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Senator Randy Scott

District 38

Governor Sanford is very popular in this Senate district, as he won the 2006 primary here with 78% of the vote vs. 65% statewide. In the general election, Sanford won 65% of the vote in Dorchester County and 57% of the vote in Charleston County compared to 55% statewide.

Scott’s Money Raised

Scott’s Budget Voting Record – Fiscally Conservative less than One Percent of the Time

2007 Budget Vetoes:

Governor Sanford vetoed 243 items, for a total savings of $167 million. Scott voted to override all of those vetoes, giving him the worst record in the Senate. The Club for Growth compiled a list of the 50 most egregious pork projects called the “Lard List,” and Scott supported all 50 items on the Lard List. Scott supported pork projects like $150,000 of taxpayer money on the Piedmont Pottery Degree Program, $3.9 million on a Florence Museum, and $360,000 for a Sumter Downtown Redevelopment Project. Scott also supported the infamous “Green Bean Museum.”

Sen. Scott also voted to overturn Governor Sanford’s veto of the Competitive Grants program that spends tens of millions a year on festivals and events. The State newspaper editorial board has called the program “a legislative slush fund” for spending taxpayers’ dollars on items like the Pigs on the Ridge Festival in Fairfield, Squealin’ on the Square in Laurens, the Chitlin’ Strut in Salley, and the Hilarity Festival in Chester.

ØGov. Sanford’s budget veto message

ØGov. Sanford’s statement after House overrides 228 of 243 vetoes

ØList of 2007 Competitive Grants programs

2006 Budget Veto:

Governor Sanford vetoed the entire budget, which increased spending by $759 million, or 13%. Sen. Scott voted to override the governor’s veto and allow this unsustainable spending. After vetoing the budget, Sanford said, “If we say we're about limited government, lowered spending, isn't it incumbent upon us to act accordingly when we're in the State Capitol?”

ØGov. Sanford’s statement after House passes budget

2005 Budget Vetoes:

Sen. Scott voted to override 162 of Governor Sanford’s 163 vetoes that would have saved taxpayers over $95 million. Scott voted to override vetoes of pork projects like $85,000 for Canadian Promotions, $250,000 for a MUSC Rural Dentists Incentive that was not requested by MUSC, and $1,000,000 for European Advertising.

ØGov. Sanford’s veto message

ØSenate Journal Day 1, Day 2

SC Club for Growth Scorecard Analysis

2007 Department of Transportation Restructuring: After a scathing legislative audit showed that the DOT was wasting tens of millions of dollars in state funding, a number of DOT restructuring measures were brought before the legislature. Sen. John Courson proposed an amendment that would have restored Executive Branch authority to the DOT Commission. Sen. Scott voted against this pro-reform measure. Scott also voted to kill a substitute amendment that would have moved the DOT entirely under Executive Branch authority rather than leave a quasi-legislative agency in charge. On both of these DOT reform bills, Scott opposed common-sense reforms.

2007 Judicial: Rather than vote for a qualified conservative for an open position on the Supreme Court, Sen. Scott voted for a liberal former legislator, Don Beatty, to a 10-year term. Here’s the text of an ad that ran against Beatty:

LIBERAL JUDGES CONTINUE TO WREAK HAVOC ON AMERICA. FROM BANNING PRAYER IN SCHOOLS TO LEGALIZING GAY MARRIAGE TO RESTRICTING PROPERTY RIGHTS, OUT-OF-CONTROL JUDGES HAVE HURT OUR COUNTRY.

SO HOW COME SOME SOUTH CAROLINA REPUBLICAN LEGISLATORS ARE SUPPORTING A LEFT-WING POLITICIAN FOR OUR STATE SUPREME COURT?

THAT’S RIGHT. SEVERAL ANDERSON COUNTY LAWMAKERS ARE REPORTEDLY BACKING FORMER DEMOCRAT HOUSE MEMBER DON BEATTY FOR A VACANT SEAT ON THE SUPREME COURT.

AS A LEGISLATOR, BEATTY VOTED TO ALLOW PUBLIC FUNDING OF ABORTION.^[1] HE ALSO VOTED AGAINST GUN RIGHTS^[2] AND OPPOSED TAX AND SPENDING CUTS^[3].

AND, ACCORDING TO A RECENT JUDICIAL EVALUATION, JUDGE BEATTY SCORED MUCH LOWER THAN THE OTHER TWO CANDIDATES.^[4]

SOUTH CAROLINA DOESN’T NEED AN ULTRA-LIBERAL, DEMOCRAT PARTISAN ON THE STATE SUPREME COURT. WE NEED SOMEBODY WHO REPRESENTS SOUTH CAROLINA VALUES.

CALL THESE ANDERSON COUNTY LEGISLATORS TODAY. TELL THEM TO STAND UP FOR CORE CONSERVATIVE PRINCIPLES. TELL THEM TO OPPOSE DON BEATTY.

2007 Treasurer: Again bucking Gov. Sanford, Sen. Scott voted for a fellow legislator, Converse Chellis, which swung control of the Budget and Control Board to the legislature. At Chellis’ first BCB meeting as treasurer, his was the deciding vote in favor of putting one of Jim Hodges’ top officials in charge of the state’s most important agency.

Interest Group Ratings

Business and Consumers

*In 2007, Sen. Scott’s score from the Club for Growth ranked him in the bottom 50% of Senate Republicans.

Education

2005 Sen. Scott supported the interests of the South Carolina Education Association 80 percent.

Environmental Issues

2005-2006 Sen. Scott supported the interests of the Conservation Voters of South Carolina 25 percent.

2005-2006 Sen. Scott supported the interests of the South Carolina Sierra Club 0 percent.

Selected News Stories

Tiny Ridgeville caught in middle of state spat – Nov. 27, 2007

The Post and Courier -- YVONNE M. WENGER AND BRIAN HICKS

COLUMBIA - For $2,500 in state grant money, the town of Ridgeville got one of the Drifters, an Elvis impersonator and - six months later - one big headache.

The town has found itself in the middle of a fight between Gov. Mark Sanford and state lawmakers over the competitive grants program, a catch-all fund that has given out more than $30 million in the past three years to communities and organizations across the state to fund various projects.

The folks in Ridgeville say the whole snarl boils down to a misplaced letter, but it is caught in the fight between Sen. Jake Knotts, R-West Columbia, and Sanford that started this month.

Knotts publicly criticized Sanford after learning that the governor had directed more than $100,000 left over from a 2006 conference, partially funded by a state competitive grant, to be deposited into the account of a nonprofit run by the governor's friends.

Sanford has since redirected the money to the state coffers, but it hasn't stopped Knotts and others from pointing fingers.

"There's been a lot of blustering about Senate hearings over one particular grant that had a $4.3 million economic impact on the Charleston area," Sanford Press Secretary Joel Sawyer said Monday. The grant was a $150,000 competitive grant that helped bring the National Governors Association's annual meeting to Charleston last year.

"When facts come to light about some of the other grants, the response from some lawmakers will be very telling," Sawyer said. "We'd hope the people who have been so critical of the governor are actually serious about reforming this program and not about scoring political points."

The program has awarded about 460 grants to charities, churches, municipalities and nonprofits since its creation in 2005. An additional $18.5 million remains available for allocation.

A panel of political appointees reviews applications and either approves or denies requests individually. To date, nearly 2,000 applications worth $360 million have been submitted for consideration.

The governor's office calls it a slush fund for legislators. Lawmakers say it is a good way to help local groups without going through the budget process.

The governor's office says there is no oversight of the program, but the chairman of the Competitive Grants Review Committee, Jimmy Bailey, a former West Ashley legislator, said the grants are scrutinized more than most state agencies.

Bailey said the committee will meet next month and talk about possible changes to the process. The panel might have to put more of the rules on the application to make clear that people have to use the money for the stated purpose or return it.

Ridgeville was singled out by The State newspaper as an example of misuse of the grant money, but the confusion was on Ridgeville's part, not the competitive grants staff's.

State Sen. Randy Scott, R-Summerville, requested the $2,500 on behalf of Ridgeville for a festival. When competitive grants staff members requested more information, Ridgeville Mayor James Williams got the inquiry confused. He thought someone was requesting more information for a state Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department grant he had requested for playground equipment. He sent a letter about playground equipment that was filed with the original request for festival money.

Scott said the mix-up was sorted out and the grant approved, and earlier this year Ridgeville sent a full accounting of its expenses: The African Dance and Drumming group got $950; Otis Brown, one of several dozen members of the Drifters, got $450; the Elvis impersonator got $750; and two other groups split $350.

"If they want to cut the competitive grants, that's fine with me," Scott said Monday. "But as long they have the grants, I will try to get that money back for my communities. I will step up to make sure my constituents get their fair share."

In all, The State newspaper's review showed that a handful of grants were not used for the purposes listed in the original application records. Also, it found that the grants committee still is waiting for more information from almost one-fifth of the grant recipients to learn how the money has been spent. The outstanding records account for $5.2 million in grants, according to the newspaper.

Bailey said about half of the recipients who have not filed reports haven't done so because the projects in question have not been completed. That means about 90 percent of the money allocated has been accounted for, he said.

"I don't think any program has gotten more scrutiny than this," Bailey said. "We've had four out of 261 not use the money like they were supposed to. If some state agencies had this kind of scrutiny, I'd bet there would be more problems."

Bailey said he is staunch in regard to grant money being used only for the approved purpose.

The recent political theatrics over the grants is part of a much larger drama. An investigation earlier this year by The Post and Courier showed that some elected officials quietly pump money into charities with which they have close family or professional ties.

In a few cases, lawmakers requested money for charities they direct, The Post and Courier's analysis found.

In other cases, lawmakers funnel money to charities with controversial programs, prompting some critics to question why state government is playing rainmaker to nonprofits in the first place.

Lawmakers created the competitive grant program in 2005 after Sanford campaigned against the practice of slipping earmarks for pet projects into the state budget.

In regard to the grant money used for the National Governors Association meeting, Knotts has said he wants additional answers from the governor's office. Short of full disclosure, Knotts said he would call for a Senate investigation.

Carolinians for Reform Inc. is the Charleston-based nonprofit that Sanford originally had directed to receive the leftover funds. On Monday, Knotts submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to review the group's financial books. According to the request, Knotts said he thinks the organization is subject to the open records laws because it had received government funds.

Reach Yvonne M. Wenger at 803-799-9051 or ywenger@postandcourier.com. Reach Brian Hicks at 937-5561

^[1] H. 3847, Amendment 4, April 28, 1994 House Journal

^[2] H. 3730, May 16, 1995 House Journal

^[3] H. 3610, Amendment 422, March 23, 1993 House Journal

H. 4633, Amendment 2, March 2, 1994 House Journal

H. 4820, Amendment 227, March 10, 1994 House Journal

^[4] The State, Wednesday, May 16, 2007

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