INCOMING SENATOR WON’T TAKE CONTROVERSIAL SUBSIDY
S.C. Senator Katrina Shealy (R-Lexington) will refuse a legislative stipend tied to her service in the S.C. General Assembly – saving taxpayers an estimated $50,000 over the duration of her four-year Senate term.
Shealy is turning down this “per diem” money – $131 per day typically used for lodging and meals – because she lives so close to the S.C. State House. Every other State Senator – including one who lives much closer to the State House than Shealy – pockets this money.
Obviously $12,000 is chump change … but it’s money that could be earmarked for a taxpayer rebate fund (a concept Shealy supports, incidentally). Also, if every other lawmaker were to follow Shealy’s lead (imagine that) they would save taxpayers an estimated $2.1 million a year.
That’s still chump change in a $23.3 billion budget … but it’s one small way in which lawmakers could demonstrate their commitment to reducing the size of our bloated state government. Also Shealy’s selflessness with regard to these incidental costs is quite a contrast to the Ebenezer-esque conduct of S.C. Retirement System Investment Commission (SCRSIC) chairman Reynolds Williams – an ally of liberal S.C. Senate Finance Chairman Hugh Leatherman.
So far we’ve been impressed with Shealy … let’s hope she keeps it up. More importantly, let’s hope more lawmakers follow her example by sending this money back.
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24 comments
Glad you’ve been impressed with someone that hasn’t even take the oath of office yet.
Kudos for not taking the Per Diem. Hopefully in 2.5 years when no one is paying attention, she will still not take it.
Somewhere, deep in the bowels of the SCDOR, there is a book, probably covered with dust and roach shit, that explains in detail the tax code reporting of per diem for all legislators.
Shealy looks like a hot broad. I’ll use her for my secretary in my current adventure. Hmmm, but I’ll change her name to “Kitty”, which may be better suited for what I have in mind.
On second thought, I’ll change her name to “Kitty”.
It’s not only the Senators who get the per diem, it is also the Representatives. I would hope that Shealy “challenges” all legislators, Senators and Representatives, from Lexington and Richland Counties reject this money.
Come on Nate ….. you want to be the Tea Party Champ ….. don’t continue to take the per diem!
Its easy to make that challenge when you live in Lexington, and not say…Bluffton. They should just do it based on the radius of travel to the state house? And if you stay over night, for say a filibuster, et cetera.
She could have donated it to charity
Charity is the name of my last girlfriend’s damn cat.
My ex-girlfriend just sent me a nasty email. I didn’t know she read this site, and she now knows who I am.
She tells me that girls name their cats charity, fluffy, muffy and sissy; but guys want to give “realistic” names to cats – like hairball, fish breath and stinkbutt.
We’ve had this conversation before.
Meow…
it is a good symbolic gesture and I’m OK with that
Insteaed of focusing on this tax rebate shit perhaps Ms. Shealy will devote her efforts to abolishing the state income tax and model the tax structure after Tennessee and waste no time compensating ANYONE who can prove that they were financially damaged by the DOR/SSN bullshit.
But that’s probably asking too much from her.
I can hear it in about a year:
“But I gave back my perdiem,now you really want me to do something substantial???
I have no problem with the action (or more particularly a promise of some future action), which seems reasonable and appropriate. I do have a some questions about it, though. Does she intend to sign some type of binding, irrevocable waiver of the per diem (and would such a thing even be legal enforceable)? How are we going to find out if she changes her mind? How did this become public knowledge? Did she send out a “hey, look at how great I am!” press release to draw attention to her supposed selfless act? Dig a little here, please.
Shealy for Governor, 2014
Good for her!!!!! Guarantee you that Pigboy Knotts wouldn’t have done that and neither will Setzler.
Do us proud, Katrina!
I can remember when legislators only received the per diem if they lived more than fifty miles from the State House. When did this change to include all legislators and why? Anybody know?
You are correct. Although the tax law re per diem may have been changed, at one time your statement is on target.
If it has been changed it’s news to me. See my post re “the book deep in the bowels of SCDOR probably covered with dust and roach shit”.
I’d be more impressed if she had opted out of the obscenely lucrative pension plan.
The retirement outlay is based on total costs incurred by legislator which includes per diem if I read how retirement benefits are calculated. I “assume” that this will then decrease her retirement payout?
Amen!!!!
Don’t worry–she’s not going to take the retirement either.
I think this is a very good sign in terms of measuring her commitment to public service rather than the abuse of the public we’ve seen from too many others for far too long.
And she’s all for going to a tax system that gets rid of income tax and property tax.
Now, the rest of the state needs to step up and send some more REAL conservatives to the statehouse in the next few election cycles.
please go back into the closet Worthless Tammy C
Tell me something Lee, why do you hide behind so many fake screen names? Are you afraid of losing your job over at W.P. in Lexington or just embarrassed about all the crap you write on here and other sites?
Why isn’t their per diem paid like some jury duty, by the mile from your residence?
I suppose that would make too much sense.
will she use the money instead on nerve pills cause that bitch is stone cold crazy
She’s going to need the gas money.