S.C. Representative Phyllis J. Henderson confirmed to the S.C. Freedom Action Network that South Carolina House Legislative Bill H. 4177 is officially dead for 2018. The bill is a measure pushed by local S.C. State House delegates to convert the $2.4 billion Interstate 73 connector into a toll road. The bill had the support of Hugh Leatherman, Luke Rankin, Greg Duckworth, Alan Clemmons and practically all Horry County state level elected politicians.
The connector is scheduled to run from I-95 into Myrtle Beach. Residents, however, spoke out in volume to the S.C. General assembly asking that the road not be sold to private investors. Most believed selling the road to private investors (and turning it into a toll road) would likely cause the investors to experience financial failure. Should the tolls collected not cover the cost of building and operating the highway, the private investment will fail. Local tax payers would then be left to pick up the debt burden of the Interstate.
Representative Henderson responded as below: Debate for the bill was adjourned by the Ways and Means subcommittee and will not come up for a vote this year. If it did, I would not support it.
Said the Freedom Action Network in a release to their supporters:
Thousands of you across the state made sure that toll bill went nowhere.
And now that we’re hitting the home stretch of the legislative session in Columbia, it’s highly unlikely it passes in 2018.
However, make no mistake, corrupt politicians like Senate leader Hugh Leatherman and his pals are scheming.
I-73 is a get-rich-scheme that is worth billions to lobbyists like former SCDOT Commissioner Mike Wooten.
His engineering company stands to make a pretty penny off building that taxpayer-funded boondoggle.
Wooten won’t stop lobbying. There’s too much at stake for him.
The lobbyists and politicians will try again next year, but thanks to you, we defeated them this year.