NOTE: We’ve added our weekly “Number of the Week” and “Quote of the Week” to the weekly Scorecard.
Thumbs up
Haley. Hats off to the governor for pushing for more prosecutors, judges and public defenders to cut the state’s horrific domestic violence rate And congrats for landing the GOP response to President Obama’s State of the Union address.
S.C. Chamber. Thumbs up for recommending increased revenue through some kind of continuing revenue sources to add to the billions of dollars needed to fix crumbling roads and bridges. Not only is a higher gas tax something that people are willing to pay, it will improve our state’s competitiveness, which is what the Chamber is seeking. More.
Clemson. Fingers crossed (if you know what we mean.)
Thumbs down
Traffic fatalities. As we’ve highlighted recently, too many people are dying on state roads. The end-of-the-year numbers now show it — deaths are up 15 percent. More.
Number: $600,000,000
That’s how much the S.C. Chamber says state lawmakers need to dedicate annually to fixing roads and bridges. The Chamber, in announcing its annual competitiveness agenda, didn’t prescribe a specific proposal, such as a particular amount of a gas tax increase, but said there needed to be a recurring fund that was sustainable to benefit infrastructure. Other top agenda items: workforce development and business licensing reform. More.
Quote: On being “spinally challenged”
“We don’t really do anything that is going to make anybody halfway mad at us.”
— S.C. Rep. Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, who said lawmakers often don’t take election-year risks. More.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!