S.C. officials face backlash from lawmakers over $1.8B error
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - Opinions are split at the South Carolina State House over what consequences should result from a report one top lawmaker says displays “incompetence” within the state’s financial system.
The audit found a reported $1.8 billion surplus in South Carolina s doesn’t actually exist and was due to an ing error.
There’s already a push to remove one elected state official from office because of it.
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“This is not any fraud. This is not any misrepresentation. This is just incompetence and errors that have occurred over a period of time,” said House Speaker Murrell Smith, R-Sumter.
The ing error was made about a decade ago when the state converted from an old ing system to a new one.
Senators who have been looking into these financial concerns say they started with Treasurer Curtis Loftis’ office – and have called for him to resign – although Loftis has denied their accusations.
On Thursday – less than 24 hours after the report’s public release – Democratic Rep. Heather Bauer filed a bill to begin impeachment proceedings against the elected treasurer – to remove him from office.
“The money is not safe with Curtis Loftis,” she said.
Leaders of the House’s Republican supermajority say they still have questions and need to first hear directly from the parties involved.
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“Everything’s going to be on the table going into this process,” Smith said.
That started Thursday, when the firm that conducted the audit appeared before a House subcommittee.
The report found the state’s treasurer, comptroller general and auditor all knew about this error for several years before it came to lawmakers’ attention – and the error remained on state financial reports.
“That balance continued to sit there, without necessarily the investigation or diligence being conducted to figure out what it truly was and whether it belonged there or not,” said Dave Bligh of ALIXPARNTERS Investigations.
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The report did not assign fault to any one person or office.
“It’s not necessarily one party or view that took responsibility for it because there was the awareness from all parties of what was going on. … From that perspective, I think we see this as a shared fault,” Bligh said.
Gov. Henry McMaster told reporters Wednesday he does not blame any one person or office for this situation – and that he does maintain his confidence in Loftis and all other parties involved.
It’s important to note that the state’s former comptroller general – who was also found to have known about this error – resigned in 2023 amid legislative scrutiny.
Hanging over this is a revelation lawmakers and the governor confirmed publicly for the first time this week that South Carolina is now under a federal investigation because of these financial issues.
Senators say the state has already spent about $4 million defending itself – with that sum expected to grow as the investigation continues.
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