14.23: Year of the Turtle; Civic engagement; Internet of Things

STATEHOUSE REPORT | Issue 14.23 | JUNE 5, 2015

NEWS

The legislature’s Year of the Turtle

A news analysis by Andy Brack

JUNE 5, 2015  |  The 2015 session of the General Assembly will go down as the Year of the Turtle. Far more didn’t happen than could have. Missed opportunities trumped progress on everything from more road funding to improving education to passing long-sought ethics reform, according to many observers this week.

Most voters and leaders generally agree that something major needs to be done on roads, which have $40 billion in funding needs, as well as ethics reform, long in the spotlight following last year’s scandal that brought down a House speaker. But the devil has been in the details and lack of common ground among lawmakers, notes College of Charleston political science professor Gibbs Knotts.

“This is somewhat surprising since both branches of the legislature are controlled by the same party,” he said. “You might expect to see inaction from a bipartisan legislature, or a legislature from one party and a governor from another party, but this is not the case in South Carolina.”

Barton Swaim of the S.C. Policy Council called the 2015 session “one of the least productive and most disingenuous legislative sessions I can remember. The whole thing was dominated by gas tax hike proposals and lawmakers trying to pretend it was something other than a tax hike.”

Overall in 2015, the Legislature left a lot of big-ticket items on the table which was caused, in most cases, by gridlock and bickering between chambers. But just as they left a lot of big things undone, that also means they didn’t get to some headline-grabbing, narrow social issues, such as banning abortion at 20 weeks, denying equal rights to the LGBT community, outlawing Sharia law, and abandoning concealed weapons permits to allow anyone to carry a gun for any reason.

“Some legislators — a very small number — wanted to fight culture wars and hold up needed legislation on education funding, justice reforms and oversight that would make South Carolina stronger in the 21st century,” said Victoria Middleton, head of the ACLU of South Carolina. “Taxpayers should be concerned that a handful of state representatives, taking extreme positions, want to impose their views on the majority who want to see constitutional values upheld.”

While all of the issues on the table at the end of the session that will still be on the table in 2016, let’s take a look at what got done, what didn’t get done and some issues that just seemed to disappear into the legislative quicksand.

What got done in 2015

The legislature approved few major bills, although its actions will allow the state grand jury to investigate human trafficking, allow charities to conduct raffles and require more emphasis on civics education. One big that may impact a lot of people is that anyone 60 or older will be able to attend state college classes for free if they meet college requirements. More.

“Progress has been made on some issues,” Columbia analyst John Ruoff said. “We had Republican senators co-sponsor an amendment in Senate Finance to close the [health] coverage gap, changing the conversation to an Arkansas-like approach to covering those too poor for the marketplace but ineligible for current Medicaid because of income or family structure using federal funds. A Senate subcommittee is seriously working on a House bill that changes our Freedom of Information Act to create a much more user-friendly process through the Administrative Law Court to access public records and other changes to improve access to public records.”

Here are some other highlights of the 2015 session:

Domestic violence. Gov. Nikki Haley, right, on Thursday signed into law a bill that toughens penalties against domestic abusers in South Carolina, ranked second nationally in the number of women killed by men. The measure, pushed by the media and by activists, includes tougher criminal penalties. Also, anyone convicted of domestic violence may not possess a firearm. A judge may decide to keep firearms away from anyone who is under a protective court order. More.

Volvo deal. The state lured Volvo to locate its first American plant in South Carolina, but lawmakers this week criticized Haley and the state Commerce Department for borrowing $123 million to pay for incentives. The financing method used to pay for Volvo’s incentives will require taxpayers to pay $87 million in interest — about $20 million more than through conventional bonding, according to media reports. Interestingly, Haley pitched a fit earlier this year when House lawmakers proposed a $500 million bond bill to pay for overdue higher education improvements and other infrastructure needs. The Senate later proposed a $236 million bond bill, which was axed in mid-May.

Body cameras. Following the grisly police shooting of Walter Scott in North Charleston, lawmakers roundly supported using body cameras as an accountability measure for police. In the waning moments of the session, legislators sent a bill to the governor that calls for police departments to establish policies on body cameras, which will allow them to then get state money to buy and use them. More.

Alimony reform. Lawmakers passed a bill into law that will form a special study committee to look at reforming the state’s alimony laws. More.

S.C. State. The legislature got rid of the board of trustees of S.C. State University and passed a measure for an interim board to serve until 2019 or until a new board is elected. More.

What didn’t get done in 2015

Despite the work that got done, the 2015 session will be remembered more of what did not get done and how bickering lawmakers let smaller issues get in the way of the big picture. Notable:

Budget. Despite lots of House and Senate bickering throughout the session on myriad issues, state law actually requires passage of an annual budget, which essentially forced lawmakers to complete the annual spending bill of $7 billion in state tax revenues. The problem: Legislators didn’t finish. They had hoped to finish by Thursday and return June 16 to deal with gubernatorial vetoes. Now, they’ll return to finish the budget, try not to argue too much more on road funding and deal with vetoes sometime later in the summer.

Roads, roads, roads. The number one thing on everyone’s agenda at the beginning of the year was to figure out a way to spend more on road and bridge maintenance. While a compelling majority of South Carolinians say they’re willing to raise the state gas tax significantly from its low 16.75 cents per gallon fee, lawmakers argued and filibustered over road funding. In the end, they generally did agree to dedicate $220 million in surplus monies for road projects (let’s see what happens later this month), but they’ve got a long way still to go to patch the potholes and make bridges reliable. This will be at the top of the agenda for 2016.

Ethics reform. A huge issue left over from the 2014 session, lawmakers seemed early to think that new accountability and ethics rules would be a fairly easy thing. But the issue bogged down in the Senate, which couldn’t get past whether lawmakers should be on a reformed ethics committee. Inaction took the day, as most expect it to return next year.

Tax reform. Another year went by without comprehensive tax reform. Before the session started, it looked like lawmakers would start talking about the possibility of an earned income tax credit (EITC) to help lift poor, working people out of poverty. That didn’t materialize either.

Every year, pundits complain that we have not done “tax reform,” but the only changes getting serious attention are those that cut the progressive income tax, especially on the top end, or raise or expand the regressive sales tax — especially by repealing exemptions on tangible goods, the financial bulk of which are made up of things like the groceries we buy, the prescriptions we purchase, and the water and electricity that comes to our homes,” said policy analyst John Ruoff of Columbia. “[These are] exemptions which meliorate the regressivity of our sale taxes.

“There is real tax reform to be done, like adopting a refundable state EITC, flipping the cap on sales taxes on cars, yachts and airplanes to a floor, and taxing more services rather than more tangible goods. We would be wise to repeal a number of the tax “reforms” we’ve already done — Act 388, the pass-through-entities tax cuts and changes to apportionment of corporate income taxes would be high on my list. But the tax reform conversation has to change.”

Abortion ban. Conservative lawmakers tried to get through a ban on abortions after 20 weeks, but one of their own, Sen. Lee Bright, R-Spartanburg, gummed up the works with a filibuster — because he didn’t think it was tough enough. As the legislature ground to a halt, the House took out some exceptions inserted by the Senate and there wasn’t enough time to finish — which gave pro-choice activists time to pause to get some fresh air.

Local government fund. The House passed a bill, but the Senate hasn’t dealt with this issue yet. Local governments strongly opposed the move to lower the amount received by local governments from the state.

Lost in legislative quicksand

As next year’s session approaches, lawmakers and policymakers will move on other issues, such as dealing with institutional problems at the Department of Social Services, modernizing funding for public education as required by a Supreme Court ruling. Other issues that may come up involve Medicaid expansion and workforce development.

The ACLU’s Middleton observed that the General Assembly showed it could work efficiently this year. Example: Passage of the body camera legislation.

COMMENTARY

Activist highlights civic duty of questioning candidates

By Andy Brack
Editor and publisher

JUNE 5, 2015 — Just call Elaine Cooper “the question lady.”

The 61-year-old Democratic activist from Columbia has a new mission — to ask questions in an unfamiliar place — gatherings of Republican presidential candidates.

Along the way, she gets snapshots of herself with those running for the top office. The humorous catch: While the candidates are grinning and showing lots of teeth, she sports a frown, a political statement if there ever were one.

So far, Cooper has encountered billionaire Donald Trump, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, current New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. But her interactions have a serious point. It’s important, she says, for citizens to be able to ask questions directly of candidates, not just wait for the filter of the media and managed political events.

“You should be able to ask questions at any event,” Cooper says, adding that she was able to ask a question of President Obama when he visited Benedict College this year. “We are the people who vote these candidates in.”

She says she enjoyed talking with Christie, still an undeclared candidate, at a recent political event in a Columbia bar. First, she thanked him for his public position against seismic testing for offshore oil. Her question: “Could you please meet with her (Gov. Nikki Haley) and talk about why you oppose seismic testing? You can bring a new clarity to the issue.”

Christie demurred, she says, obviously wanting to not interfere with Palmetto politics. But Cooper said she was happy the New Jersey governor answered the question while cameras were rolling.

Cooper says she also had a good, brief discussion, albeit private, on immigration with Cruz. And while she didn’t agree with him and still took a picture showing a grumpy face, she credited him for at least taking the question. Huckabee didn’t take questions. With Trump, there was just a picture.

The environmentalist says she wasn’t able to get questions to at least two others — Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and candidate Ben Carson — because of folks steering her away. (She notes she was kicked out of one event.)

So far, what’s disturbed her most was when a couple of college students criticized her for asking questions. They told her it was wrong to videotape and ask questions because the press would distort what was said.

“These are our brightest and best? I told the students, ‘My God, you drank the Kool-aid.’ It is your right [to ask questions]. It is nonsense that you would think you could not ask a question of anybody running for office.”

Attending the political events has been a learning experience, Cooper reflected.

“Some Republicans are real open to questions and I admire that about them. I am concerned when some do not take questions.”

Cooper says her grumpy pictures with candidates seem to be inspiring some others — in a small way — to engage more in the political process.

“I just encourage people to go to these events,” the retired activist said. “Most Democrats say, ‘You are wasting your time.’ But that’s so bizarre. Why do people only rely on media and people who support these candidates [to learn about them]?

“Just ask questions for yourself. Be informed. Politics is a complicated, tricky business.”

South Carolina’s presidential primary is a long hot summer and fall away. By the time Republicans and Democrats vote in the state’s first-in-the-South primary in 2016, scads of candidates and hangers-on will have made appearances all over the state.

Go to meet them. Ask good questions. And don’t be surprised if you see a white-haired woman sporting a grumpy expression if she’s with a GOP candidate.   Want to see that frown turned upside down? She’ll probably smile when she encounters Independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who is running for the Democratic nomination.

Send feedback to: feedback@statehousereport.com.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

United Way Association of South Carolina

FEEDBACK

A modest proposal

To the editor:

As we end the legislative session with the prime piece of business — roads — unfinished, let’s give some thought about how we might pay for road repairs in a way that is fair to taxpayers and drivers, most (but not all) of whom are the same people. Back in the 1980s, the federal government coined the term revenue-neutral—so that any change in taxes had to be offset by another change in revenue so that there would be no net increase in taxes. That’s how we got the last big income tax reform in 1986. But perhaps we should add an important second qualification, namely distribution-neutral. That is, the change should not alter not just the total level of taxation (revenue-neutral) but also the burden on the individual South Carolina resident.

We can’t do that precisely without an overwhelming amount of information, but we can do a reasonable approximation. Here are two useful pieces of information. One is that about 35 percent of our gasoline taxes come from nonresidents, who live in states where gasoline taxes are higher (since we are close to the bottom among the 50 states). The other is there are about 4.2 million vehicles registered in South Carolina. So let’s say we wanted to raise another $400 million a year in in gasoline taxes, which would require increasing the state gasoline tax to 29.4 cents per gallon, still slightly below the national average of 30.1 cents per gallon. Of that extra $400 million, $140 million would come from nonresidents. The other $260 million would come from the state’s drivers.

Every household that owned a car would be entitled to a refund of its share of the $260 million increase in revenue, which they could claim by indicating on their income tax how many cars they own. The refund would average about $62 per car. Simple. Fair. And those who don’t buy gasoline wouldn’t be paying any more tax or getting any refunds.

What’s not to like?

– Holley Ulbrich, Clemson, S.C.

The value of development

To the editor,

You, like so many others, [Brack, “State needs to stop kowtowing to developers“] are quick to be critical of Kiawah and seldom look on the positive side of the development. No development in America is more tastefully done than Kiawah. The beautiful trees , green space, and beaches have been carefully protected. Where in America do you know of where deer, foxes , wild cats, turtles , alligators, etc coexist with humans.

When one rides through Kiawah it is difficult to see the homes , hotel, and other structures for the lush greenery that has been carefully protected. I am not certain of the numbers but Kiawah in general probably offers the area over 2,000 jobs. Not the highest paying but still jobs. The tax base for Charleston County is considerable and the citizens are, for the most part, considerate [and]law-abiding who offer minimal burden to community services. Unlike Volvo , Boeing , etc., there were no expensive state or community incentives offered. The golf courses are recognized as some of the best in the country. For 20 years, my son , Buddy, worked hard to create this masterpiece and I am proud of what he was able to accomplish.

– Dr. Charles Darby, Mount Pleasant, S.C.

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MY TURN

Investing for the Internet of Things

By Pamela Lackey
Special to Statehouse Report

JUNE 5, 2015  |  Enabling connections that improve people’s lives is AT&T’s focus and commitment, and has been since our earliest days as a company.

Our goal has always been to provide the services that make a difference for South Carolinians, whether that meant completing voice calls made from a phone equipped with a rotary dial and bolted to the wall, or delivering information and opportunities via mobile broadband connections.

Now the Internet of Things (IoT), one of the fastest-growing technology trends in the world, is on the horizon. In the IoT, all types of devices and machines are connected and “talking” to one another. For example:

• Your car contacts your air conditioning system to begin lowering the temperature 15 minutes before you arrive home;
• Sensors in the lawn activate irrigation systems based on moisture in the soil, rather than at a pre-set time; and
• Navigation systems provide alternate routing when traffic accidents delay package delivery.

Just as the Internet transformed how we live and work, the IoT is driving the next wave of innovation. With IoT solutions, you will be able to connect and monitor assets from virtually anywhere for almost any industry, including: automotive, aviation, energy, healthcare, transportation and logistics and more.

At AT&T, IoT innovation is part of what we do every day. We pioneered mobile technology to change the way people live, work and play. And we strive to extend connectivity to all facets of your life, including home, business and car.

Fully realizing the potential of the IoT requires a robust communications network that integrates both wireless and wired technologies. In order to meet that need, AT&T invested more than $875 million in its best-in-class wireless and wired networks in South Carolina between 2012 and 2014, driving a wide range of upgrades to reliability, coverage, speed and performance for residents and business customers.

As part of this investment, in 2014 AT&T made 289 network upgrades in South Carolina, including 63 new cell sites; 183 network connection upgrades; and 43 new capacity upgrades. While much of the work involved wireless technology, we also invested heavily in enhancing and updating the wired network, which is essential for each wireless call.

Our investments were scattered throughout the state, in both rural and urban areas. During this three-year period, we invested more than $250 million in the Columbia metro area, nearly $150 million in the Upstate and more than $120 million in the Lowcountry.

This level of investment is possible because our state’s leaders evaluate and update South Carolina’s rules and policies to ensure they remain appropriate for the marketplace. Our goal – appropriately and consistently – is to keep South Carolinians connected, while also encouraging investment in the technologies that citizens and businesses need for success in a global economy.

As the industry continues to evolve, and new technologies and communications solutions like IOT possibilities emerge, we are optimistic that policymakers here in South Carolina will continue to embrace that forward-looking approach and understanding that communications is a driver of economic growth.

In Washington, the FCC plans to regulate broadband and wireless under statutory provisions originally developed nearly a century ago to govern the monopoly-era telephone system. I am proud that South Carolinians are among the Federal lawmakers who are advocating for Congress to take the lead in establishing policies appropriate for the Internet of Things.

Innovation and creativity are key elements of today’s economy, creating new jobs and new connections between people and opportunities. We look forward to continuing to deliver the technology and solutions to make that possible.

Pamela Lackey is the president of AT&T–South Carolina.

SCORECARD

Up and down for the governor

Thumbs up

Tougher on domestic violence. Hats off to the legislature and Gov. Nikki Haley for passing and signing a new law with tougher penalties for domestic violence. See? You can work together.

Heigel. Congratulations to Catherine Heigel, a former Duke Energy executive who was confirmed to run the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.

Graham. Congratulations to the state’s senior U.S. senator for announcing this week what we’ve long known — that he’s a candidate for president. Good luck.

In the middle

Exceptions. We’re happy a 20-week abortion ban bill didn’t get approved this year because women, not the male-dominated legislature, should have the right to make decisions about their health. While the bill should be dumped, thumbs down to the cavemen and cavewomen in the House who got rid of Senate-backed exceptions for rape and incest. What kind of people are you who would force a woman to have a child of her rapist or molester? More.

Thumbs down

Haley. Governor, you really stepped in it by pushing for bond money (yes, borrowing) through a mechanism that will cost taxpayers millions of more dollars than traditional funding. Even worse, you’re the one who rails about running government on a credit card. Come on! More.

SCE&G. The huge utility wants a seventh rate hike since 2009. It already makes, as we recall, a profit. More.

NUMBER

 2,100

That’s the number of students that the financially-troubled S.C. State University expects to attend the school in the fall. While the school is trying to attract more to attend, enrollment numbers are a far cry from 2007, when the school had almost 5,000 students. More.

QUOTE

Bad business

“The problem, I think, is how this whole thing has been handled out of the governor’s office by making promises that say we don’t need the Legislature. This is a horrible way of doing business.”

— House Ways and Means Chair Brian White, R-Anderson, in a rebuke of GOP Gov. Nikki Haley for promising to use economic development bonds to pay for Volvo incentives. Because of the way the deal is structured to have some years of interest-only payments on the bonds, taxpayers will pay millions more in interest than through traditional bond borrowing. More.

S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA

All Saints Parish

S.C. Encyclopedia | Established on March 16, 1778, All Saints Parish comprised the Waccamaw Neck of what came to be Horry and Georgetown Counties. In 1721 the peninsula became part of Prince George Winyah Parish, but separated from the rest of the parish by the Waccamaw River, it remained isolated and sparsely settled for decades. Because they could only reach the parish church by water, which was “very hazardous in blowing weather,” the inhabitants of Waccamaw Neck constructed a chapel of ease on Pawleys Island circa 1736.

On May 23, 1767, the Commons House of Assembly created All Saints Parish, granted it two representatives, and the chapel became the new parish church. King George III had recently prohibited the enlargement of colonial legislatures, however, and three years later he disallowed the parish. Shortly after South Carolina declared its independence from Britain, All Saints was reestablished in 1778.

With the introduction of tidal rice culture in the mid-eighteenth century, the Waccamaw River, which had so long been a barrier to the development of the Neck, quickly became its greatest asset. Plantations sprang up along its banks, and by 1810 African slaves made up nearly ninety percent of the parish population.

On the eve of the Civil War, per capita wealth for the free residents of All Saints was among the highest in the nation. With 1,092 slaves, Joshua John Ward, a rice planter and warden of All Saints Church, was one of the largest slaveholders in the entire South. With the abolition of the parish system in 1865, All Saints Parish became part of Horry and Georgetown Counties.

– Excerpted from the entry by Matthew A. Lockhart. To read more about this or 2,000 other entries about South Carolina, check out The South Carolina Encyclopedia by USC Press. (Information used by permission.)

CREDITS

Editor and Publisher: Andy Brack
Senior Editor: Bill Davis
Contributing Photographers: Michael Kaynard, Linda W. Brown

Phone: 843.670.3996

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Excerpts from The South Carolina Encyclopedia are published with permission and copyrighted 2006 by the Humanities Council SC. Excerpts were edited by Walter Edgar and published by the University of South Carolina Press. Statehouse Report has partnered with USC Press to provide readers with this interesting weekly historical excerpt about the state. Republication is not allowed. For additional information about Statehouse Report, including information on underwriting, go to https://www.statehousereport.com/.