By Jack O’Toole | S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster is warning state senators that proposed legislation to radically restrict the authority of state officials during declared public health emergencies “could cripple South Carolina’s ability to respond promptly … and potentially place innocent lives at risk.”
Interestingly, McMaster pushed hard during the early months of the Covid pandemic to keep S.C. businesses open despite increased hospitalizations and concerns about the disease’s spread. The Palmetto State had the 10th highest death rate from Covid with more than 9,000 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Last year, McMaster emphasized his disdain for mask mandates and closures: “ As talks of mask mandates and closures kick up across the country, I can assure the people of South Carolina we will not have mask mandates, we will not close schools, and we will not lock down,” he said on X.
Nevertheless, McMaster’s rare public rebuke this week came on the eve of a March 14 Senate Medical Affairs subcommittee meeting to consider the bill, which supporters have dubbed The Medical Freedom Act.
Dr. Edward Simmer, director of the state Department of Health and Environmental Control, reiterated the governor’s message at the meeting.
“There are a number of issues where we believe this bill would actually cause harm to the people of South Carolina, and would in fact cause unnecessary death amongst the people of South Carolina,” Simmer told committee members.
In response, the committee agreed to remove language prohibiting the state health department from procuring and distributing vaccines that have not been in use for at least 10 years.
But still in the bill – and still of concern to the governor – are provisions limiting the authority of health officials to quarantine infected individuals, prohibiting public and private-sector employers from mandating vaccinations, and forbidding the state from treating natural disasters as public health emergencies.
Committee members voted to advance the legislation in a party-line vote, with Republicans voting yes and Democrats voting no.
In other recent headlines:
City Paper named state’s best large weekly. The Charleston City Paper, parent of Statehouse Report, won 35 awards Friday in the S.C. Press Association’s annual contest of news excellence. The awards included 15 first-place prizes as well as being named the state’s top large weekly newspaper. The newspaper’s editorial board also received the coveted weekly newspaper award for assertive journalism for its coverage of redevelopment of Union Pier in downtown Charleston.
How S.C. judges picked may change. The S.C. Senate gave key approval to a bill Thursday that would allow S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster to appoint members to a screening panel for judicial candidates — up to a maximum of four people. It also requires all qualified candidates — up to a maximum of six — be sent to the General Assembly for election.
S.C. leads the nation in preschool suspensions. South Carolina leads the nation in the number of preschool children, ages 2½ to 5 years old, who are suspended from school one or more times.
S.C. energy regulator quits over bill that would reduce oversight of utilities. Greenville attorney Tom Ervin, a member of the panel that regulates South Carolina utilities, has stepped down over a bill that he and other critics have blasted as a blank check for the power industry.
Bill takes aim at diversity initiatives at S.C. universities. A new bill proposed at the Statehouse on initiatives and programs aimed at promoting diversity, equity and inclusion, also known as DEI, at South Carolina’s public colleges and universities.
S.C., Southern states have low representation of women in Statehouses. South Carolina has among the lowest representation numbers of women in its Statehouse in the nation.
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We Can Do Better, South Carolina!
What’s gotten into McMassa? Is he starting to care about us common folk?