The debate featured declared candidates Rep. Gresham Barrett, Rep. Nikki Haley, Sen. Larry Grooms, Attorney General Henry McMaster and Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, who is widely expected to run.
Bauer refused to say for sure if he would be a candidate, stating that Gov. Mark Sanford had until October to accept Bauer’s offer.
Last month, Bauer announced that he would not seek the office if Gov. Sanford would resign, stating he felt it was the only way the state could move forward from a scandal-plagued summer.
All candidates touted their conservative credentials, and agreed on some issues.
Each candidate said they would support vouchers that would allow residents to send their children to private school.
Candidates also agreed that they would not revisit the controversy over the Confederate flag, even in light of ongoing boycotts from the NAACP.
Taxation and government
Haley called for the elimination of the corporate income tax.
“The second we do that, not only will we take care of the businesses we already have, but we will also bring a magnet of businesses to this state, that suddenly think we’re competitive,” Haley said.
“The most important thing we can do is offer business-friendly legislation,” she said.
“We should never have government-friendly legislation cross the desk.”
Bauer said he is already working to reduce the size of government.
“We had a 23 percent cut in the Office on Aging, and only 2 percent was felt by seniors,” he said. “I personally went without a paycheck, we ask everyone in the office to furlough and we went back and renegotiated the lease. We had some people retire early, didn’t replace them.
“I’ve done a multitude of things to raise private dollars to pay for (cuts),” he said. “There are a lot of things we can do, and we’re doing them. We’re not just talking about them.”
Government should focuses on its needs, not its wants, Haley said.
“It needs to prioritize,” she said. “We spent $7 million — $7 million — to advertise to get other people to play the lottery. That money could be going to education. We need to see that government is consumer-friendly, business-friendly and that it’s competitive.”
She said every agency should be audited for efficiency and effectiveness.
“That’s when we will cut out duplication,” Haley said.
Barrett defended a bailout vote, saying action had to be taken.
“Nobody in the U.S. Congress has voted against spending more than myself,” Barrett said. “Hindsight’s always 20/20 … but we were in a situation … where literally men and women were going to take their ATM card, stick it in the machine and nothing was going to come out. We had to take action, and we did so.”
Grooms said he would strengthen the state’s manufacturing base as governor.
“Manufacturing jobs create about 4 other spin-off jobs, particularly in small businesses,” he said. “I’m someone who started a small business and basically grew it into a corporation.
“I know what small businesses need,” Grooms continued. “They need less regulations It takes longer to get a permit in South Carolina than most other states. If you can get permits quicker in Georgia and North Carolina, jobs are going to go to those states.”
McMaster said he would not hesitate to sign future loan requests to pay for unemployment benefits.
“We have to take care of our unemployed,” he said. “But I think what we have to do is turn our attention from managing scarcity into creating abundance. The governor is the only person that can lead economic development. The governor is the only one that can go recruit industry, that can speak for the state.”
Lowering taxes will help ensure that minority-owned business stay in business, McMaster said.
The state needs broad, comprehensive tax reform to compete with the Southeast and the rest of the nation, he said.
Grooms said property taxes affect everyone.
“I supported a plan back in 1998 that would have eliminated personal property taxes in South Carolina,” he said. “As governor, I’d put that plan back on the table. We should not tax income and we should not tax property. If we’re going to grow our economy, we have to allow people to keep what they earn and invest what they earn to create more income.”
Barrett said in addition to tax restructuring, the governor must insure that the infrastructure needed by industry is in place.
“If you build it, they will come,” he said. “It’s about working on our ports, our roads, our bridges, our water, our sewer is there.”
McMaster said he looks forward to working with the legislature on moving the state forward.
“You have to have someone who’s willing to sell the state, someone who’s willing to be proud of the state,” he said. “I’m proud of South Carolina. Bring up the positive things that we can do for the state.”
Education
Barrett said the state needs to challenge its education system.
“We need to make sure we have a tax base that can fund education,” he said. “We can always improve, but education has to be first and foremost. Not just public education, but higher education.”
The state should ensure education funds are spent wisely, Barrett continued.
Teachers buy supplies out of pocket, because districts don’t receive needed funds, he said.
“Are these dollars … going to the classroom where it’s making a difference?” he said.
Haley said she supported tax credits and vouchers.
“When we are graduating 1 out of every 2 children in four years, we can’t not look at reform,” she said. “We look at reforming the education formula first. But I think we look at all reforms, and school choice is one of those, absolutely.”
McMaster said the state should ensure children should be able to read by the third grade and that principals should be accountable.
Grooms said that 64 of the 84 school districts are funded below the state average.
“That’s not fair,” he said. “We have 84 school districts and 84 levels of taxation. We’re taking industry out of rural South Carolina.”
McMaster said that school board should not be the sole authority in deciding how education funds are spent.
“Until we have industry, we will never have enough of the funds we need,” he said.
Bauer said he did not support closing branches of USC.
“That’s a good investment in real dollars,” Bauer said, adding that the state should have a work force degree in addition to a college preparatory degree.
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