It’s no secret that a lot of people have been fleeing from blue states with high taxes, higher crime rates, and diminished or defunded police forces. And a lot of those people have been moving to South Carolina. The legislature in the Palmetto State has noticed this trend and appears to be ready to do something about it. The state Senate just passed what is being called a “Yankee tax” that would be applied to all incoming residents when they go to register their vehicles, doubling the current cost of $250. But they insist they’re not doing this to discourage “Yankees” from coming. The bill’s sponsors insist it’s all about paying for repairs to South Carolina’s roads and other infrastructure. (Daily Wire)

A “Yankee tax” advanced in the South Carolina state Senate this week which would tack on extra fees to those moving to the Palmetto State when they register their cars.

The tax, proposed by Republican State Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, would add on an additional $250 fee to the $250 already paid by new transplants to register their vehicles. The money would go toward infrastructure in the state.

“We in South Carolina don’t require a capital contribution of anybody that moves here from out of state, although they take advantage of our roads, our bridges, our schools, and our green spaces immediately on day one,” Goldfinch said.

Despite their protestations, it seems fairly clear what this bill is really designed to do, at least in part. There’s an immediate concern among residents that a bunch of liberals will move into their state and start voting for progressives and eventually trash South Carolina the same way they wrecked the states they were fleeing. Why else would you call it a “Yankee tax,” even speaking casually?

Unfortunately, you would have to apply the same tax to people moving to South Carolina from other red states. A law imposing a tax only on people moving from a select group of blue states would never pass constitutional muster. But red-staters would be in the minority. The states that lost the most people last year were Illinois, California, New Jersey, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. South Carolina was among the ten most popular states to move to.

At the same time, it’s also a mistake to lump everyone together based on their state of origin. I’m from New York and South Carolina would certainly be high on my list of destinations if I could ever convince my wife to move that far away from her parents and siblings. I would hope the residents of South Carolina wouldn’t be too upset to have me added to their voter rolls. (Though they might not be wild about seeing my better half show up to vote.)

As far as the infrastructure angle goes, there’s an argument to be made in favor of the idea I suppose. The more people you have living in the state, the more wear and tear the roads and other infrastructure will sustain. But as soon as the new people arrive, buy or rent a home, start working, and begin shopping there they will be kicking in toward the infrastructure costs just like anyone else.

I find myself kind of torn on this particular question. On the one hand, we shouldn’t be doing things to intentionally impinge on any legal citizen’s freedom to move about within the United States. But at the same time, I would hate to see a flood of people from California and New Jersey show up and flip South Carolina into some sort of liberal paradise and immediately nosedive into decline. If the law passes, we’ll see what sort of long-term impacts it may or may not have.