Tonight, in her State of the State address, Governor Haley outlined the details of her infrastructure plan. Her proposal calls for restructuring the Department of Transportation, decrease the state income tax over the next ten years and increase the gas tax over the next three.
Governor Haley’s plan asks for Department of Transportation reform. Currently road construction and repair is motivated by politics. This needs to stop. The reforms under the Governor’s proposal would ensure that road funding would focus on maintaining the roads we have first and take politics out of the process.
In order to ensure that there is not a net tax increase the Governor’s infrastructure plan calls for a 30% cut of all income taxes over the next 10 years. Currently South Carolina has the highest income tax rate in the southeast. Only New York and California have higher income and sales taxes. Under this plan South Carolina would have the 3rd lowest marginal income tax rate in the southeast and would return over $8 billion to taxpayers.
Finally, to pay for the roads Governor Haley recommended that the gas tax is raised by ten cents over the next three years. This would send $3.5 billion to road repair over the next 10 years. This would go a long way in solving a problem that took decades to develop.
The SC Club for Growth supports Governor Haley’s proposal. We hope that the legislature will take the Governor’s plan seriously and pass it quickly. South Carolina’s infrastructure crumbling and the roadmap outlined by these recommendations will not only improve roads but the quality of life for South Carolinians.
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