Caucus Press Release: Republicans Appoint 'Bulldog' Committees
May 25, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Jason Zacher
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Republicans Appoint 'Bulldog' Committees
House conservatives will 'work all summer' for tax cuts, government reform
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Speaker of the House Robert W. "Bobby" Harrell appointed Majority Leader Jim Merrill, Rep. Annette Young, Chairman Harry Cato and Rep. Nikki Haley to two key House conference committees.
"These assignments reflect the commitments we have made to our fellow South Carolinians," Speaker Harrell said. "Our conferees will take a strong stand, will work to bulldog these important reforms through and will cut into the fat of this budget. We are sending a message to the people of our state that we will fight vigorously for the ideals we share."
Reps. Merrill and Young will lead the conference committee on DOT reform. Reps. Cato and Haley will push the Senate for a pro-business workers' compensation reform package. House Republican leaders said Friday those two bills -- along with a grocery tax cut and an income tax cut -- must be passed before the House will go home for the summer.
"House Republicans are prepared to work all summer if that's what it takes," Merrill said. "The people of South Carolina did not re-elect a Republican majority last fall to approve budgets laden with pork and short on tax relief. I will not vote for anything resembling the Senate's budget. The additional $250 million in the Senate budget must go toward our tax cuts and there is simply no reason why it can't."
Earlier this week, Speaker Harrell, Majority Leader Merrill and Chairman Cato joined Governor Sanford in calling for and end to Senate inaction on these critical pieces of legislation.
"I can't go home without reforming the DOT and the worker's comp system, and a budget drowning in pork with no significant tax relief," said Chairman Cato, of Travelers Rest. "The Senate is not listening to the same constituents I am."
Reforming the DOT and the workers' comp system have been top priorities for Republicans all session. Rep. Young, from Summerville, chaired the House DOT Ad Hoc Study Committee.
"The DOT wasted tens of millions of taxpayer dollars and reforming that agency was far and away my top priority when we arrived in Columbia this year," said Rep. Young. "Everyone across the state is screaming for these reforms."
Rep. Haley of Lexington, a small business owner, said that passage of a strong, pro-business workers' compensation law was critical to economic development in a state where small businesses account for 95 percent of all jobs.
"Small business owners and employees have been rocked by the recent spike in insurance premiums, which has slowed our state's job growth at a time when we should be doing everything we can to speed it up," Rep. Haley said. "I can't think of anything that's more critical to improving the economic well-being of our state's primary job creation engine than a solidly pro-business workers' compensation bill."
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