$40 million farm-aid proposal becomes law over Haley’s veto

The S.C. Senate voted 39-3 Wednesday to override Gov. Nikki Haley’s veto of $40 million in aid to S.C. farmers who lost crops during last year’s historic flooding.

The proposal now becomes law. The GOP-controlled House voted Tuesday to override Haley’s veto by a 112-2 vote.

To qualify, a farmer must have lost at least 40 percent of a crop. The grants will cover 20 percent of that loss, not to exceed $100,000.

Republican Haley had vetoed the aid, saying the money would be an “unprecedented bailout for a single industry affected by last year’s flooding.”

But the head of the GOP-majority state Senate disagreed.

“This isn’t about offering some kind of bailout,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence. “It is a fiscally responsible way to support our family farms.”

Three senators – Lee Bright of Spartanburg, Tom Davis of Beaufort and Larry Grooms of Berkeley, all Republicans – voted to uphold Haley’s veto.

Davis said the aid was a government bailout of an industry.

Asked why, then, he voted to spend millions to renourish S.C. beaches – a move that helped tourism – Davis replied beaches are state-owned assets.

This story was originally published May 19, 2016 at 7:59 AM with the headline "$40 million farm-aid proposal becomes law over Haley’s veto."