Haley, Assembly Battle to Session's End

Wednesday brought a close to the second legislative session under the administration of Gov. Nikki Haley. While it will be a while before the outcome of the battle over Haley’s vetoes can be fully known, one thing is for certain, the relationship between the governor and the legislature is contentious, at best.

On Tuesday, budget vetoes.

On Wednesday, (Vetoes #36 and #39 – both of which are in Social Services), meaning the General Assembly overrode 49 of Haley’s vetoes.

The legislature reversed Haley’s veto on key items such as those that provide funding to the Arts Commission, the Sea Grant Consortium and a group of rape crisis centers situated throughout the state. They also overrode a veto that withheld additional dollars for teacher raises.

Haley’s veto of the rape crisis center drew particular scorn and when she was accused of , the intensity ratcheted up several notches. It continued into Wednesday when Sen. Joel Lourie (D - Richland) admonished Haley, telling her to spend more time governing and less time on Facebook.

In a brief session with the media on Wednesday afternoon, Haley said she was happy, though not satisfied, that more than 30 of her vetoes were sustained, adding that if she had the ability to “blue line” the budget there would have been ever more vetoes.

But she had sharp words for the Arts Commission, calling the agency “arrogant.” She said the Arts Commission should operate more like ETV, which Haley attempted to cut last year, but has since become more efficient, according to the governor. “Every agency should run like (ETV),” Haley said.

Haley also took issue with members of the General Assembly who blasted her for her Facebook comments and had no intention of apologizing, as some had demanded. She reiterated her position (see accompanying video at 6:00 mark), that her criticism was not about what the money was used for, but how it was included in the budget.

“It’s their job to create a distraction,” Haley said in response to the Facebook furor. “It’s my job to make sure we are spending wisely.”

She then turned the criticism back at the Assembly, calling their budgeting efforts “irresponsible.”

“Sometimes the medicine doesn’t taste good, but I have to make the state healthy,” she said.

Mark Tompkins, a professor of Public Administration at the Univ. of South Carolina, said that the early read on the veto session look to be a mixed result for Haley.

“She’s made it pretty clear she is going to position herself to the public as a fighter against the General Assembly and what she thinks is wasteful spending,” Tompkins said, adding that Haley’s predecessor, Mark Sanford, struck a similar pose.

From a historical perspective, Tompkins explained it wasn’t always this way, previous governors such as Dick Riley and Carroll Campbell took pride in their dealings with the legislature. “They put a premium on relationships and were able to accomplish quite a lot,” Tompkins said.

But Tompkins said he does not expect the fight between Haley and legislators to end any time soon. “We’re going to continue to see this struggle,” he said. “And it’s unfortunate because there are critical things like health care and tax reform that needs to be dealt with.”