House passes it over Sanford's objections on how universities are spending money

Published: Friday, February 15, 2008 - 2:00 am

By Tim Smith
CAPITAL BUREAU
tcsmith@greenvillenews.com

COLUMBIA -- The state House passed a bill Thursday that would remove the cap on how much money lawmakers can spend on a program aimed at bringing top researchers to the state's three major universities.

The passage came after Gov. Mark Sanford, a Republican, and some House Democrats raised questions about the need for the legislation and how the program has used its matching funds.

Sanford, in a two-page letter to the House, questioned how Clemson University has structured one of its projects in the program, alleging that in that case and others the program has devolved into a "glorified form of 'you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.'" Clemson denied doing anything wrong.

Sanford said after the passage that the program had been "abused."

"At a time when we're going to struggle to meet core needs, we don't believe it makes sense to create open-ended and very significant financial obligations for our state," he said.

Sanford used the example of a match provided by North Charleston for Clemson's new campus housing the Confederate submarine Hunley.

However, Cathy Sams, a spokeswoman for the school, said that match had nothing to do with the Endowed Chairs program. She said it was used in the state's research infrastructure program, which permits such matches.

In his letter, Sanford said Clemson had used $4 million in the program to construct a building for the South Carolina Research Authority, which it then leased to the authority in a 50-year deal. Clemson proposed using the authority for its match.

In other cases, he said private match money has come from large corporations "that just so happen to have gotten large state incentive packages -- and consequently turned around and given a small portion of that money to this program."

Rep. Dan Cooper, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and House Speaker Bobby Harrell said rules in the program have been strictly followed.

The program has received about $180 million in $30 million-per-year increments since lawmakers five years ago first began appropriating lottery proceeds to help Clemson, the University of South Carolina and the Medical University of South Carolina recruit and fund some of the nation's top researchers.

State funding of the program, which had a total cap of $200 million, was scheduled to end in 2010.

One amendment that would have required officials to first fully fund need-based grants for poor college students before paying money into the Endowed Chairs program failed 50-21. Another passed that requires the lottery to first fully fund state scholarships before making payments to the Endowed Chairs.

House Speaker Bobby Harrell, one of the sponsors of the legislation, came down from his podium to implore the House to pass the bill, arguing that the program has already triggered hundreds of millions of dollars in private investment and is needed to create a knowledge-based economy.

"This is a very, very good program that is focused on South Carolina's future," he said.

Harrell said the program has produced four chairs at Clemson's International Center for Automotive Research, along with jobs and millions in private investment there.

"If we didn't have an endowed chair program, there would be no ICAR," he told House members.

The House then passed the bill by a vote of 107-0.

The three research universities have attracted more than $500 million a year in federal research funding in part because of the program, and the program has garnered millions of industry match dollars required to qualify for the state support, according to the program reports.