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As the 2009 legislative session begins in earnest in Columbia, I literally can’t stop thinking about all the things that need to get done on behalf of Beaufort County.
Like how to convince my fellow legislators to reform our state’s flawed education funding formula – the one that routinely shortchanges Beaufort County schools. It is hard to overstate just how inequitably we are treated by the state, as last year Beaufort County received a total of $2,389 per student in state funding compared to the state average of $5,540 per student.
A lot of elected officials got together over the summer to talk about the issue, sitting around in study committees, but where was the legislation to right the wrong? I’m all for studying issues, but at some point when the answer is staring us in the face we’ve got to have the leadership to put our foot on the gas pedal.
I am thinking, too, about the crossroads we face, at both the state and national level. Do we truly believe in individual freedom and the free market, or will our elected officials keep moving us, inexorably it seems, toward the more collectivist model favored by European countries?
Yes, government should spend money on core services like education, healthcare, law enforcement and roads – but after that it should get out of the way. Creating a climate that allows the private sector to flourish is the only way out of an economic downturn as the jobs of tomorrow will be ones that government could not possibly imagine, much less create.
Some argue that the free market and private enterprise have failed us and that more government involvement in the economy is the answer. I find it hard to believe that our system of free enterprise and limited government – the model that has made us the greatest nation in history – is to blame, particularly when people from all corners of the earth are still lining up to come here.
And as I head to Columbia, I am also keenly aware that Beaufort County’s unique quality of life is in serious jeopardy. We are in an economic downturn right now, but hundreds of thousands of home sites in the greater Beaufort County area have already been permitted and lie in wait. We will witness a tsunami of new development when the economy turns around, and we must be prepared.
That means being pro-growth, but in a way that is sustainable and responsible. Our county’s estuary system is one-of-a-kind, and I don’t want to see it go the way of Chesapeake Bay. Critical open spaces need to be acquired to protect that system – something the people of Beaufort County clearly understand, having approved $90 million in bonds to conserve land.
Simply put, if I do not work to protect and enhance our local governments’ ability to preserve open space, then I will have failed in my duties as their state senator.
On the economic development front, we need to keep momentum going on the new port on the Savannah River in Jasper County, which is being developed jointly by the states of South Carolina and Georgia. Things are moving forward steadily – the port site has been sold by the Georgia Department of Transportation to the Bi-State Port Commission, the Corps of Engineers has started the process of releasing the existing spoil easement from the site and highway departments in both states are engineering the road improvements needed to accommodate the new port.
But here, too, danger exists. I know that neither the South Carolina State Ports Authority nor the Georgia Ports Authority is committed to a new port in Jasper County, and I know that their primary allegiances will always be to the Port of Charleston and the Port of Savannah, respectively. Accordingly, one of my main objectives will be to sustain the momentum for this new port facility and the thousands of jobs it will create.
And as with my obligation to protect and enhance our ability to preserve open space, I know that if the Jasper Port withers on the vine, then I will have failed in my duties as Beaufort County’s state senator.
