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South Carolina Superintendent of Education Jim Rex
STATE SCHOOLS SUPER PEDALS PLAN TO FUND EDUCATION ON LUNGS OF SMOKERS
South Carolina Superintendent of Education Jim Rex is drawing heavy fire for his plan to fund state education and health care on the lungs of Palmetto State smokers.
Attorney General Henry McMaster, a Republican, on Friday lobbed a cruise missile at Rex’s proposal to raise the state’s cigarette tax by $1.20 per pack as a way to bankroll health care and offset teacher furloughs.
“Here’s a lesson Democrat Jim Rex apparently hasn’t learned: You can’t tax your way back to prosperity,” McMaster wrote on his Twitter page. “Raising tobacco tax to stop people from smoking but fund new government spending is illogical. Government gets addicted to shrinking tax source.”
As of Friday afternoon, Rex had not responded to McMaster. Both Rex and McMaster are running for governor.
Raising the cigarette tax in South Carolina has been a contentious issue over the last few years. Many people agree that the tax should be increased as a way to curb smoking.
But using a cigarette tax increase as a way to fill budget gaps inevitably makes the state reliant on increased smoking habits.
Perhaps a better idea would be to take some of the $4.7 billion — roughly 56 percent of the annual education budget — that the state wastes on administrative overhead every year and put it back in the classroom.
“Here’s a lesson Democrat Jim Rex apparently hasn’t learned: You can’t tax your way back to prosperity,” McMaster wrote on his Twitter page
No doubt the old Repub pervert McMaster forgot about his recent HO tax, that would fund the South Carolina football program without using State funds………
Given the latest results of the study done on our states educational system, Rex should be resigning his post as the education superintendent never mind running for election to a higher post.
The state of SC spends @12,000 per stufent and came in last again. As a comparison, the state of CT spends @12,800 per student and has consistently come in first or second nationally. Its not an issue of money… but an issue of management and performance where he has failed miserably.
Save our stufents!
There’s a reason that the GOP’s attacking Rex. He’s the only Democrat that can beat them in November. Check the polls!
Anyone who votes for this idiot gets what they deserves. The people of SC don’t deserve this idiot for governor – we’ve had a long line of them. Rex is probably the worst candidate in the race in terms of capability and accomplishment – Bauer the boy blunder is a better candidate and I wouldn’t vote for him if he was the only choice.
[...] REX TAKES FIRE FOR PROPOSED TAX INCREASE [...]
I would agree that a cigarette tax shouldn’t be utilized for education, it should be utilized for the state’s health programs and smoking cessation programs.
However, why is South Carolina in the mess it is in, regardless of the current economic climate? Answer: Because a Republican controlled state government has utilized ridiculous revenue policies guised as tax relief to run state government and now this has come to roost with a dramatic fall in revenues.
You have to watch out on funding education from a sales based activity. This thought process has gotten South Carolina into a lot of trouble by basing service funding off of sales based taxes. What’s worse, Governor Sanford will allow an increase in the cigarette tax but offset it with a decrease in income or other taxes. So a no sum gained approach, why even do the tax then?
This entire thought process is unimagineable by the Republican Leadership and the question that has to be asked, are you kidding me? The basics of revenue generation for the government is not rocket science but the Republicans in South Carolina somehow missed those classes when they went to college.
What should be done is the increase in the cigarette tax would fund Human Services, Medicaid, and Tobacco use reduction programs, all of these areas are under stress from the smoking related health issues anyway. This would fund these services from these additional funds and create less stress on general income tax revenues, which could be redirected into education. Then South Carolina can attack the issue of administration taking over half of the money for education and put more of the cost per pupil into the classroom instead.
Education should be funded fully off of the property tax, without being exempted as currently. But a more targeted approach can provide property tax relief and also improve state funding for public education, according to this new report by Daphne A. Kenyon, a visiting fellow at the Lincoln Institute. State governments who have tried to reduce property taxes and improve school performance at the same time have not met with much success according to the report. Arguing that the use of property tax revenue for schools is fundamentally sound, the report points out that increasing state aid for education does not necessarily result in lower property taxes, and it cautions against switching to greater reliance on a sales tax to fund schools. The report also recommends a targeted approach, distributing state aid for public education to the neediest school districts, schools, and students.
We have to all agree it makes no sense to allow cigarettes in South Carolina to have the lowest tax when smoking related illnesses in the State put a strain on the health services in the State.