Donaldson Funding Approved
Tuesday, September 25th, 2007The Budget & Control Board voted today to approve funding for a vital economic improvement project at Lockheed Martin’s Donaldson Center. These improvements will allow the military industrial giant to continue operations in the Greenville area. The Donaldson Center provides over 1,200 high paying jobs to the state’s economy.
“At a time when our state’s unemployment rate is one of the highest in the nation, doing everything we can to keep high-paying, existing jobs from leaving our state should be a top priority for us. This was about more than the 1,200 workers whose jobs hung in the balance, this was about our level of commitment to improving our state and our economy” said Speaker Harrell.
The funding package announced today consists of a $2 million energy loan that the Legislature will pay back when session reconvenes in January and a $1 million grant that was committed to Donaldson by Governor Sanford.
The Donaldson Center has been a center of contention between Speaker Bobby Harrell and Gov. Mark Sanford. the majority of the Budget & Control Board voted to approve the $3 million project proposed by Speaker Harrell, while Sanford voted against it. The reason Sanford choose to vote against the measure stemmed from the mechanism used fund the project. While Sanford is against the Competitive Grant Program, he wanted to existing funds in the CGP to pay for the project rather than assuming an additional $2 million debt.
This vote also signified a further break down between Sanford and the legislature. According to a source in the Governor’s Office, the other members of the Budget & Control Board did not inform Gov. Sanford of the Donaldson vote. Sanford went into today’s meeting completely unaware of his fellow board members intentions of voting on this issue.
This is likely the first of many upcoming battles between Sanford and the other members of the Budget & Control Board. Sanford largely gained controlled of the B&CB after Thomas Ravenel was elected Treasurer last November, but lost this control after Ravenel was forced to resign due to federal drug charges. Rep. Converse Chellis was elected to replace Ravenel, and it now appears that Chellis will frequently side with the legislature based on this vote.