COLUMBIA (AP) — A legislator sought an opinion Thursday whether a Republican House member properly used the state plane when he shuttled conservative commentator Walter Williams to and from a Washington-area airport for a hearing in Columbia.
Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, asked the House Ethics Committee whether it's appropriate for a legislator to use a state plane for people testifying before a subcommittee. The opinion would carry no weight of law.
Her letter came a day after Rep. Bill Chumley of Woodruff brought Williams from a suburban Washington airport to push for a bill that initially sought to nullify the federal health care law. The state planes' four legs — to a Manassas, Va., airport and back, to pick up Williams and return him — would have cost a paying passenger nearly $6,400, according to the state Aeronautics Commission's manifest and flight log.
Williams, a syndicated columnist and radio commentator who sometimes fills in for Rush Limbaugh, is well known for advocating state measures attempting to nullify the federal law.
Chumley again dismissed requests that he reimburse the state, calling Williams' testimony official state business.
"They're just upset that we had such a good day yesterday," he said. "That was a good use of the taxpayers' money."
Chumley, in his second term, insists ethics committee staff signed off on the flight before he arranged it.
The 10 committee members could end up deciding whether the plane use was appropriate. Rep. James Smith, D-Columbia, has said he may file a complaint. Under state law, the legislative panel handles ethics complaints against the chamber's own members.
State law allows statewide officers and legislators to use the two planes at no cost on a first-come, first-served basis, as long as the trips are official business. The lawmaker requesting the plane must sign the manifest certifying that's the case.
On Wednesday, both planes were in use, as Gov. Nikki Haley and three staff members rode the King Air 350 to Greenville for a ribbon-cutting event.
Williams flew solo, riding the state's King Air 350 on the way down and King Air C90 on the way back.
On Wednesday, Smith called it the height of hypocrisy to frivolously spend taxpayers' money while bashing government spending.
Williams spoke less than 30 minutes on a bill preordained to pass, though in a much-amended format.
As introduced, the bill declared the Affordable Care Act null and void in South Carolina and made any federal employee attempting to enforce it a felon, facing up to five years in prison.
But the panel's Republican members worked out a compromise before the meeting that made the measure symbolic. The bill as sent to the Judiciary Committee bars state employees from aiding in the federal law's enforcement. But it carries no penalties whatsoever.
Judiciary Chairman Greg Delleney, R-Chester, said the amendment reduced the bill to what the state can do.
"We did not do the impossible of nullifying the entire Obamacare," he said. "We don't have to help the federal government enforce its laws."
Democrats have also taken issue with the testimony of attorney Kent Brown of Lexington, Ky., after he acknowledged receiving $7,500 to cover his trip expenses. Chumley said constituents collected the money to fund Brown's driving trip.
Williams and Brown were the only two who spoke at the meeting. Panel members asked them to speed up their testimony so they could get to a vote on the amendment and bill before they had to be on the House floor.
This isn't the first time the use of state planes has come under fire.
The House put a clause in its budget proposal for next fiscal year barring colleges from using state planes for recruiting athletes, after Clemson University officials posted comments and photos on social media from aboard one of the planes.
Flights authorized by legislators, the governor and other constitutional officers are absorbed as part of the agency's budget. Agencies and public colleges also can use the planes for official business, but they must pay by the hour: $850 for the King Air C90 and $1,250 for the King Air 350. The agency is barred from making a profit on the per-hour cost.
Haley repaid about $10,000 last fall for using state planes to attend news conferences and bill signings, after The Associated Press informed her of a rule against that.
Haley's spokesman said her office was unaware legislators put a clause in the budget that added the restrictions. The $9,590 reimbursement covered flights taken across the state over seven days.
The rule first inserted into the 2011-12 budget specified that bill signings, press conferences and political functions don't count as official business. The clause says the flights are ethics violations.
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