Wilson wades into how mortgage fraud settlement money should be used - SC Politics - TheState.com

Wilson wades into how mortgage fraud settlement money should be used - SC Politics - TheState.com:

'via Blog this'South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson wants the state’s portion of a $25 billion mortgage fraud settlement to go to shelters for battered women and homeless military veterans, and to help pay for the state’s lawsuit to block the expansion of the Savannah River port in Georgia.

Last week, House Republicans voted to give South Carolina’s portion of the settlement – about $31 million – to the state Commerce Department to create incentives for companies to locate in the Palmetto State. Democrats vainly argued the money should be used to help people who have lost their homes to foreclosure.

Wilson, a Republican, told House Democrats Tuesday that while the settlement gives him “a lot of discretion” in how the money is spent, he thinks the state Legislature should decide.

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“Whatever we do, the money is going to find its way to you,” Wilson said, adding he hoped lawmakers would use the money to help shelters for battered women and homeless military veterans. Wilson said he also would like the money to help pay for a state Maritime Commission lawsuit to block a permit issued by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control to dredge the Savannah River, allowing the expansion of the Georgia’s Savannah port.

Wilson is representing the Maritime Commission in that lawsuit, which pits the commission against DHEC, fellow Republican Gov. Nikki Haley and the state of Georgia.

Wilson also noted the $31 million is just the state government’s share of the settlement. In addition, South Carolina will receive:

$1 million for the Department of Consumer Affairs’ Board of Financial Institutions

• $16 million to compensate people who lost their homes because of banks’ improper lending practices

$173 million worth of loan modifications for homeowners who were in the process of losing their homes because of those lending practices. Wilson said that figure is an estimate and could change.

State Rep. Gary Simrill, R-York, said he thinks using the state’s portion of the settlement on recruiting businesses is the best decision because it “has an exponential impact ... that it is going to bring in jobs.”