Fighting for Taxpayers

The House of Representatives approved our state’s budget this week after a marathon 23-hour session Wednesday night into Thursday.
No budget is perfect. I believe this budget is in line with our conservative principles because we cut the size of government, we did not raise taxes to plug the revenue shortfall, and we made tough choices about how to spend your tax dollars. The House of Representatives approved our state’s budget this week after a marathon 23-hour session Wednesday night into Thursday.

No budget is perfect. I believe this budget is in line with our conservative principles because we cut the size of government, we did not raise taxes to plug the revenue shortfall, and we made tough choices about how to spend your tax dollars.

My colleagues on the other side of the aisle were clearly not as conservative. Back in January, the Democrat House leader told the media: "We can't raise taxes." And went on to say the House would “have to figure out how to provide the absolute necessity of services" with that restriction.

Instead, my fellow House Republicans spent most of Wednesday night knocking down more than three dozen Democrat attempts to raise taxes – attempts that totaled more than $7 billion. To put that in perspective, the entire General Fund budget totaled $5.1 billion.

Nobody’s wallet was safe from the proposals. Democrats proposed a state-wide property tax and a cigarette tax increase that topped 1,300 percent. They tried to repeal the property tax relief that was a central part of the Republican agenda in 2006.

One Democrat also proposed re-instituting the sales tax on milk, bread, and other groceries because, as he said, “people at the grocery store don’t know we repealed it.”

The House Republicans lined up and struck down most of these proposals on party-line votes.

The House Democrats were not done. They proposed a sweeping repeal of essential tax credits that included doing away with tax credits for small business that create jobs, credits for the installation of fire sprinklers to save lives, and credits for strengthening buildings against hurricane damage. In an amazing move, the Democrats proposed a sweeping repeal of tax credits for saving energy, including credits for energy-efficient home improvements, hybrid cars, biodiesel manufacturing, and the installation of solar panels.

Raising taxes to plug the budget hole is absolutely irresponsible and it is unnecessary. The budget we approved this week prioritized spending and targeted cuts. Despite the more than $500 million budget hole, we did everything in our power to fund education so students would see a few changes. We held funding at this year’s levels for our neighbors with disabilities and special needs – the most vulnerable among us.

Republicans also fought to end taxpayer-funded abortions through the state health plan. If the Senate approves the budget, the only exception is to save the life of the mother.

As a point of full disclosure, the budget sent to the floor by the House Ways and Means Committee did raise the cigarette tax by 30 cents, bringing our tax in line with North Carolina and Georgia. No money from the tax increase is spent in this year’s budget – instead it goes into a trust fund to help off-set potential cuts to health care in future years.

I wrote last week that writing and approving the state budget is the most solemn and serious task that you trust your representatives with each year. This is not a perfect budget, but I do truly believe that it is a good budget for our state that stands firmly with our conservative principles.

As always, thank you for the privilege of serving you in Columbia. If I can ever be of assistance to you, or if you have ideas on issues you want me to share with the rest of the General Assembly, please don’t hesitate to contact me at 963-0337 or in Columbia at 803 734-3045.