Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter isn’t one to mince words about anything.

When asked what the holdup with the state budget is, she said bluntly, “I think the budget has been taken hostage by this need to reform DOT on one hand, and the governor’s income tax reform on the other.”

The state legislature ended its six-month session Thursday with some unfinished business, including failing to pass a budget.

“The bottom line is we are increasingly becoming like the federal level of government – the acrimony, partisanship, not getting anything done,” Cobb-Hunter said. The Orangeburg Democrat is a member of the budget-writing House Ways and Means Committee.

“The bigger story is we have a Republican General Assembly, Republican-controlled state and we can’t end the year with a budget, reform of DOT or workers’ compensation. We had six months to do this. It’s inexcusable. As of 5 p.m. June 7, we couldn’t do it. You’re in charge but you can’t deliver? What’s wrong with this picture?”

Neither the House nor Senate would pass a budget until reform of the Department of Transportation and the state’s workers compensation program were agreed upon. The legislature also bickered over who would receive proposed tax cuts.

“I support the Senate version of the income tax reform,” Cobb-Hunter said.

An $86 million income tax cut is proposed. The House and Gov. Mark Sanford want those cuts to go to top-earners. The Senate wants a tax cut for every person who files taxes.

“I believe that (the Senate version) is more fair to a greater number of working people. The House version would have given money back to the top 2 percent as opposed to the Senate version, which is bottom-up. The House version is top-down, the Senate version is bottom-up. I have always favored relief for working people,” she said.

Issues concerning DOT arose last year when a state audit revealed it wasted tens of millions of taxpayer dollars and lacked accountability. Lawmakers disagree on how DOT members are chosen and how to fund agency projects. The House plan included $40 million for road maintenance and construction in 2007-08, an amount that would eventually increase to $200 million yearly. The Senate wants to only commit the $40 million without binding future budgets to that amount.

Cobb-Hunter said she does not have the same beef with DOT and its former director, Betty Mabry, as other legislators have.

“I am not one that had a lot of complaints against Betty Mabry,” she said. Mabry left the agency in the wake of more than a year of criticism. “I thought Betty Mabry did a good job considering the structure under which she worked. I was not a part of the crusade to do away with her. Reforms are needed. The problem is at the district engineering level and locally, trying to make sure things are done in a fair way. I didn’t have the same experience and found her to always be open and accessible and very conscious of the needs of rural South Carolina.

“That’s what concerns me about DOT, it has clearly become urban versus rural. ... In my district, my number one concern from my constituents is road maintenance and road paving. Now I’ll tell you, when you look at the so-called reform, I’m not sure much will change with either version, House or Senate. You will still have a highway commission, still have an executive director. It’s unclear to me whether or not much will change.”

As the session wound down last week, House Minority Leader Harry Ott said that while he wants DOT and workers compensation reform too, he disagrees with the budget being held up.

“We’re all grown-ups,” the St. Matthews Democrat said. “People send us here to get something accomplished. It’s very important to us to be responsible legislators and pass a budget.”

Some things did get accomplished during the session. Cobb-Hunter was especially pleased that the Children’s Health Insurance Program received funding. Other positives were how the legislators were able to fund education and give state employees a 3 percent raise without having them cover the increase in state insurance costs. The sales tax on groceries will be cut from 3 cents on 1 cent starting Nov. 1.

The House and Senate overrode the governor’s vetoes on school transportation and additional aid for autistic children. However, Cobb-Hunter was disappointed that other programs like ADAPT –a program for people who are living with AIDS – didn’t receive more funding.

“I was very disappointed that in a year where we had over a billion dollars to spend, we chose not to put $8 million into ADAPT,” she said. “We have a waiting list that now has over 400 people on it. Four people have died since we started talking about funding. DHEC needed $8 million to eliminate the waiting list and we gave them three.”

The legislators will return to Columbia on June 19 to take up conference reports on the budget, workers’ compensation and DOT reform and then return at the end of the month to deal with any vetoes the governor may have issued.

“We are in session longer than most states,” Cobb-Hunter said. “We have a smaller budget than most states. You’re telling me we can’t get it done in six months. I’m for shortening the sessions. I think the length of our sessions limits the kind of people who can serve.

“If we had a shorter session, more working people would think about serving. ... I’m anxious to go back on the 19th and get this over with. ”

Charlene Slaughter can be reached by e-mail at cslaughter@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5529. Discuss this and other stories online at TheT&D.com.

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