BRACK: A speed round of a dozen opinions for S.C.

By Andy Brack  |  Readers last year seemed to enjoy a commentary of a rapid-fire round of opinions on South Carolina issues.  So we thought we’d offer it again.  Here are some things to think about – and perhaps pressure your state representatives about:

Expand Medicaid.  South Carolina lawmakers have resisted expanding Medicaid for years because it’s something former President Barack Obama came up with.  North Carolina just became the 30th state to expand the program – a move that will provide health coverage for hundreds of thousands and bring billions to the state.  Time for S.C. to wake up and do the same.

Appoint a poet laureate.  Marjory Wentworth served as the state’s poet laureate for 17 years, resigning in October 2020.  Gov. Henry McMaster still hasn’t reappointed a successor.  Failing to fill this honorary position shows a continuing disdain for the arts.  Do better, governor.

Cut the digital divide.  South Carolina is about to have $40 million over four years to provide Internet access to people who still don’t have it.  Let’s make sure we do this right so we can get the Palmetto State wired to help expand telehealth and knowledge.

Bond reform.  It’s a hot-button issue to stop the “revolving door” of criminals who commit more crimes when out on bond.  That’s fine.  But have you thought about where you’re going to keep them?  Jails and prisons are already pretty packed.  Think it through.

Protect elections.  Some Republicans want to require South Carolinians to register to vote by party, which would allow only those people to vote in a party’s primary elections.  That’s not fair to the hundreds of thousands of independent voters who now can pick one primary or the other.  This proposal smacks of electioneering by the GOP and should be stopped cold in its tracks. 

Medical marijuana. South Carolina keeps fiddling with passage of a medical marijuana law that would relieve suffering and pain for thousands.  Yes, it’s marijuana.  But show some compassion to help people who are hurting. Approve it, regulate it and make some tax bucks off of it.  Stop dilly-dallying.

Tax reform.  South Carolina has avoided real tax reform that looks at everything – sales, property and income taxes, as well as the gazillion fees that generate revenue.  Times are pretty good.  Let’s finally – finally – do comprehensive tax reform that smart folks in the legislature have been seeking for decades to boost tax fairness and spread the tax burden.

Save more land.  The state should spend more money to protect land to curb developers from gobbling up more special places.  Remember what they say about land – they’re not making any more of it so once you screw it up, it’s gone.

Thwart vouchers. Using public money for private education is bad policy and bad for public education.  Resist.

Protect democracy.  With all of the threats our democracy faces these days, lawmakers need to do more to help citizens understand how precious it is.  Thwart autocracy and promote democracy with broad public service campaigns for adults and more civics education in schools.

Charleston loophole.  Pass the Charleston loophole to keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them.  It’s been almost eight years since a home-grown terrorist murdered Sen. Clementa Pinckney and eight others in a Charleston church.  The least you can do to honor the Emanuel Nine is to pass sensible gun reform.

Split DHEC. The state Department of Health and Environmental Control is too bulky and often too arrogant for its own good.  Legislators should follow through on a plan to split it into at least two separate agencies – health and environment – and place other functions with other agencies, as needed.

Andy Brack, recognized as the state’s best columnist in 2022 by the S.C. Press Association, is editor and publisher of Statehouse Report and the Charleston City Paper.  Have a comment? Send to feedback@statehousereport.com.