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GOVERNOR TO ACCEPT SOME FEDERAL FUNDS, STILL PROTESTING $700 MILLION
The weeks-long debate over $700 million in federal stimulus money will rage on for another 75 days.
Gov. Mark Sanford announced late Thursday night that he will send a letter to the White House accepting most of the proposed $8 billion in federal stimulus money.
“Tomorrow the governor is going to send the (Section) 1607 certification for everything except the stabilization funds,” said Sanford’s spokesman, Joel Sawyer. “The governor will apply for that (additional) money if the General Assembly is willing to compromise and pay down some debt with it.”
By certifying the stimulus request, which the governor previously said he would not do, Sanford is essentially saying that some of the appropriated funds are needed. And doing so allows South Carolina to remain eligible for the $700 million in stabilization funds.
Sanford now has two-and-a-half months to decide if he will apply for that money.
If the governor cannot reach a compromise with state legislators on paying down debt, he may still decide against taking the stabilization funds. The Obama Administration and Rep. James Clyburn have made it very clear that if he does that, they may try to find a way around him.
On Thursday, Clyburn and U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said they are working on a special appropriations measure to bypass the governor and allocate the funds to South Carolina without Sanford’s approval. Given the short window of time and current circumstances, however, it is unlikely such legislation would ever reach fruition.
So despite dramatic headlines from McClatchy Newspapers and others, very little has actually changed.
Photo: AP
SLED Director says: “God help us now.”
…”Reggie Lloyd on Thursday openly disagreed with his boss — Gov. Mark Sanford — over Sanford’s plan to use federal stimulus money.
Not spending the $700 million as intended by the White House would have “devastating” consequences for state and local law enforcement agencies in South Carolina, the state’s top cop said.
An agitated Lloyd, 42, told The State newspaper …he “didn’t care” if his views get him in trouble with Sanford, who nominated him in January 2008 to lead the state’s premier investigative agency.
“I’ve thought long and hard about it; it’s not personal,” said Lloyd, a former state circuit judge and U.S. attorney for South Carolina. “My professional career has been devoted to … public safety, and I’m not going to sacrifice that for anybody. This means more to me than this job does.”
Lloyd said the proposed cuts come at a time when South Carolina has ranked in recent years at or near the top in the nation in the rate of violent crime.
“We were doing that when times were good,” he said. “God help us now.”
http://www.thestate.com/breaking/story/736921.html
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Sanford is a media whore