Charleston, SC – March 12, 2013 – The Sanford for Congress campaign today continued its “Seven Reasons for Sanford” series, a reminder to voters in the First District that while others may talk about cutting debt and spending, Sanford has actually done it. Reason #2: Sanford accomplished real reform in Columbia, successfully changing business as usual by instituting numerous first of their kind reforms, including:
- The first of its kind statewide charter school district and charter school reform
- South Carolina’s first ever tort reform legislation, that moved South Carolina off the “Judicial Hellhole” list
- The state’s first comprehensive workers compensation reform bill, which brought predictability to the state’s workers’ comp system
- The first restructuring of the state’s Department of Transportation since its creation, instituted a cost-savings initiative that saved $141 million, implemented a program to stretch highway dollars further and removed the political dimension of project selection
- Restructured the Department of Motor Vehicles, successfully decreasing wait times from 66 minutes to 15 minutes
- Established a Spending Transparency Website to allow the public to see how tax dollars were spent in all executive agencies
“When you look at our record, it’s important to recognize the substantial changes we brought to education, the legal environment, and the structure of state government, which had never before been addressed,” Sanford said. “It probably has much to do with why more investment, $24 billion, came to our state during our governorship than during any other eight years in South Carolina History.” Sanford added, “In fact, our record is one of never accepting ‘it’s always been done that way’ as an answer, as we have always pushed the envelope in the direction of substantive, transformational reform.”
