Taxes and Spending

S.C. lawmakers jump back on earmark bandwagon

BY RICK BRUNDRETT The S.C. Legislature’s addiction to massive earmark spending apparently is a hard habit to break. After taking a rare year off from making earmarked appropriations, the 170-member General Assembly collectively has proposed 475 earmarks costing taxpayers a potential maximum $467.23 million for the fiscal year that starts...

Rick Brundrett

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May 20, 2026

  • S.C. lawmakers jump back on earmark bandwagon

    BY RICK BRUNDRETT The S.C. Legislature’s addiction to massive earmark spending apparently is a hard habit to break. After taking a rare year off from making earmarked appropriations, the 170-member General Assembly collectively has proposed 475 earmarks costing taxpayers a potential maximum $467.23 million for the fiscal year that starts...
    Rick Brundrett

    Written by
    May 20, 2026

  • State pothole repair records full of holes

    By RICK BRUNDRETT Editor’s Note: This story is part of a two-article package on road issues facing South Carolinians. The other story can be found here. UPDATE: 5/18/26: Gov. Henry McMaster signed S. 831 into law, six days after the House and Senate approved a joint conference committee report on...
    Rick Brundrett

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    April 30, 2026

  • Digging below the surface of SC's road woes

    By RICK BRUNDRETT Editor’s Note: This story is part of a two-article package on road issues facing South Carolinians. The other story can be found here. When it comes to roads, Randy West knows how to look below the surface for problems. West is director of the National Center for...
    Rick Brundrett

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    April 30, 2026

  • State costs grow to $12.5M related to probes of disputed $1.8B

    By RICK BRUNDRETT The state-funded tab for investigations of and other matters related to the disputed $1.8 billion has grown to more than $12.5 million, according to the latest records reviewed by The Nerve. The new tally, which is based on records obtained under the S.C. Freedom of Information Act,...
    Rick Brundrett

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    November 25, 2025

  • Bumpy rides: Thousands of pothole claims filed against SCDOT

    By RICK BRUNDRETT Editor’s note: This story is part of a two-article package published today. The other story can be found here. Since 2020, more than 11,500 pothole damage or injury claims have been filed against the S.C. Department of Transportation, though less than half were approved and resulted in...
    Rick Brundrett

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    October 31, 2025

  • How a pothole changed an Anderson man's life

    By RICK BRUNDRETT Editor’s note: This story is part of a two-article package published today. The other story can be found here. Chris Ellis says when he was racing dirt bikes as a kid, his biggest fears were hitting “a deer, grass in the road, or another vehicle.” “Never in...
    Rick Brundrett

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    October 31, 2025

  • Public cost of investigating disputed $1.8B grows to over $11M

    Editor’s note: This story is part of a two-article package today. The other story can be found here. By RICK BRUNDRETT More than $11 million in state funds have been spent on investigations of and other matters related to the disputed $1.8 billion, The Nerve’s latest review has found. The...
    Rick Brundrett

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    August 22, 2025

  • State treasurer, attorney general spar over outside legal fees

    Editor’s note: This story is part of a two-article package published today. The other story can be found here. By RICK BRUNDRETT S.C. Treasurer Curtis Loftis says he personally spent about $100,000 to defend himself in connection with the state Senate’s recent vote to remove him from office after the...
    Rick Brundrett

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    August 22, 2025

  • Hidden costs: How state agencies quietly spend above their budgets

    By RICK BRUNDRETT The adopted state budget for the current fiscal year that ends June 30 totaled more than $42 billion, though a low-key state office quietly approved an additional $858 million in collective “other” or federal fund spending requests after the fiscal year started, records show. And since the...
    Rick Brundrett

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    May 05, 2025

  • SC awash in multibillion-dollar surplus of 'other' funds

    By RICK BRUNDRETT In South Carolina, $8.6 billion represents about $1,600 for every man, woman and child. It’s also the total amount of “other” fund surpluses that state agencies carried into the start of this fiscal year, The Nerve found in a review of records provided by the S.C. Department...
    Rick Brundrett

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    April 23, 2025