Our weekly Top Five feature offers big stories or views from the past week with policy and legislative implications.
Blacks see bias in delay on a Scalia successor, The New York Times, Feb. 18, 2016
This front-page story written from Charleston features comments from some in South Carolina who are irritated at how federal Republicans seem determined to block any nominee from President Obama to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. It’s an important read because it reflects a perspective on race that many seem to be missing and a perspective that will impact elected white Republicans in the Palmetto State.
Battle starting over next chief justice of S.C. Supreme Court, The State/Rock Hill Herald, Feb. 18, 2016
According to precedent, the senior member of the state Supreme Court is next in line to be chief justice. But the guy who is supposed to be next — Justice Don Beatty — has rubbed some folks wrong in recent years for what critics call “judicial overreach.” For some, that’s little more than coded language to highlight that Beatty, who worked with Republicans in the early 1990s on a redistricting deal that made white legislative districts whiter and black districts blacker, is a black justice. This could get messy in the months ahead.
South Carolina has free trade’s scars, The Wall Street Journal, Feb. 17, 2016
Decades of offshoring took thousands of textile and manufacturing jobs away from South Carolina. But foreign investment in the state has started to bring some back. Related: Chinese company relocates to S.C. to save money.
When states fight to overturn good local labor laws, editorial, The New York Times, Feb. 19, 2016
“Local government is theoretically a cornerstone of democracy. But as a practical matter, conservative state legislatures have often blocked progressive local laws. Many states, for example, have laws on their books to pre-empt local restrictions on guns and pesticides. … Alabama, along with Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee, has no state minimum wage. “
Senators say high DSS case loads mean children at risk, Associated Press, Feb. 18, 2016
State Department of Social Services officials say high caseloads at the agency are still an issue, despite the hiring of 170 new caseworkers. Despite a goal of one caseworker for each two dozen children, 130 caseworkers still have loads of at least 50 children, including five with more than 85. The culprit: big turnover at the agency, even though the rate has been cut in half. “Every day that goes by represents more children slipping through the cracks,” Sen. Thomas McElveen, D-Sumter, said in a hearing.
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