House Ways & Means Subcommittee Presentation
Thank you for this opportunity to meet with you. Thank you for the remarkable ways you have supported, encouraged, and protected the Public Service to South Carolina citizens.
I have a few key points I wish to make and John Kelly will follow me with more specifics and more numbers to illustrate.
Gentlemen, I promised that none of us from Clemson would whine. I will honor that pledge. However, I must tell you that beginning last year and continuing this year our state is in danger of losing a treasure.
The work of the men and women in public service to South Carolina is in genuine jeopardy. More importantly, the people of South Carolina are on the edge of having their individual lives impacted by this loss in real, tangible and profound ways.
My concern here is to illustrate that without the real commitment to save this resource for our citizens, it will take us 25 years to recover from this year's decisions on budgets.
With all respectencouragement, sympathy, and concern alone will not do it. It will take nothing short of all of our collective energy to make it possible for us to save the very core of PSA.
What has Clemson done to save PSA?
Specifically 5 things:
- We invested $3.9M from tuition and E&G support to move 36 faculty from service into the classroom. They were talented teachers and we needed them. By this move during this current year we saved several people's jobs. This action was unprecedented.
- We initiated an Early Retirement Plan for all Clemson people/PSA & E&G to give us the flexibility to help save this treasure.
- We are creatively using our land resources to build and preserve programs.
- We have consolidated positions, grouped responsibilities, done more with less, reorganized administration for more efficiency and given county directors more counties to lead.
- We have worked very hard and we have been successful in raising private dollars for PSA.
Truly, we are now at the edge of a very deep abyss. Only extraordinary work and action by you and by us will keep us from the loss of this treasure.
Let me turn to our Regulatory responsibilities.
Is there a clearer example of Homeland Security than the protection of our food supply in South Carolina?
Who has this responsibility for this security? Clemson's regulatory agencies have long shouldered this responsibility. We do it well. I am proud of our people and the quality of our work.
But since 9/11, I have not enjoyed a good night's sleep because of the clear and present danger of terrorism.
Give us the weapons to fight this war. Give us the ability to protect South Carolina's people and South Carolina's supply of food. The threat is real we must be prepared.
In closing, Gentlemen, there are 70 people, people who are pillars of their community, (your community) who serve as a deacons in their church, as presidents of Rotary, as a PTA committee members, these PSA agents will lose their positions or they will uproot their families and their children from their schools and their friends to be moved to another county if this budget is approved.
For a 2-year down cycle in our state budget we will do serious harm to this South Carolina treasure known as PSA. It will take us 25 years to recover. Please help us avoid this damage to solve a short-term budget problem.
This is the perspective I have as Clemson's President. I do not exaggerate the impact or the problem. I ask for your help and I call on John Kelly to give you more details.