By Lindsay Street, Statehouse correspondent | South Carolina is bucking the worsening national trend of food insecurity among children, according to a new report from the Brookings Institute.
South Carolina and Colorado are the only states in the nation to see fewer children facing food insecurity during 2014-16 compared to 2005-07. Still, the Palmetto State has 16.4 percent of children labeled as food insecure. The national average is 16.5 percent. The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as a lack of consistent access to sufficient food or quality food.
The research finding those numbers doesn’t point to any reason for success for the two outlier states. Here is an excerpt:
“In only two states – Colorado and South Carolina – were the share of children living in households with food insecurity and very low food security lower in 2014-16 than in 2005-07. In 23 states the share of children living in food insecure households was statistically significantly higher than just prior to the Great Recession.”
In other recent news:
Alford to retire. S.C. Department of Social Services Director Susan Alford has announced she will retire from the position effective July 16. Appointed by Gov. Nikki Haley, Alford has led the agency since 2014. Agency Chief of Staff Joan Meacham will serve as acting director when Alford retires, according to WLTX.
The Trump tax cut. If you make more than $200,000 in South Carolina, prepare for a federal windfall equivalent to the average annual salary of an ambulance driver in the state. A new calculator from The Tax Foundation shows the average tax cut via income and congressional district. For example, in South Carolina’s First District, a person making between $50,000 and $75,000 will receive a tax cut of $1,349 while a person making more than $200,000 in that same district will receive a tax cut of $24,819. See the calculator here.
Rate cuts happen. After the legislature finally got on the same page to force a 15 percent rate cut for South Carolina Electric & Gas customers (and then overrode a gubernatorial veto), the state’s utility oversight commission voted unanimously this week to enact the rate cut. SCE&G customers have been paying an 18 percent surcharge to help pay for a $9 billion now-defunct project that sought to bring two new nuclear reactors online at V.C. Summer in Jenkinsville. The project was canceled last year before being completed.
Minority affairs. The South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs (CMA), which is supposed to conduct research and collect data to help the state better serve minority communities, has been under fire for months as a legislative audit probed its effectiveness. The audit came out this week and one of the biggest findings was that the CMA did not set up a hotline to receive reports of violations of immigration laws . Lawmakers are asking the governor to fire its board. Read more here.
Opportunity incentives. U.S. Sen. Tim Scott was in rural South Carolina this week touting the Opportunity Zones established by the federal tax overhaul last year. He said the tax incentives intended to lure economic development to rural communities throughout the nation could help spur growth in places lagging behind. Read the story here.
Police city USA. Myrtle Beach has second highest police per capita rate in the nation, according to a new report by Governing. With a rate of 68.7 police officers per 10,000 people, Myrtle Beach was only surpassed by Atlantic City, N.J. (70.9). In South Carolina, the next highest officer-per-capita rate is in Anderson with 33.1 officers per 10,000 people. The lowest was in Goose Creek at 15.2 officers per 10,000 people. Read the report.
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