Democratic Governors Call on S.C. Legislature to Reverse Governor's Fringe Stance on Recovery Funds
March 12, 2009
WASHINGTON, SC – March 11 – Leaders of the Democratic Governors Association today encouraged the South Carolina Legislature to override Republican Gov. Mark Sanford and reverse his fringe rejection of $700 billion in economic recovery funding.
Every state should be laser-focused right now on one issue: jobs, jobs, jobs, said Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, Vice Chair of the Democratic Governors Association. Governors are supposed to get things done, and nothing is more important than putting people to work using every tool you have to create jobs. This rejection is less about the people of South Carolina than it is Sanford’s political ambitions.
Governor Sanford told South Carolina legislators today that he wants to reject a quarter of South Carolina’s funding — $700 billion — unless he can use the money exclusively for paying off debt because I believe doing so would not help our current economic problems and would do real harm to our future financial picture. [Sanford letter to lawmakers, 03/10/09] At the same time today, officials announced that unemployment reached 10.4 percent in South Carolina — the second highest in the country. [Bureau of Labor Statistics, 03/11/09]
In Maryland, we’ve already allocated recovery funding to put thousands of people to work. We also have StateStat in place to track how the money is spent, so that the citizens of Maryland have confidence in how we’re using the money to create jobs, O’Malley said. Americans need help now to get through these very difficult and uncertain times. Any governor who refuses to help the people of his or her state is putting failed ideology ahead of schools and unemployed families.
In fact, Governors all over the country are putting the recovery money to good use now. The funding Governor Sanford has declined is being used in other states to invest in our nation’s roads, bridges and mass transit; in modernizing and greening buildings and homes; in keeping teachers in classrooms and police officers on the street.
If this weren’t really happening, it would be a joke, said Nathan Daschle, the DGA’s executive director. Real people in South Carolina are suffering. They’ve been laid off. They’re struggling to put food on the table. They are poring over want ads that get thinner every day. And now their governor thinks he’s too good for this help, even as the economy gets worse. He even wants to give cash to banks instead of putting it back in the economy. If I were them, I’d move to North Carolina.
CONTACT: Emily DeRose of the Democratic Governors Association, (202) 870-7908
