BRIEF: Roads bill not finished in Senate … still
Staff reports | You know the old political cliche, “kicking the can down the road?” Well, that is what the state legislature has been doing for years with South Carolina’s poor roads system. And if...
View ArticleBRIEFS: Merrill resigns seat; Leatherman seeks special session
Suspended GOP S.C. Rep. Jim Merrill of Daniel Island resigned from his legislative seat late Thursday before a Friday hearing related to a string of corruption charges he faces, according to published...
View ArticleNEWS BRIEF: Can a Kentucky program help S.C.’s poorest schools?
By Lindsay Street, Statehouse correspondent | A strategy that has found success in Kentucky and elsewhere is being billed as a way for South Carolina to comply with the 2014 state Supreme Court...
View ArticleTALLY SHEET: Utility, other bills prefiled in S.C. House
Staff reports | House Speaker Jay Lucas today assigned six utility-related bills to the House Judiciary Committee after the bills were introduced during a pre-filing period. The bills, part of the...
View ArticleTALLY SHEET: House members pressing full steam ahead on utilities
Staff reports | The House Judiciary Committee will meet Tuesday to debate a packet of subcommittee-approved bills that seek to rein in electric utilities and overhaul utility regulations. Committees...
View ArticleNEWS BRIEFS: Gubernatorial horse race is on; Quinn resigns; New health app
Staff reports | The gubernatorial horse race is on with a new poll that puts incumbent Gov. Henry McMaster well in front of three GOP challengers. A primary will be held in June. Also in this brief:...
View ArticleNEWS: Lawmakers have full agenda in January
By Lindsay Street, Statehouse correspondent | A multi-billion canceled project, a corruption probe, big health care changes and a worsening teacher shortage top the honey-do lists for lawmakers when...
View ArticleTHIS WEEK: House to review veto overrides, Senate to consider utilities
By Lindsay Street, Statehouse correspondent | Lawmakers return to the Statehouse Tuesday , to a full slate of pressing issues -- from the $9 billion failure of nuclear plants being built in Fairfield...
View ArticleTALLY SHEET: Bill filed to revitalize rural areas of South Carolina, more
Staff reports | Bamberg Democratic Rep. Justin Bamberg wants rural residents to get a special state income tax deduction to help spur growth. "The Rural Revitalization Act is aimed at putting new...
View ArticleTALLY SHEET: Few bills introduced during Snow Week
Staff reports | A midweek winter storm wreaked scheduling havoc at the General Assembly this week and limited filing of a few new bills to one day. State senators introduced five bills, all...
View ArticleBRIEFS: Senate passes budget; Pension reform heads to governor
Staff reports | The state Senate relatively quickly passed a relatively non-controversial $8 billion state budget this week that added about $25 million to public K-12 education than provide in an...
View ArticleBRIEFS: Solar bill apparently stuck in House committee
Staff reports | It’s spring. Plants are blooming. Pollen is stirring. And sun – there’s lots of sunshine after a long winter. Except, perhaps, in the deep recesses of the House Ways and Means Committee...
View ArticleNEWS: Ervin’s song for S.C.: “We got the pothole blues”
EDITOR'S NOTE, 4/28: This story was posted earlier in the week before Wednesday's vote by the state Senate to approve a road-funding bill. You might still enjoy! Staff reports | Former S.C....
View ArticleBRIEFS: Party leadership; shorter session’s impact
Both major parties in the state will have new leaders for the 2018 elections. The Democrats elected Trav Robertson to be chair. Republicans will elect their new chair on May 13. Also, there's an early...
View ArticleBRIEFS: General Assembly to return; Unemployment drops
Staff reports | The S.C. House and Senate are scheduled to return to Columbia Tuesday to finalize a budget compromise. But they’ve got a problem: House and Senate negotiators are at an impasse over the...
View ArticleBRIEF: On state budget, breathe Chicken Little, breathe
Staff reports | There seems to be an alarmist tone in the coverage in traditional media about the state’s $8 billion annual budget on how use state tax dollars. It goes like this: The House and Senate...
View ArticleBRIEFS: Agreement on budget; Trump’s testy tweet; Pension dodge
Staff reports | House and Senate conferees finished negotiations on a compromise $8 billion budget for state taxes just an hour before June 1 arrived. Highlights are in public education, pension reform...
View ArticleBRIEFS: S.C. ranks 7th in beer taxes; Whipper to leave House
Staff reports | Here’s some fodder for conversation around the bar: For every gallon beer that South Carolinians drink (that’s about 11 beers – way more than you should have in one sitting in a bar),...
View ArticleBRIEFS: Happy Fourth; Swaimming with the current
If you’re going to be on the coast on Tuesday, look skyward for the annual Salute from the Fourth. Hundreds of thousands of people will witness an air parade of F-16s and other military aircraft as...
View ArticleBRIEFS: GOP’s McKissick criticized; Street is new correspondent
Staff reports | New S.C. GOP Chairman Drew McKissick is getting roundly criticized for cavalierly saying he would turn over voter information that a seemingly partisan presidential commission wants...
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