"Sort of immediately."

Here's another example of South Carolina economic development policy at work: Upstate members are at each others' throats about how to bribe Bass Pro Shops to anchor a megamall in Greer:

The measure would allow extraordinary retail or tourism establishments to use 75 percent of the sales tax they generate over 20 years to pay for infrastructure, including their own store buildings.

To be eligible, a retailer must build its store within two miles of an interstate and attract at least two million visitors a year, with at least 35 percent of them coming from at least 50 miles away. It would have to spend at least $50 million developing the store, including land costs, and generate at least $2 million a year in sales taxrevenue.

...“I’m being told at this point somewhere between 300 (jobs) to a thousand at maturity, with 300 sort of immediately,” Allen said.

Allen said he also wants to make sure the store wouldn’t undermine other retailers such as Wal-Mart or Academy Sports + Outdoors that also sell fishing lures and other outdoor products.

Rep. Bill Wylie of Simpsonville said lawmakers have confused the bill with another highly disputed measure to create tax breaks for a mega-mall in Jasper County that is “just another shopping center.”

Any bill that would actually bring new jobs is “absolutely critical” now, Wiley said.

Voting in favor in addition to Cato, Hamilton and Wylie were Republican representatives Dan Cooper of Piedmont, Bruce Bannister of Greenville, Phil Owens of Easley and Bill Sandifer of Seneca.

Voting against were Republican representatives Rex Rice of Easley, Eric Bedingfield of Ware Shoals, Garry Smith of Simpsonville and Tommy Stringer and Joey Millwood of Landrum.

Rice, who demanded a roll-call vote, said allowing retailers to use 75 percent of the sales tax they generate over 20 years for their own infrastructure “sounds like a sweetheart deal to me.”

Compare the specificity of the incentive requirements with a co-sponsor's explanation of the origins of the proposal:

Gov. Mark Sanford vetoed a similar incentive plan three years ago for the Bass Pro project as part of a battle against giving incentives to large retailers that would put local businesses under. The Legislature overrode the veto, but nothing has changed in the laws since then.

Sanford spokespeople said the governor would fight legislation if it was indeed being used to land a retail store such as Bass Pro.

However, state Rep. Bill Wylie, R-Greer, who is a main sponsor of the bill with fellow Upstate Republicans Harry Cato and Dan Cooper, said the bill was something they thought up out of the blue and denied it was for a particular project.

“I just felt it was a good idea,” he said.