By Robert Kittle
South Carolina lawmakers say a comment Gov. Nikki Haley made about them could hurt her chances of getting her agenda passed at the Statehouse. Gov. Haley told a realtors group Tuesday, “Because I know many of you are going to the Statehouse, which I love, just make sure you take a good shower when you leave.”
The crowd laughed, but House Majority Leader Bruce Bannister, R-Greenville, says, “I believe the governor meant it in jest, but there’s a time and place for everything and those kind of jokes in front of a crowd, giving a speech as the governor of the state of South Carolina, I thought it wasn’t appropriate.”
Lawmakers are working on bills like ones to fix state roads and bridges, including the governor’s plan that would raise the gas tax by 10 cents a gallon but cut the state income tax.
Bannister says, “That debate over the roads issue is so far from being completed, the more positive and encouraging the governor can be in coming up with a solution that’s acceptable to everybody for roads the better. If it becomes a negative debate, it if becomes personal and there are issues brought into the debate that aren’t really related to the policy, that makes our job incredibly difficult.”
Senate Transportation Committee chairman Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Berkeley, says he wishes the governor hadn’t said what she did. “Being nice to people has a way of helping you achieve an agenda, and calling people out by name, saying ugly things about people, whether you’re a legislator doing that or anybody, it’s not helpful to your cause sometimes,” he says.
He says if lawmakers don’t come up with a plan to fix state roads, or address other major issues, the people at home won’t care whose fault it is. “Collectively, it’s all our faults if we can’t produce good policy,” he says. “Politeness produces good policy.”
Speaker of the House Jay Lucas, R-Hartsville, took the floor of the House Wednesday to denounce the governor’s comment, saying it might “poison the well” at the Statehouse. But Thursday he said he’s moved on.
When asked if the governor’s comment hurts the chances of big issues being settled this session, he said, “The governor has had some influence this year with us. We’ve continued to talk to her and we’ll continue to have that dialog with her. Right now, we’re going to focus on domestic violence and our roads bill and try to move those two big issues forward and hopefully the governor will stay involved and we’ll try to involve her. So I’m not sure it affects anything.”
He said his comments Wednesday needed to be said but now he wants to move forward. “We don’t want to have that affect our relationship with the governor. We want to continue to have a good relationship with the governor,” he said Thursday afternoon.
Haley’s press secretary Chaney Adams says, “The governor has made similar comments for the past decade, and stands by them. She herself works in the Statehouse, as do her staff, and hundreds of politicians and lobbyists. It’s nothing personal, and there’s no need for crocodile tears. Taxpayers need to have a healthy skepticism about what goes on in Columbia, just like in Washington.”