The Chamber wades in to battle

We got an email forwarded to us today that is an interesting little piece of Greenville political maneuvering. As you likely know from your car repair bill, South Carolina roads are a mess. About two years ago, local business and Greenville Chamber tried to pass a one-cent sales tax to actually fix roads. It was crushed heavily in a county-wide vote in part because of nasty campaign from Americans for Prosperity as well as somehow County Council not reading its own law.

But the fight has not ended. Chamber political guru Jason Zacher sent out an email to an unknown number of business leaders this week asking them to step and call their local senators to support a roads bill that is stalling in Columbia. Here is the text of it:

It's no secret that our roads are highly trafficked and crumbling. Just drive down I-85 at rush hour and you'll see the results of our state kicking the can down the proverbial road for the past 30 years. Our traffic fatality rate is rising while the nation's is falling. We need our roads fixed and we need them fixed soon.

The Greenville Chamber is fighting to secure long-term, sustainable funding for infrastructure. Currently H. 3579, a bill that provides this much need funding, is being filibustered in the S.C. Senate. We need your help THIS MORNING to stop the filibuster and encourage our Senators to reach a compromise on this bill.

Please take two minutes to call or email your Senator and tell them:

● It is imperative that they pass a roads fix this year that provides substantial, recurring funding for roads.

● We want reasonable DOT reforms that keep objective measures as the criteria for road projects.

● We will support the Senate if they believe tax cuts are needed to off-set the increased revenue.

● Thank them for their hard work on this issue.

Find out who your Senator is, and use the contact info below to reach out to them:

Sen. Karl Allen

(803)212-6040

karallen@scsenate.gov

Sen. Lee Bright

(803)212-6008

leebright@scsenate.gov

Sen. Tom Corbin

(803)212-6100

tomcorbin@scsenate.gov

Sen. Mike Fair

(803)212-6420

mikefair@scsenate.gov

Sen. Larry Martin

(803)212-6610

larrymartin@scsenate.gov

Sen. Shane Martin

(803)212-6100

shanemartin@scsenate.gov

Sen. Ross Turner

(803)212-6148

rossturner@scsenate.gov

Sen. Danny Verdin

(803)212-6230

dannyverdin@scsenate.gov

Your advocacy is essential to moving this debate forward. Not spending a few minutes of your time to contact your Senator could cost you the health and well-being of your family due to unsafe roads.

We have to say it is a pretty good idea, but it likely won’t make much of a change. Most of these senators likely won’t listen to 1,000 calls from people saying they want the road tax as long as they think one person in their district is against it.

Now, we could be wrong, but we shall see.