In Saturday’s (7/7) The State (Columbia, South Carolina), Adam Beam reports, “About 40 state workers were told not to come to work on Monday after Gov. Nikki Haley eliminated all funding for the two state agencies that employ them. Haley struck the combined $9.5 million budgets of the South Carolina Arts Commission and the South Carolina Sea Grants Consortium late Thursday night, two of her 81 vetoes of the state’s $23 billion state budget. … Both agencies have 20 employees. Haley says both agencies are redundant. Research universities can apply for their own grants, she said, and the private sector can support arts projects. … House Minority Leader Harry Ott, D-Calhoun, criticized the governor’s decisions. ‘It is disappointing that she would put a target on the Arts Commission and the Sea Grants Consortium,’ he said. ‘It’s been proven over and over that having access to the arts helps attract industry to South Carolina.’ … Ken May, the Arts Commission’s executive director, said he plans to start a campaign to save the commission, saying he plans to use his personal cellphone to make calls.”
Posted July 10, 2012
