By Lindsay Street, Statehouse correspondent | South Carolina is inching closer to offering free technical college education — with a caveat: A student could earn a full-ride at his or her technical college of choice as long as he or she is going to school for an identified workforce need in the region as determined by the Coordinating Council for Workforce Development. For example, nursing students could qualify in the Upstate, where nurses have been identified as a workforce need, and automotive students in the Lowcountry thanks to needs by Volvo and Mercedes.
House bill H. 3576, which was offered by former Ways and Means Chair Brian White, R-Anderson, would create the S.C. Workforce Industry Needs Scholarship. The bill, which has passed the House, would be funded by $17 million from the state Education Lottery.
The measure is now in the Senate Education Committee. As of Friday morning, the bill has not been scheduled for a hearing. Several requests to committee Chair Greg Hembree and his office on when the bill will be scheduled were not answered.
In other higher education news:
Former Senate budget staffer talks higher ed bill. University of South Carolina Director of Government Relations Craig Parks spoke in Greenwood this week about the potential for transformation of the state’s higher education facilities with S. 298, the “Higher Education Opportunity Act.” Parks said the bill has the potential to make generational changes to the way higher education is funded in the state. On Feb. 21, the Senate Finance Committee approved the bill and sent to the Senate floor. Read the story here.
In other news:
Chief justice seeks end to jailing poor people. S.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Donald Beatty addressed lawmakers in a joint session this week. In addition to calling for more diversity among judges in the state, Beatty also called for an end to jailing poor people who cannot afford lawyers. Read more here.
- Previous coverage: Jail bonds efficacy in S.C. questioned (Nov. 2, 2018).
Toomey confirmed. The state Senate this week confirmed Rick Toomey as head of S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. Toomey is a former member S.C. Board of Health and Environmental Control. He was nominated by Gov. Henry McMaster to the position, which was vacated in 2018.
Public input sought on Department of Education, other agencies. House Speaker Jay Lucas, R-Darlington, and the S.C. House Legislative Oversight Committee are seeking public input in an online survey seeking public input on the six agencies: the Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services; Department of Education; Housing Finance and Development Authority; Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services; Rural Infrastructure Authority; and Office of the Secretary of State. Input can be sent up until April 1. Click here to take the survey.
Weekly update on Palmetto Priorities
Throughout the legislative session, we’ll provide you relevant updates related to our list of Palmetto Priorities, which are 10 big policy areas where major progress is needed for South Carolina to escape the bottom of lots of lists. Over the last week:
Poverty. A congressionally-commissioned report on reducing child poverty nationwide (which is estimated to cost up to $1.1 trillion taxpayer dollars every year), has outlined four solutions with billion-dollar price tags. Every solution increases the federal Earned Income Tax Credit and includes changes to the Child Care Tax Credit. Several of the solutions would increase the federal minimum wage to $10.25 per hour. The most expensive plan tallied $111.6 billion and halved the children-in-poverty rate. The report’s authors ruled out any work requirements for welfare, marriage promotion and better access to contraception for lack of evidence. In South Carolina, S.C. Rep. Chris Hart, D-Richland, has proposed a bill (H. 4154) that would set the minimum wage at $17 per hour.
Health care. The full Senate will soon take up a bill that will put pharmacy benefits managers under the jurisdiction of the insurance industry (S. 359). The bill was reported out of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee this week. Senate Minority Leader Nikki Setzler of Lexington, tweeted that the bill would make for “greater transparency in regard to drug pricing.”
Taxes, Part I: S.C. among states with low corporate tax. The Tax Foundation released a report this week on state corporate income tax brackets. While there are 44 states that levy corporate taxes — ranging from 2.5 percent in North Carolina to 12 percent in Iowa — South Carolina is one of eight states with a corporate income tax rate at or below 5 percent. South Carolina’s corporate income tax rate is 5 percent. Read the report here.
Taxes, Part II: Sales tax in S.C. to be discussed. State sales tax and its exemptions will be reviewed in the S.C. House Tax Policy Review Committee on March 7 some 15 minutes after adjournment in room 516 of the Blatt building. Read the agenda here.
Education, Part I: A chance to weigh in on education reform. Public hearings on the Senate’s version of the education overhaul bill (S. 419) continue next week. Here are the remaining public hearings scheduled around the state:
- McCormick: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. March 4 at McCormick Middle School Gym, 6979 Highway 28 South.
- Hartsville: 6 p.m. to -8 p.m. March 11 at Coker College, Black Box Theater, Elizabeth Boatwright Coker Performing Arts Center, 300 East College Avenue.
- Gaffney: 6 p.m. to -8 p.m. March 18 at Gaffney High School Auditorium, 149 Twin Lake Road.
- Georgetown: 6 p.m. to -8 p.m. March 21 at Georgetown High School Auditorium, 2500 Anthuan Maybank Drive.
Education, Part II: State-funded 4K report released. The Education Oversight Committee (EOC) released this week an annual report on the state’s publicly-funded 4K programs. According to the report, 61 percent of all 4-year-old children in South Carolina in 2017-2018 were in poverty. Fewer than half participated in either the state’s full-day or another 4K program. Read the full report.
Education, Part III: No snow days gets good reviews. The EOC also released this week its e-Learning report, which was dated Jan. 14. This was a report on the five-district pilot program that allowed schools to opt into an online-learning instructional day when attending school is too risky due to inclement weather (hurricanes, snow, etc.). Anderson 5, Kershaw, Pickens, Spartanburg 1 and Spartanburg 7 implemented the program, which was the first in the country and made national news. The report found that more than 90 percent of teachers, parents and administrators found the e-learning to be a positive experience. Depending on grade lever, between 65 percent to 75 percent of students felt it was positive. The report recommended the state expand the pilot program. In the House’s proposed budget, the proviso was renewed from the previous year, but not expanded. Read the full report.
Roads: Potholes patched in ‘Pothole Blitz.’ More than 43,000 potholes were patched as part of S.C. Department of Transportation’s monthlong Pothole Blitz from Jan. 10 to Feb. 3. Read the report here.
Environment: Scorecards for federal lawmakers released. The national League of Conservation Voters released this week its 2018 National Environmental Scorecard, including scores for the South Carolina federal delegation. Congressman Jim Clyburn had the highest score of 94 percent, followed by former Congressman Mark Sanford at 40 percent. Other U.S. House and Senate members from South Carolina all scored less than 10 percent. The full list of votes from the second session of the 115th Congress from the South Carolina federal delegation can be found at scorecard.lcv.org.
Looking ahead
Click below for other items coming up in the Statehouse:
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!