South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster gave his State of the State address Wednesday night in Columbia. He touted the state’s economy and his legislative priorities for the year. McMaster cited a $1.8 billion surplus and cutting the state’s income tax rate from 7% to 6% over five years.
"We should not stop at 6%. As I say, competition is fierce. We should keep cutting as much as we can as fast as we can until we can eliminate the personal income tax for our people altogether," he said to applause.
But state Sen. Margie Bright Matthews said the state’s budget couldn’t be as robust as McMaster described since lawmakers are still trying to unravel a $1.8 billion discrepancy in the treasury
"That ultimately led to the resignations of the Comptroller General and the auditor. Last year Treasurer Loftus testified under oath that he knew where the $1.8 billion was and that it had earned over $250 million in interest. Now they say the $1.8 billion never even existed," she said.
She said the buck stops with the governor and cited $15 million spent on an audit to figure out what happened.
