The following is a reprint from a blog post that appeared on The Nerve, the online news publication of my employer, the South Carolina Policy Council.
I’m posting it here for two reasons: One, I wrote it; and two, I found it intriguing that the salary of state officials in South Carolina has actually far outpaced that of inflation.
I’d say “enjoy,’ but perhaps ‘do your best to struggle through’ would be more appropriate.
The recent upheaval in the S.C. Lieutenant Governor’s Office has many asking if the position is necessary.
For much of South Carolina’s history, short of assuming the role of the state’s chief executive upon the death of the governor or a vacancy in the office – which hasn’t happened in nearly half a century – about the only way for the lieutenant governor to make the news is to gun down a newspaper editor, be one the nation’s largest slaveholders, treat the state’s roadways as though they were Darlington Raceway or act in an unethical manner.
Today, the lieutenant governor is the lowest paid of South Carolina’s nine statewide elected constitutional officers, earning $46,545 annually for what is supposedly a part-time position. That’s barely half of what Secretary of State Mark Hammond earns.
The lieutenant governor’s only constitutional duties are to preside over the Senate and to act as governor-in-waiting.
The Cotton Boll Conspiracy 