(1-5-2005) What's your reaction to Gov. Sanford's executive budget?

WW, Columbia:
State Employees are pretty dumb. Look at the Teachers,, Education is dead last in every respect. You want a raise? Screw everything up. You get nothing for doing your job right. Look at the prison guards, let some prisoners escape, get drugs, kill each other and they get a raise...If you really want a raise, stop doing your job.
SR, Columbia:
I used to be a state employee until they hired an 'underprivileged' token to be my supervisor. When he yelled at me because he screwed things up, I quit. Now I am an analyst for another software company and I make more and have much less hassle. If you are sick of no raises, get into the private sector, no hassle, no tokens and you get paid for what you know and do.
PS, Irmo:
My response is I think the Govenor does not like State Employees, I have worked for the State for over 16 years and my husband is disabled. We could not make it if I did not work two jobs. I wish I worked for the DMV, they recieved pay raises while all other state employees got nothing. Education is great but so is having food on the table.
LP, Lexington:
Maybe the Governor should title his budget, "101 Ways To Screw A State Employee". While it is good that he remembers the long- suffering Correctional Officers, I agree with others who voiced the feeling that ALL State Employees have needs and are deserving of consideration. The 3% raise that the Governor fought against so hard last year was a mere slap in the face considering it had been so long since any of them had seen a raise. I still think the obscene practice of giving state agency heads higher percentage raises (7%, 14%, or whatever) than lower level employees(2%, 1%, or less) should be abolished by law. 2% of 100K is a lot more than 2% of 18k to start with. The head of an agency should not be able to get a 7% raise if the lowest paid custodian in his agency doesn't also get 7% !!! Same for huge bonuses! People forget that the State Employees do VOTE and PAY TAXES, too! If they, their friends, and families vote in the next gubernatorial election, my guess is that we are looking at our third one-term governor in a row. I also agree with the comment that before they start adding Troopers, who will soon tire of a pay scale that doesn't keep pace with inflation and move elsewhere, they should concentrate on paying the ones they have a living salary. As for abolishing the TERI program, how will this save the state money? If they have a job that needs doing and have to pay someone a certain amount of money to do it, what difference does it make to the budget whether the person being paid to do the job is already retired or not? At least if he / she is drawing a retirement check, they have a better chance of actually living off of the pittance their salary amounts to than the poor soul who doesn't draw a retirement check. The same amount of money is being paid to have someone do the job, whether they are retired or not. This logic makes as much sense as the story I heard about a city manager in SC who stopped city employees from being able to work overtime if they were taking a vacation or holiday off. His logic, I am told, was that the city shouldn't be paying the employee twice if they are getting paid vacation while off, and time and a half again if they are working overtime. Again, if the job needs filling, it costs the city in quesion NO MORE to pay the man or woman who is burning a vacation day to do it than it would to pay the man or woman who is just working it on his or her day off!!!! The bottom line is that an employee is being paid while on vacation and an employee is being paid overtime to work a job that needs doing. The employer is paying out the same amount of money whether it is to two different people or to one person!!! Sometimes I just don't understand how our supposed "great minds" reach their conclusions.
TP, Newberry:
State workers are overpaid currently. There are many fresh college grads that would be glad to take their positions at 80% of the pay rather than being unemployed or working jobs that make 40% of the state worker's pay. You need to retool yourself to find a job that pays your salary requirements. Has inflation increased 2-3% to justify your higher costs of living? After a recession? The cost of living increases are supposed to equal the inflation of prices so your income remains flat except for actual salary increases and bonuses. Insurance is not required to live. Insurance Companies bet that you will pay more in premiums than you will spend in coverage. Take their bet and drop your insurance coverage if the rates are too high. I hope that the State Workers will continue to thin out losing baggage and require productivity as high as any other industry. Every person in South Carolina averages around ~$4100 of the Fiscal Budget. Budget/Population. How much more do we need to give to contribute a Cost of Living increase when our salaries are not increasing either? What would make the State Workers happy? The budget is not a tool for the business of government, but a tool for the people and you must look at it from our perspective.
DC, Columbia:
I am so sick hearing about school teachers and state employees, you would think they are the only people in this world who works. I have paid 1500.00 in taxes for schools where is that money going. I would love to have a teachers salary and only work 9 months out the year, have 2 weeks off for Xmas, only work maybe 20 days out the month, they are always off for this or that. They should come to my job and work 50 hours a week and only get paid for 40, no raise in three years, but yet I have to pay for all my insurance and it went up again, and no benefits, maybe 1 weeks vacation a year. Cry to someone who cares.
CP, Anderson:
Bring back video poker!
DM, Lexington:
Yes HB, that was directed toward prison guards. Why is it that this state's government only recognizes and worries two groups of people when it comes to salary increases... public school teachers and prison guards? I guess the rest of us just have to wait another three years to get a 3% increase while watching our insurance rates increase by double-digit increments every year.
JH, Columbia:
Those of you who are not State Employees will not understand this, but as a Republican I am very disappointed in this Governor. He has completely ignored salary issues with many State Employees. Most employees have only had a 3% raise (last year) in 4 years. With the increase in insurance costs over the past couple of years, the take home pay is the same or less than it was 3 or 4 years ago. Take in the 4 or 5% cost of living increases each year and we are losing money. Not only that, but workloads have doubled since no employees have been replaced. The Governor talks about Retirement issues, but most agencies offered buyout's of up to 3 years the past couple of years to get employees to retire! This is something that they should continue to offer all employees, regardless of the state of the economy. That would be fair wouldn't it?
CP, Anderson:
Wow! Not only do I get screwed as a State employee, but I get doubly-screwed since I work at a higher education institution. Thanks Mark Sanford!!!
AB, Orangeburg:
I believe that K-12 receive enough money per student. Just look at the difference in public school versus private school money per student. You can't make a student learn if they do not want to learn no matter the amount of money. Higher education was cut significantly and I believe that more money should be given in scholarships to colleges and universities. Maybe that will be an incentive to high school students to strive for a better GPR in order to receive a scholarship to a South Carolina college or university of their choice.
JP, Sumter:
BOHICA (Bend Over Here It Comes Again) State employees. Unless you are a teacher with a diploma from Benedict that means you can probably read and write, you are screwed again. Why do the teachers get a raise when the motto for the State Education System is "I CAME, I SLEPT, I GRADUATED" Many thanks Governor Sanford, I had really hoped for a fair deal from you,, maybe next year.
HB, Columbia
I surely hope the "baby sit convicts" remark isn't about prison guards. If you only knew part of what they have to deal with (including the lewd behavior and mind games of prisoners with nothing better to do and the fact that these prisoners know EVERYTHING about you...including your children's names and where you live) compared to the joke of the salary that they make...you'd certainly think differently.
RM, Lexington:
My reaction is this, why do the teachers need another pay raise when so many other State Employees are just about on welfare? Why does he want to hire 100 State Troopers and other law enforcement officers instead of paying the ones he has a decent salary, All that will happen is once they get trained and realize the local counties and cities are paying more money they will leave the Patrol like they are already doing. The next problem is the General Assembly, they will all agree that throwing money at education will fix all, not. Then there is the seatbelt issue their were over 1,000 people killed on our roadways this year and about 700 of those would be alive if they were wearing their seatbelts, people would be more inclined to wear them if they new they might get stopped and it might just save a few lives.
JM, Columbia:
I'd like it if I was a teacher... $7500 bonus for passing a test to teach students how to take standardized tests.
DM, Lexington:
Surprise State Employees!!! Yes, yet another year without a cost of living increase for state employees unless your job is to babysit convicts. My insurance premiums through the state insurance program increased nearly 20% because they dropped the Economy Plan because I am healthy and don't require regular medical care. Working for the state is kind of like working for in the airline industry... they keep expecting you to do the same or more work for less money each year.
DT, West Columbia:
The governor’s approach is about right, and I believe it’s his approach – his guiding philosophy – that matters more then the actual dollars and cents of each appropriation item. We all know this budget proposal is just a starting point and that the General Assembly will have a great deal to say about it before a final budget is passed. So let’s hope the governor can stand his ground against all the constituencies that will be clamoring for changes and singing songs of gloom and doom if they don’t get their way. Hopefully Governor Sanford won’t have to resort to another political stunt like carrying piglets into the state house again this year to make his point with the lawmakers.
SP, Columbia:
I hope he cuts all social programs in half. I am getting tired of carrying so many freeloaders on my back whose only purpose in the world is to complain about the confederate flag.
JP, Columbia:
I have not had an opportunity to read the budget proposal, however, I agree with his statement that "if you dont have the money, dont spend it". Its really a shame that ex-governor Hodges did not share this viewpoint about taxpayers money.