One of the major themes of the first two years of Nikki Haley’s tenure as governor has been her frigid—some would call it hostile—relationship with the General Assembly.
Better relations between the executive and the legislative branches would almost certainly result in a more productive government for the betterment of the entire state.
One area in particular that would benefit is public education. Haley made education funding reform one of the key elements of her State of the State address and made a concerted effort to reach out to the legislature.
She followed up on her remarks on Wednesday morning when she invited some key members of both chambers and both parties to the Governor’s Mansion for breakfast.
Specifically, Haley wants to change the calculus for funding in an effort to direct more dollars to rural districts. For decades, the rural parts of the state have lagged behind the metro areas in educational performance, and, not coincidentally, economic growth.
The Wednesday meeting had no proposals, but was hoped to be a starting point for Haley to improve her relationship with the legislature and deliver the kind of education reform she believe is needed.
Her spokesman Rob Godfrey told Patch, "Governor Haley appreciated that legislators took the time to join her for a conversation on education. It was a great first step toward devising a game plan for education reform. She looks forward to continuing that conversation."
Rep. Todd Rutherford, (D-Richland), who is the House Minority Leader, was one of those in attendance. He’s not optimistic that education funding can be changed.
“Well, first of all, I want to congratulate Gov. Haley for finally coming around to our view,” Rutherford said. “We’ve been talking about this problem since I joined the legislature in 1998 and probably sooner.”
“Unless we talk about revenues, giving more money to the rural districts means we’ll have to take it away from someone else,” Rutherford said.
Rutherford said that the only way real reforms in education can be made are through additional revenue sources, the most obvious one being gambling. He said licensing fees and taxes on revenues generated by casinos would dramatically improve schools and the state’s crumbling infrastructure.
Haley and other leading Republicans have opposed the legalization of gambling, which Rutherford says is hypocritical. “Their opposition is on moral grounds, but we already have a lottery in the state. Plus, churches all over the state have bingo parlors and raffles. That’s gambling.”
Rutherford also noted that Republicans are against raising the gas tax and in favor of eliminating the six percent tax bracket.
“When Republican leadership talks about improving education they look like wolves in sheep’s clothing,” Rutherford said.
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