Thumbs up
Farm aid. Thumbs up to the House and Senate for their landslide override of Gov. Nikki Haley’s short-sighted veto of $40 million in aid to the state’s farmers related to last year’s flooding. The legislature rightly viewed the aid as a hand-up to farmers — similar to lifts given to businesses to attract them into the state — not a bailout as Haley argued.
Crangle. Congrats to longtime Statehouse presence John Crangle, a lawyer who has been the face of Common Cause in South Carolina, on a new book about the 1990 Operation Lost Trust sting that netted more than two dozen legislators and lobbyists in hot water. With the need for lawmakers to pass tougher ethics rules still this year, it’s good to recall what went on in the past. More.
Jobs. Michelin is proposing a $320 million distribution center that would create 350 Upstate jobs and Blackbaud is building a new $154 million headquarters and adding 300 jobs. Keep the good news coming!
In the middle
New med school? We understand Francis Marion University President Fred Carter’s passion for better health care in the Pee Dee, but we’re not sure the state really is ready or needs a third medical school. Nice trial balloon, however, during a recent speech to Florence Rotarians. More.
Thumbs down
A Great Day SC PAC. Hundreds of thousands of dollars of ads by Gov. Nikki Haley’s political action committee reek of sour grapes and revenge against Senate moderates who have not always agreed with her. More.
Abortion ban. Shame on the widely male legislature for copying other states in an abortion ban after 19 weeks. This kind of unconstitutional nonsense almost leads us to support Rep. Mia McLeod’s effort to restrict erectile dysfunction drugs.
Haley. Not only did Gov. Nikki Haley lose big on the farm aid veto, but the state Supreme Court said she overstepped her authority in appointing Christy Hall to be head of the state Department of Transportation. More.
Grooms, Campbell. Thumbs down to GOP state Sens. Larry Grooms and Paul Campbell, both from Berkeley County, for interjecting a local bill into the whole debate over bathrooms and transgender residents. Legislators often say that the best government is that closest to the people. If so, why did you get in the way of what the school board wanted in opening bathrooms? More.
Bright Matthews. Freshman state Sen. Margie Bright Matthews, D-Walterboro, should remove a hold on a bill that would strengthen Freedom of Information laws. We understand her concerns for the impact on rural areas, but more openness, not less, is always preferable. More.
Ethics complaints. Still out there — complaints against State Treasurer Curtis Loftis, accused of using his office to help a friend, and former state Rep. Edward Southard, R-Berkeley, who resigned last month after sexual harassment allegations. He’s on the November ballot in a move that could allow him to regain his seat.
Ford. A state judge has reduced the monthly payment for a $70,000 restitution payment required of former state Sen. Robert Ford, D-Charleston, to $500 a month — a quarter of what it was. Maybe if Ford would start worrying about what he owes society instead of running to regain a seat he essentially lost because of using campaign money for personal expenses, we’d feel a little better about this latest installment of Ford’s story. But so far, we don’t.
Quote: Lost Trust homage to Yogi Berra
“It’s deja vu all over again. But you have generational amnesia. When I talk to college students about Operation Lost Trust, it’s like I’m talking about the Middle Ages. It’s forgotten. Hopefully, my book will help keep alive the memory.”
— Common Cause state director John Crangle, who has written a long book about Operation Lost Trust, the 1990 scandal that rocked the legislature.
Quote: “Scary” bill heads to governor
“I’m really worried about the woman who comes in with a birth defect or a genetic defect that is fatal 99.9 percent of the time. According to the law, we can’t help her. … It’s very, very confusing. It has penalties that would send physicians to jail.”
— Dr. Scott Sullivan, director of high-risk obstetrics at MUSC on a legislature-passed proposal to ban abortions after 19 weeks. He added the ban was “scary” and would be “a b ig step backwards” for women. More.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!