S.C. POLICY COUNCIL: BAUER’S SENIOR SHIELD PROGRAM MAY INTERFERE WITH PRIVATE SECTOR

The Senior Shield program created by Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer came come under heavy fire last month for improperly using state funds. And one of the most damning condemnations was published Sunday by South Carolina Policy Council Communications Director Bryan Cox in the Myrtle Beach Sun News.

Cox noted that, at best, the program “raises many questions regarding government entanglement with the private sector.” At worst, it’s illegal.

The Better Business Bureau has highlighted this concern by pointing out Senior Shield will duplicate many of the services it provides as well as those of Angie’s List and other businesses. Senior Shield also poses serious civil liberties concerns by empowering government to run background checks on citizens with no suspicion of wrongdoing. Businesses can choose whether to participate, but employees of those companies risk losing their jobs if they refuse to submit to this government check.

The lieutenant governor’s office glosses over this concern by arguing Senior Shield background checks will help identify fraud before it occurs. However, rather than help existing businesses address these concerns the government has instead chosen to compete with them. This is not the proper role of government in a free society. Instead, the lieutenant governor should encourage the Better Business Bureau and others to expand its range of services. That would accomplish the goal of protecting more seniors while also alleviating civil liberties and government encroachment concerns. [...]

The Senior Shield program also raises specific financial concerns. Silver Nation, a for-profit company based just outside Washington, D.C., works for the lieutenant governor’s office to conduct the background checks and shares in the profits. The state gets $50 of the roughly $200 collected annually from businesses and $1 of every $50 paid for criminal background checks on employees.

By earning money off the program, the state now has a vested interest in conducting as many background checks as possible. This removes government from its proper role as a neutral arbiter and instead gives it a financial stake in the process. Without an unbiased role it is impossible for government to regulate the program with any credibility.

This whole mess is due entirely to the departure of former Office on Aging Director Curtis Loftis and the arrival of former Secretary of State Jim Miles as Bauer’s chief of staff. Loftis is a class act who actually does the right thing, while Miles has driven the lieutenant governor’s office into the ground.

But hey, as long as little Andre gets to play Santa Claus with his used possessions, all is well in the Kingdom of Bauer.