Commentary: Senate doesn't understand, I don't understand the complexity of the Loftis case, but what I do understand is this is a Constitutional power grab.

South Carolina State Treasurer Curtis Loftis testifies before 
the Senate Monday in a hearing that lasted nearly 10 hours
on whether he should be removed from office.

Written by Tony J. Spain, Palmetto Examiner
April 21, 2024

After a long and drawn-out State Senate trial, hearing, whatever you want to call it, that lasted nearly 10 hours, it has become evident that the Senate lacks a clear understanding of the operational procedures and responsibilities of the State Treasurer's office.  There is no clear understanding of how the comptroller office and the state auditor’s office differ from the Treasurer’s office.

Senators trying to compare the small business they manage or managed in there questioning to the comprehensive and complex systems of the entire state treasury, budget, and accounting systems is a joke.

And no matter how Curtis Loftis answers these questions over and over they still do not understand it.

I’m not even sure I understand it. What I do understand is the State Constitution of South Carolina is written in such a way that positions the legislature as the strong branch of government. The checks and balances in the system are ensured by the voters who elect the treasurer, comptroller and used to elect the state auditor up until 1933 when it became an appointed position through a process that involves the State Fiscal Accountability Authority, which includes the  Governor, State Treasurer, Comptroller General, Senate Finance Committee Chairman, and House Ways and Means Committee chairman.

If the Senate can control who is in the treasurer and the comptroller general’s office, they become an elected king of the state. This is and has always been a power grab.

They successfully got the comptroller general, Rick Eckstrom to resign in 2023, and replaced the elected position with Brian Gaines. In January, 2025, they successfully got State Auditor George Kennedy to resign and replaced by no one. The State Fiscal Accountability Authority currently controls the office.

The only person standing in there way now, Curtis Loftis, who refused to resign, has now been voted to be ousted by the Senate 33-8.  

We now wait to see what the House will do, if anything at all with about eight days left in the session. 

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