The Daily Gamecock

Lordo to McMaster: 'We urge you to change your position'

A bond bill which would borrow around $250 million to be used for state education renovation has been sent to the floor of the Statehouse. However, Gov. Henry McMaster has stated he would prefer to veto the bill in order to make room for a new bill which would give money to redesign South Carolina transportation infrastructure, despite the fact that the state has already more than doubled the infrastructure budget over the past seven years.

University President Harris Pastides and nine other S.C. college presidents sent McMaster a letter asking him to pass the bill as opposed to cutting it down. The governor's office released a statement saying that the letter was appreciated but maintaining the same position in favor of infrastructure funding.

Student Body President Ross Lordo worked with students at USC and other state colleges, including Clemson and College of Charleston, to send a follow-up letter to McMaster once again asking him to pass the bill.

“We haven’t had a bond bill since the early 2000s," Lordo said. "It’s been a really long time and, with that being said, our infrastructure within the institution has taken a hit in terms of facilities and upkeep and maintenance. Costs are continuing to grow to keep these buildings fit for students to learn in.”

The bill included a grant of $25 million to renovate the outgoing law schoolbuilding.

Lordo also expressed hope for state assistance with USC's planned medical building, funding of which was absent from the draft of the bond bill that began to circulate on Mar. 23. Sixteen days before the draft was made public, Rep. Brian White (R-Anderson) announced that the forthcoming bond bill would not pay for any new university construction.

“We really are in a situation where we have to make some changes with the medical school. The lease is coming up with [Veterans Affairs], so it actually would end up cheaper for us, in the long run, to relocate to the Palmetto Health complex,” Lordo said. 

Currently, the USC School of Medicine leases land from the Dorn Veterans Affairs Medical Center on Garners Ferry Road. Plans were unveiled last January to move the campus to a USC-owned property near Palmetto Health Richland Hospital at a cost of $200 million, $50 million of which was to come from state lawmakers. 

Lordo said the money toward the medical school is going to impact the state and the economy in the long run. 

"The state is in need of physicians, and we need the investment to be able to educate those physicians and get the best doctors to want to go to school here and then train them the best way that we can,” Lordo said.

Without this bill, USC would still need to pay to move the medical school to the Palmetto Health facility due to the upcoming end of its lease. This cost means that all USC students will take the hit if this bill is vetoed, not just medical students.

“This is a great opportunity for us to show our commitment to higher education in the state, our commitment to the future of South Carolina,” Lordo said.

Mike Woodel also contributed to this article.


Comments