PARENT'S RIGHTS NOW!

According to "SC budget board cutting state budget 5 percent:"

South Carolina's high unemployment and slow tax collections are likely to put more people out of work or cut paychecks as the state's budget oversight board decided Tuesday to cut 5 percent from state budgets to keep the state's $5 billion spending plan balanced.

The $238.2 million reduction ordered by the Budget and Control Board means across-the-board spending cuts, but the public schools, the state's colleges, health care, welfare and prisons take the largest total hits in spending. In September, the board cut 4 percent from the state's budget to head off potential deficits, but the economy has continued to lose steam.

State tax collections have fallen sharply. South Carolina's 12 percent unemployment rate in October was the nation's fifth highest, a leading cause of plunging state tax collections.

Tuesday's reduction means a $100.5 million loss for the state's public schools in the wake of an $85.4 million cut in September. Schools had lost $513 million in the previous fiscal year, depleting reserves and raising the specter of thousands of teachers losing their jobs. While federal stimulus cash blunted that, districts are again fretting cuts to payrolls and programs.

"This goes above and beyond what I think many districts were trying to plan for and sends them back to the drawing board," said Scott Price, the lobbyist for the South Carolina School Boards Association. It will translate into furloughs and unfilled positions.

"That leads to things like increased class size. Things that aren't core programs would be on the chopping block," Price said.

Meanwhile, the state's Department of Health and Human Services loses $38.3 million from its Medicaid programs. Agency director Emma Forkner said last week she might not be able to handle that reduction without breaking state and federal laws or running a deficit.

State colleges lose $23 million, with the University of South Carolina giving up $6.7 million and Clemson University nearly $6 million.

The Department of Corrections loses $15.8 million. Agency director Jon Ozmint asked the board to let his prison system run a $13 million deficit in an effort to avoid telling his guards to take five more days of unpaid days off on top of the five furlough days they've already taken.

With all the funding shortfalls and South Carolina's increasing inability to provide federally-mandated and essential services, one cannot help but question why the State Continues to divert funds from the Department of Social Services to “non-profits," such as Heritage Community Services, which are neither accountable to the taxpayers nor providing essential services. More to the point, we wonder why DSS Director Dr. Kathleen Hayes has not publicly and forcefully opposed this raid on her budget.

Brian Hicks notes in We Need to Ante Up to Get Reforms:

Many of the problems facing the Department of Corrections, the solicitors, the courts and the police all boil down to one thing: money. Between the worst budget deficits this state has ever seen, coupled with years of tax cuts, there simply is not enough cash to do all that needs to be done.

The hard truth is, if we are going to make these thugs pay, we are going to have to pay.

Mr. Hicks is partially right. Either we need to pay more or we need to be more discriminating in deciding whom to incarcerate.

ONCE FAMILY COURTS AND THE SHERIFFS' OFFICES JOIN THE TRANSPARENCY MOVEMENT THE JIG IS UP

South Carolina Representative Nathan Ballentine recently reported on his Blog Town of Irmo joins transparency movement. Along these lines, The Summerville Journal Scene reported Town monthly budget figures now online. On-line posting of this type of information should improve accountability and transparency. And once the Family Court and the Sheriff's Offices join the Transparency Movement the jig is up. The public will then know exactly how those slush funds, fines, and fees are being spent.

The Charleston Post and Courier reported today that Charleston County is ready to borrow $60M "to help finance the county's new prison and dispatching center, which could result in a small property tax increase." Once again, we suggest that there may be a better way.

According to the article California fined $1.2 billion for network fiasco, only South Carolina and California have been fined for failure to implement a computerized child support tracking and collection system. And although we must confess that we are not sure of the status of South Carolina's attempt to implement a computerized child support tracking and collection system, if it has not already been addressed, we believe that this matter should take top priority. Note these statistics. And for more up-to-date and complete information on the subject of national child support arrearages and collection rates, click here.

When compared to California’s fine, South Carolina’s reported fine of $49 Million (or whatever) may seem insignificant. Still, one has to wonder why the South Carolina Legislature has taken another $1.2 Million from DSS and "awarded" it to Heritage Community Services and the South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. The Department of Social Services needs all the money it can get to do its job, avoid federal fines, and secure federal matching funds for various programs. Moreover, instead of shuffling DSS Chiefs who fail to make any progress in reducing the $1.2 Billion arrearage to other high-paying State jobs, the Legislature should give them their permanent walking papers.