Gov. Mark Sanford, Sen. Tom Davis and S.C. Policy Council president Ashley Landess met for a press conference at the SCPC offices on Tuesday to discuss a new study that outlined issues in state spending practices.
There was only one problem. The Governor did not have his charts and graphs.
When he arrived, Landess joked with Sanford about the fact that he did not walk in with his usual portfolio of graphic representations of state spending.
“You didn’t bring charts,” she said, as the room burst out in laughter. “I don’t make charts anymore, Governor, when you’re around. I don’t need to.”
Subsequently, Sanford left the room, returning moments later. When asked to give his comments, he deferred until later, citing that members of staff were running down the appropriate charts and were on their way.
Still, it didn’t turn out like he wanted it.
“The good news is that I do have a chart,” Sanford said as he began his remarks. “The bad news is that it’s not the chart I was looking for.”
The chart he was looking for, he said, covered a long time period in which state spending remained at a much lower rate of growth than over the past few years.
The main push of the SCPC study was that there is almost $21 billion in state revenues/expenditures, though only the $6.7 billion in the general fund is openly debated in the General Assembly. According to the study, $7.1 billion comes from federal dollars already devoted to certain projects, and $7 billion is from state fines and fees.
“This report shows very concretely that our state spending picture goes far beyond the $6 billion that routinely gets reported,” Sanford said in a statement. “This again highlights the need for more transparency in our budgeting process, so that citizens have a better handle on what is indeed being spent in our state, rather than keeping more than a third of our state budget on autopilot controlled by Washington.”
In February of 2008, there were numerous rumors about the activities of former South Carolina Policy Council president Ed McMullen, which were eventually debunked. Nearly a year later, the rumor mill is starting up again. Over the year, there has been significant turnover at S.C.’s leading think tank, not the least of which was the hiring of research associate Justin Evans.
According to the SCPC Web site, Evans is responsible for investigative journalism and policy research.
Sources close to Wolfe Reports have said that until recently, Evans had a comment on his Facebook profile that said something to the effect that he didn’t come up with “the research to defeat candidates, [he] did the research that put those candidates in jail.” A perusing of his profile revealed that if the quote had been there, it was expunged. (see update)
SCPC president Ashley Landess calls the allegations absurd.
“We are not — and this is a ridiculous rumor — we are not looking into legislators and their backgrounds and their personal lives,” she said. “Absolutely not. We have no interest in that.”
Several State House insiders believe the SCPC is getting involved with opposition research, and in General Assembly races, putting the organization’s 501(c)3 status in jeopardy.
“We’re not a political organization,” Landess said. “Justin, like all of our researchers, is looking into state government, how it operates, specifically how dollars are being spent, how programs are being run — all of the larger good government issues.”
She continued, “What you’re hearing, frankly, is exactly the kind of response that you get from people when they feel like you’re asking questions they don’t like.”
UPDATE: According to a source with more access to the profile, Evans’ description of his job was, “Voting politicians out of office is a short term fix….indicting them is much more permanent.”
