Thumbs up
New jobs. Hats off to Berkeley County for the great possibility of scoring up to 4,000 new jobs through a new manufacturing plant for which permits have been filed. More.
Roads bill. Thumbs up to the S.C. House for passing a $400 million a year roads bill that envisions a mix of sales taxes and raising sales tax caps. While it faces an uphill battle because of a veto threat by Gov. Nikki Haley, it’s good to get this to the Senate, which has a bolder approach. Fingers crossed for better infrastructure soon.
Medicaid expansion. Good going to a bipartisan group of state senators who are proposing a new plan that would allow 194,000 of South Carolina’s working poor to use federal and state money to buy private health care. Memo to state businesses — support the measure to improve lives and the quality of S.C. health. More.
Inglis. Congratulations to former GOP Congressman Bob Inglis of Greenville who will receive the JFK Profile in Courage Award for his aggressive stance on addressing climate change since the tea party worked to vote him out of office in 2010. More.
In the middle
Domestic violence. It’s good the House passed a bill to toughen domestic violence laws. But there are two problems — the measure doesn’t go far enough in restricting those charged from guns and by insisting on a House bill, there not be enough time for the Senate to do what it needs to do. More fingers crossed for hard work to get a tough bill passed.
Thumbs down
Abortion. Thumbs down for a Senate committee that voted to take away a woman’s choices for her body by voting to ban abortions for women who are 20 weeks pregnant, with some exceptions. More.
Coble. We’re saddened to hear that former Columbia “Mayor Bob” Coble had to undergo quadruple bypass surgery. We are pulling for a full and speedy recovery. More.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!