Bid opens to fire SC comptroller for $3.5B accounting error

By JEFFREY COLLINS
Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina lawmakers have launched an effort to sack the comptroller general for a $3.5 billion accounting error that could affect the state’s credit rating. A resolution introduced Thursday asks for a two-thirds vote from the House and the Senate to trigger a state constitutional provision that says the governor should remove Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom for “willful neglect of duty.” Eckstrom told senators last month he had unintentionally exaggerated the state’s cash position by $3.5 billion by overstating the amount the state had sent to colleges and universities for a decade. The mistake wasn’t in actual cash, but in the way the state’s reports its balance sheets. He signaled he won’t resign.