Home Rule and federal revenue sharing legislation began a busy decade for municipal government in South Carolina.
In 1973, the Association worked with other groups interested in responsive local government to push for the Home Rule amendments to Article VIII of the state constitution. Simultaneously, the Association supported the Nixon administration in its push for general revenue sharing. Passed in 1972, Nixon’s federal revenue sharing sent billions of unencumbered dollars for cities to use in meeting the growing demands of their citizens.
Governor John West addressed the delegates at the Annual Meeting in 1972 and bragged that South Carolina was the first state to submit a plan under the new Emergency Employment Fund. The Fund was a federal stimulus plan for the early 70s that required the state, counties and cities to agree on how to split the money. Governor West reported, "We have a spirit of teamwork and cooperation that is unequaled in any other state in the nation."
After the Home Rule Act became law, the Municipal Association actively promoted legislation to implement Home Rule. Better annexation laws and more fiscal autonomy were left out of Home Rule legislation because of opposition from utilities and business groups.
Executive Director Jim Caldwell Jr. resigned in December 1973, and J. McDonald Wray became the Association’s third executive director in January 1974. In November, the Association moved to new offices in the Standard Federal building on Lady Street.
Fighting against double taxation and fighting for alternate revenue sources became part of the Association’s legislative agenda.