By Lindsay Street, Statehouse correspondent | The S.C. Department of Social Services has requested an additional $69 million it says it needs to provide measurable improvements and outcomes for children.
The agency is working to comply with a 2016 U.S. District Court settlement of a case known as the Michelle H. Class Action lawsuit. The lawsuit claimed the agency’s foster care system had excessive caseloads for DSS workers and failed to provide basic health care and precautions to keep children safe.
Gov. Henry McMaster’s proposed executive budget included the $69 million request, but the House-passed budget included $40 million in recurring money. The House approved an additional $14.2 million in non-recurring money toward the agency that will also address priorities related to the lawsuit, according to DSS. The state’s $10 billion spending plan now heads to the Senate.
According to a statement from DSS, “The timeframe for these improvements being fully realized is largely dependent on whether the Department’s request is fully funded as requested by DSS and included in the Governor’s Executive Budget, or funded at the amount currently included in the House budget.”
Walhalla Republican Sen. Thomas Alexander chairs the Finance Committee’s panel reviewing DSS’s request.
“It’s too early to tell (whether it will be fully-funded in the Senate). As with all requests from all agencies, we have to work through all those requests and certainly we will be doing that,” he said. “They’ve had a change in leadership and I think he’s doing a good job with the agency and making some decisions and trying to lead the agency in a new direction with the right sense of principles and priorities, and that will go a long way with us toward addressing their priorities to the extent that we can.”
DSS Director Michael Leach, who was not available for an interview for this story, has been on the job for little less than a year, but he has earned praise from lawmakers and advocates alike.
Lexington Republican Sen. Katrina Shealy, who has led much of the effort to reform the agency in recent years, said she has faith in Leach’s ability to enact meaningful changes that protect children.
Shealy said the Senate “will do better” than the House’s proposed DSS funding, but said it may not meet 100 percent of the request.
In other news:
House takes a break. The S.C. House of Representatives will be on break for the next week in what has become a time-honored tradition. Members typically take a break following passage of the budget, and sometimes again around Easter. Around the turn of the century (no one knows exactly when), then-House Speaker David Wilkins of Greenville made it “common practice.” Wilkins said that it wasn’t to show off that the House was working faster than its upper chamber colleagues, but “more of a we’ve done our work and now we can have three days off from session and come back renewed in the remaining weeks.” He said it also saves the state money because lawmakers don’t get a per-diem coming into Columbia that week. The House returns to session March 24. (Side note: the Senate also sometimes takes a break.)
No coronavirus plans yet. House Speaker Jay Lucas, R-Hartsville, reportedly is monitoring the coronavirus, but his office said there is no official comment on whether he is considering curbing some public meetings at the Statehouse in response to the virus. Meanwhile, Senate President Harvey Peeler, R-Gaffney, said Thursday during session the Senate will go on.
Santee Cooper works on settlement. During a Thursday meeting, state-owned utility Santee Cooper approved a $520 million settlement for a lawsuit stemming from its failed nuclear construction project. The pending settlement ends a standoff with ratepayers and could eliminate the utility’s major financial threat. Former S.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Jean Toal will need to approve the settlement before it is finalized. Read more.
- Related: The Senate’s reform plan for Santee Cooper is now in the Judiciary Committee, but as of March 13, no meeting has been scheduled on the plan.
1988 law found unconstitutional. A federal judge struck down a South Carolina law Wednesday that prohibited the discussion of same-sex relationships in public school sexual education classes after a group of LGBTQ advocates filed suit against the state, saying the law unconstitutionally affected non-heterosexual students. Read more.
Tracking rape kits passes the Senate. After passing the Senate, a rape-kit tracking bill will soon head toward Gov. Henry McMaster’s desk. The House and Senate will need to agree on differences between their versions of the bill. Editor and Publisher Andy Brack penned a column earlier this year urging passage of the bill. Read it here. It is unknown what the fiscal impact of the bill will be, according to a Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office report.
Women in Senate rally behind ERA. An all-woman (and every-woman — there are only four women in the S.C. Senate) Senate subcommittee voted this week to move state ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment to full committee. Shealy said she thinks it will make it to a floor vote before session closes in May, predicting that it may become a tough vote for on both sides in an election year.
Meeting March 25 on child well-being in S.C. The S.C. Child Well-Being Coalition meets 9 a.m.-12:20 p.m. March 25 at Brookland Banquet and Conference Center in West Columbia. The free and open event will feature updates and speakers. More info.
‘Heartbeat’ still looms in Senate. A bill that seeks to end nearly all abortions in the state is still lingering on the Senate calendar. “It’s always kind of lurking over us,” Hopkins Democratic Sen. Darrell Jackson told Statehouse Report. Republican sources tell us that the abortion debate will likely come after the budget and Santee Cooper (and the March 30 election filing period deadline).
Filing period opens March 16. And speaking of election filing period: The 2020 candidate filing period opens noon, March 16, and closes noon, March 30. All Senate seats and all House seats are up for election this year. Learn about candidate qualifications here.
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We Can Do Better, South Carolina!
Oh, no…DSS can’t possibly need money to try and protect kids when faux Republican libertarians want to pander to taxpayers and send them a welfare check on top of their refunds instead.
When you believe the only function of government is to hand out tax breaks to your rich friends and pay YOUR salary, benefits and perks, of course, you don’t fund agencies to protect children or any other vulnerable person. Plus, we all know ‘Republicans’ only care about children before they are born.