Staff reports | State Rep. Rita Allison, R-Spartanburg, and Liberty Fellows founder Hayne Hipp will receive leadership awards from Furman University’s Riley Institute at its annual January dinner named in honor of former House Speaker David H. Wilkins of Greenville.
Allison, chair of the House Education Committee, will receive the Wilkins Award for Excellence in Legislative Leadership, while Hipp, former CEO of Liberty Insurance, will get a companion award for civic leadership. Both awards will be presented at a dinner at Columbia’s Metropolitan Convention Center on Jan. 10, 2017, the first night of the coming legislative session.
According to a Furman press release, “A strong, long-time advocate for education improvement in South Carolina, Representative Allison has worked tirelessly for the children of South Carolina and has set aside partisanship to bring people together to tackle important education issues. Nominated for the award by fellow legislators, she is described as open-minded, smart, and easy to work with.”
Hipp has a distinguished record of civic and community leadership which blossomed with the creation of the Liberty Fellowship, an incubator for exemplary leadership in South Carolina.
“Hayne consistently asks ‘why not?’ as he challenges the status quo in South Carolina. He leads wholeheartedly and generously, focusing on what is best for South Carolina,” said Luanne Runge, the current president and CEO of Liberty Fellowship.
In other news briefs:
House to prefile on Dec. 15. Members of the state House of Representatives will have an organizational session at the Statehouse on Dec. 6-7, officials said. Meanwhile, House members will be able to prefile bills for the coming 2017 legislative session on Dec. 15.
Protecting your voting rights. While officials across the nation say voting systems are safe and reliable, many groups have concerns that there may be efforts to hamper voters getting to the polls through harassment or efforts to intimidate.
Several groups plan an election protection workshop in Charleston County at 10 a.m. Nov. 5 at the main public library on Calhoun.
Meanwhile, if voters feel poll watchers or observers are getting in their way of voting in local, state and national elections on Tuesday, they can report harassment or intimidation to the ACLU or U.S. Justice Department:
- ACLU’s Election Protection Hotline: 1-866-OUR-VOTE
- Justice Department’s Voting Rights Hotline: 1-800-253-3931
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