17 policy questions for South Carolina candidates

This is the time of the political season that an odd dance begins.

Politicians want to present a compelling image so you’ll cast a vote for them. But they often don’t want to give away too much of what they really think in case it gets them in trouble. So they may hedge, waffle, or give so much bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo that the questioner falls asleep.

Meanwhile, voters want to know specifically where candidates stand on everything from aardvarks to zucchini without all of the bluster, bombast, and bull.

So it’s a good time to offer some questions readers can pose to state House and statewide candidates to get to the meat of where they stand. Use at your own peril (now that they know they may be getting them).

With so much about state government focusing on budgets and money, consider:

• If you have $100 million in state money to invest in one recurring line item in South Carolina’s state budget, what would you spend it on? [NOTE: This is not a question about tax cuts; You have to spend the money on something real, not spend it on lowering taxes.]

• South Carolina has a ridiculous number of sales tax exemptions. Studies show removing these special-interest exemptions would pump a large amount of money into the state budget. Pick five exemptions that we should get rid of and explain why.

• What specific professional experience do you offer to the office that makes you a good steward of our tax dollars?

• South Carolina hasn’t borrowed money through a bond bill for almost 20 years to make strategic investments. So, the state now has the capacity to borrow at low rates to pay for big projects. Do you support or reject use of borrowing through a bond bill of at least $500 million to pay for big projects, such as paying for long-ignored maintenance needs at colleges?

• Out-of-state Internet retail companies now have to pay sales tax in South Carolina, due to a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision. That will mean an extra $100 million to state tax coffers. How would you spend this revenue (and again, not “spend” it on a tax cut)?

In South Carolina, education spending makes up more than half of state budget, leading to these questions:

• State lottery dollars are mostly for higher education. Yes or no — should a significant share of lottery dollars be used for public K-12 education, or should the system stay the same? Why?

• If you had to choose to raise the salaries of K-12 teachers or lower the cost of college, which would you choose and why?

• South Carolina continues to lag behind the rest of the nation in education. What specifically do you support to help improve education in big ways, not baby steps? Don’t answer with political platitudes.

• The state of South Carolina regularly overrides the state education funding formula in the law, which allows it to underinvest in public K-12 education by hundreds of millions of dollars. Are you for or against following the K-12 funding formula in state law or do you support breaking that law and continuing to underinvest?

• What is the single biggest reason that South Carolina’s education system is ranked at the bottom?

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Finally, there’s a grab-bag of various questions you may want to get people on the record:

• Do you support President Trump? Why or why not?

• Do you believe all journalists are liars? Explain the role of the press in governance.

• Are you satisfied in the investments being made to improve South Carolina’s roads? If so, why? If not, why not?

• What will you do to protect South Carolina’s water supply from nuclear plant leaks?

• Do you support increasing state funds to the Conservation Bank to protect special places? Why or why not? If so, how much would you support in increased funding?

• Specifically, how would you increase access to affordable health care to all South Carolinians?

• If you have served in any public office, what one vote did you make that you now regret? Why did you vote that way?

We’re sure there are a lot more good, hard-hitting questions. What would you ask?