As I write this column, we are waiting to see if the Legislature will override the governor's veto of state appropriations for local libraries.

In his veto statement, the governor suggested that the loss of $6 million in state assistance could be made up with lottery funds, local government support or private donations.

Decisions like this are the predicted result of transitioning the support of much of state and local government to volatile sales tax revenue over the more predictable and stable property taxes.

The decision to cut corporate taxes to zero in South Carolina further moves our tax system to a more regressive and unstable basis. These were popular decisions when they were made. The warnings didn't get much attention.

East Cooper's Mathis Ferry Road Branch Library has been the busiest branch of the entire system. There is no question that our area loves and uses its three libraries.

The governor's proposed other sources of income aren't actually available. Lottery money hasn't been used for libraries for years, though it was at one time.

Local governments are already cutting budgets and have already cut budgets for libraries. Finally, nonprofit and community groups are finding fundraising overwhelmingly difficult.

Hours at libraries across the state have already been reduced. In many areas evening closings are now so early that the valuable community meeting rooms found at the libraries aren't really usable any longer. Positions aren't filled.

The national economy is improving, but it will be years before sales tax revenues recover to the levels they were at a few years ago.

Everyone agrees that we are in the most difficult economic times most of us have ever seen. America's decision to ignore the warnings of the 1970s about producing domestic energy, rebuilding our industry and improving our educational system have driven us into a corner. Reagan's morning in America was really a recovery on plastic. Ignoring Carter's dour warnings about the future had consequences.

We are now at the point where we have to decide what really matters. Our state must do everything possible to preserve the functionality of our educational system, which includes our libraries.

Hopefully the legislature, which has already made serious budget cuts and passed a balanced state budget, will do that by overriding the governor's veto.

However, that won't be the end of the miserable decisions. Hopefully we can use the upcoming election season to forge a positive bipartisan idea of the future for South Carolina. Somehow we have to do that together.

A community like East Cooper, which values its high quality libraries and schools, must be a source of that leadership.

(William Hamilton (www.wjhamilton.com) is an attorney who lives in I'On Village.)