Gov. Henry McMaster vetoes plan that would have benefited coastal property owners building sea walls

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCBD)- Governor Henry McMaster on Tuesday announced a number of vetoes he made for the $13 billion state budget that is set to go into effect this week.

The governor issued 21 line-item vetoes which totaled nearly $2.3 million worth of earmarks.

Among those vetoes is a measure that would have impacted some beachfront homeowners who have built erosion control structures, such as sea walls, to protect their properties.

Under the state’s current BeachFront Management Act, any structure built on critical areas of the coast requires a permit, and sea walls are prohibited.

However, lawmakers agreed to add a pair of provisos to the 2024-2025 fiscal year budget that would have required the Department of Environmental Services to review actions taken regarding violations of the act for erosion control devices and potentially take new action.

It also made it so that if a property owner prevailed in their fight to keep their structure in place, the department would compensate them for costs they incurred to remedy the situation.

This plan could have exposed the state to significant financial liability, McMaster said in explaining why he vetoed the proviso.

He further called the plan a “piecemeal attempt to address beach erosion and management,” characterizing it as “not good policy.”

“They seek to alter the critical beach management policies and procedures for a single fiscal year, just for a year,” McMaster said during a Wednesday press conference at the State House.

“These are questions that have been presented, have been answered, and then the environment changes and it takes constant study and work, but a one-year proviso freezing everything, I think, is not the way to progress in this very delicate and important area,” he continued.

Aside from laying out which line items he was striking, the governor also touted some of the changes in the final budget, including raises for teachers and law enforcement, $200 million in funding for bridge replacements and repairs, and cutting the state’s personal income tax rate from 6.4% to 6.2%.

In all, the final spending plan included 292 proposals from McMaster’s executive budget totaling $2.4 billion, an increase of 126 more than were included two years ago.

He also commended the state legislature for strides made in disclosing earmarked appropriations of which there are approximately 512 contained in the budget worth $424.7 million.

“After decades of overriding the gubernatorial vetoes of innocuous-sounding appropriation titles inside of which the earmarks were hidden, the leadership of the Senate and House of
Representatives now disclose the sponsors and recipients of earmarked appropriations, as well as the activity, function, or project for which each earmark is intended,” McMaster wrote in his veto message.

The earmarks include funding to purchase new patrol cars, body armor, firetrucks, upgraded weaponry, K9 officers, infrastructure projects, wastewater and sewer projects, recreational parks and trails, and traffic improvements.

To see the full list of line-item vetoes issued by the governor, click here.