SC legislators find money for abstinence education, shortchange school buses

BY TONY BARTELME and YVONNE WENGER

During this tight budget year, South Carolina lawmakers thought it wise to cut money for new school buses, even though a Post and Courier investigation last year found the state's fleet is the oldest, most polluting and least safe in the nation.

But thanks in part to state Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Bonneau, legislators did scrounge up hundreds of thousands of dollars to continue the state's efforts to stop teens from having premarital sex.

On Wednesday, Gov. Mark Sanford said enough is enough and vetoed the proviso, saying it created the "illusion of a competitive process" that in reality would likely steer money to two nonprofits, Heritage Community Services and Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.

The proviso can be found 432 pages into the state budget. It sends $1.2 million to the Department of Social Services, which must then fork it over to organizations that "provide teen pregnancy prevention programs and services within the state."

The proviso said at least one contract must go to an abstinence-only program. Organizations with a "public history of having effectively implemented abstinence programs in this state may be given a preference during the contract evaluation and awarding process," the legislation said.

In the past, Heritage Community Services, a North Charleston-based nonprofit, has received the lion's share of state and federal money for abstinence-only programs.

Last year, The Post and Courier documented how Heritage had been allocated $23 million in state and federal money since 1997 — even though a federal study found that one of its key programs might not work.

Heritage have long maintained that its programs are effective, citing other research that showed its programs changed teen attitudes and behavior.

The S.C. Campaign for Teen Pregnancy, meanwhile, teaches what the group calls an "abstinence-first, age-appropriate and comprehensive" program.

In an interview Tuesday, Grooms said he worked to get funding for teen pregnancy prevention and called the final plan in the budget a compromise.

"When money was removed, Sen. Short and I worked to restore it," Grooms said, referring to state Sen. Linda Short, D-Chester. He said she wanted the money spent to teach teen pregnancy prevention, including abstinence and other methods.

Sanford said he vetoed the legislation because he felt it was "an attempt to mask the directive of appropriations to the two agencies that have historically received these funds: Heritage community services and S.C. Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.

If the proviso survives Sanford's veto, a five-member committee will meet Aug. 8 to dish out the money.

The governor chooses one member. Senate Pro Tempore, Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, chooses two, as does House Speaker Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston.

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