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South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford and 11 members of the General Assembly joined Policy Council President Ashley Landess today to release an economic study showing the negative economic impact that would result from accepting federal stimulus dollars. The independent research shows higher government spending due to stimulus would hurt the private sector and cost between 23,800 and 34,850 lost South Carolina jobs.
The data also found that South Carolina government already spends more than 58 percent of the state’s private sector output, which would rise to more than 61 percent. The national average for government spending is 49 percent, and would rise to 52 percent with stimulus funds.
Governor Sanford was joined by eight Senators who oppose accepting the federal bailout. Three of the eight House members who voted against accepting stimulus dollars also attended. The Governor and legislators pledged to work together on this issue.
“What we have here is a very different point of view of what we’ve been hearing over the last several weeks which is if you don’t do the stimulus package there is no other way. The fact is there are other ways. This simply reflects what the Congressional Budget Office has already said. They have said there will be less economic activity as a result of the economic stimulus package than if there had been no stimulus package at all,” said Governor Sanford.
“Nationally renowned economists predict massive job losses if South Carolina accepts stimulus funds and we will still find ourselves in this position facing cuts or tax increases in two years. Our state budget still has millions of dollars in spending for items that are far less essential than teachers or law enforcement. $7 billion in state fine and fee revenue has not even been examined in more than a decade. It is irresponsible that some lawmakers are making this a choice between firing teachers or eliminating private sector jobs,” said Policy Council President Ashley Landess.
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