxpayers.
(The State)
An “Illegal Immigration” Hotline That Received Zero Calls?
For years, South Carolina maintained an illegal immigration hotline to the tune of $35,000 a year.
The number of calls received by this “hotline” over five years?
A big fat…
Bragging About Budget Surpluses While Allowing Kids To Go Hungry
In April, South Carolina lawmakers debated about what to do with more than half a billion dollars in budget surplus this year. (WCSC)
Later, an investigative report revealed
Excluding the Treasurer’s Office, The Nerve’s review found that state agencies with at least $1 billion in other fund reserves as of July 1, 2023, or April 18 this year included the departments of Transportation and Health and Human Services, as well as the University of South Carolina’s Columbia campus. Twenty state agencies had other fund surpluses of at least $100 million as of April 18.
But when it came to spending a very small administrative cost to manage a federal program that would have fed 72,000 school aged children from low income families in South Carolina, our Governor said no. (South Carolina Daily Gazzette)
My Position
I’ve managed budgets in the millions as an Executive in a multi-billion dollar company.
I manage my family’s personal finances down to the penny.
I will demand the same level of accountability of your tax money in Columbia. I will thoroughly read any spending proposal before I put my name on it. I will work with you to ensure that our money is spent wisely and effectively.
I will bring an “inspect what you expect” mentality to Columbia!