It’s a deal if you stop taxing property owners that don’t have children in school.
Via WISTV:
With the General Assembly back in session beginning Jan. 8, we’re taking a look at some of the proposed legislation up for debate.
Two Democrats in the House of Representatives are proposing a new 7% fee to every gun sale in the state, with proceeds going towards school resource officers.
Rep. Wendy Brawley of District 70, and Rep. Ivory Thigpen of District 79 are behind this new proposal set to be discussed in the Ways and Means Committee. They tell WIS-TV that more than 600 schools across the state are operating without school resource officers- mainly due to a lack of funding.
It’s estimated that this proposed added gun fee will generate another $22 million in revenue each year, which Brawley and Thigpen say could help provide more safety in our schools.
They also say this is not anti-gun legislation, and are hoping to gain support on both sides of the aisle.
“The governor made placing an SRO in every school in South Carolina – public school – a major campaign issue and we would hope that he was serious about that because this gives us a very good head-start toward getting toward that goal and we are hoping that he will support this and will encourage others in his party to do the same,” Rep. Brawley said.[…]
WIS reached out to the governor’s office, and received this response:
“The governor has said before that we cannot tax our way to prosperity. New taxes or fees will slow economic growth and unduly burden the people of South Carolina. Governor McMaster was the first to start talking about the need for school resource officers last year in his state of the state address and secured more than $2 million in the final budget for a pilot program to begin the process of reaching his goal of having a certified law enforcement officer in every school, in every county, all day, every day. Reaching that goal is a matter of prioritizing existing funds – not simply taxing and spending.”
Rep. Thigpen says this is a way for people to do something positive with the right to bear arms.