Staff reports | Republican leaders in South Carolina are reportedly among a group of national conservatives who could question or turn down federal funding to expand universal pre-kindergarten, according to a report Wednesday in The Washington Post.
A plan recently OK’d by the U.S. House of Representatives and awaiting approval by the Senate would send $110 billion to states over six years to offer free pre-kindergarten for 3- and 4-year-olds nationwide.
And while similar proposals have garnered support from both Republicans and Democrats in the past, some GOP lawmakers across the country are reportedly ready to say, “No, thanks,” if the funding comes from the Biden-backed bill.
“Republican lawmakers in Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Carolina and Minnesota told The Post that they will reject or are troubled by aspects of Biden’s proposed pre-K expansion,” the D.C. paper reported.
Though the proposal would send federal dollars to pay for some of the costs, legislatures would have to appropriate funds to cover the rest.
State Rep. Rita Allison, R-Lyman, told the Charleston City Paper on Thursday there hasn’t been much talk of the federal dollars for pre-K in the Palmetto State yet, but that leaders would have to see how the proposal impacts the bottom line, if passed.
“That’s the thing about the federal money coming in: It’s good for a one-time push,” she said. “But when you start looking at something that is recurring, that means that the state has to be in a position to pick it up when the time happens.”
- Read the full story by City Paper editor Sam Spence.
In other recent news:
S.C. has 1,000+ vacant public school teaching positions. A new survey reveals an 88 percent increase in the number of vacant teaching positions across South Carolina. That’s more than 1,000 teacher vacancies that are impacting up to 20,000 students, one organization said. The survey also showed 6,900 educators from last year didn’t return to jobs in their districts, with 18 percent retiring, 34 percent leaving for “external reasons” and 27 percent for “personal reasons.” More: The Post and Courier | WIS TV.
Justices signal they’ll OK new abortion limits. The U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority on Wednesday signaled they would allow states to ban abortion much earlier in pregnancy in the biggest challenge to abortion rights in decades. If they make such a ruling, it may overturn the nationwide right that has existed for nearly 50 years under the Roe v. Wade precedent. The outcome may not be known until next June, however. Across the countr, abortion battles are intensifying ahead of the court’s ruling.
In states like S.C., people are dying of cancer at higher rates. People died of cancer at higher rates in the years following the passage of the Affordable Care Act in states like South Carolina, where political leaders chose not to expand Medicaid under the new law, according to a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. More: Charleston City Paper.
S.C.’s Scott top vice presidential candidate, polls show. Since former President Donald Trump’s defeat in November 2020, speculation has been mounting about South Carolina’s U.S. Sen. Tim Scott’s White House ambitions. More: The Post and Courier.
Greene feuds with S.C.’s Mace on Islamophobia, abortion. U.S. Reps. Nancy Mace, R-S.C, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, are in a public and highly personal feud over abortion and religion, amid fallout from Islamophobic remarks by some GOP lawmakers. More: The Washington Post | Politico. Related: Mace’s chief of staff resigns.
Trump Jr. fundraiser for McMaster nets $250K. Donald Trump Jr. headlined a fundraiser for S.C. Governor Henry McMaster’s reelection campaign Tuesday night, bringing in more than a quarter-million dollars.
Former S.C. gubernatorial candidate to pay $33k to end ethics case. Charleston Democrat Phil Noble has agreed to pay more than $30,000 in fines and refunds for violating state ethics laws during his failed bid for governor in 2018.
State House member launches bid for Leatherman’s seat. S.C. Rep. Jay Jordan, who chairs the House Ethics Committee, this week announced his Senate bid to fill the unexpired term of the seat held by the late Sen. Hugh Leatherman.
S.C. Libertarian Party calls another secession for S.C. ‘OK.’ It may not have worked out so well in 1861, but a group of anti-big government South Carolinians says it supports the right of the state and its citizens to secede from the Union in 2021, according to The Post and Courier.
Pandemic fears rise as Omicron variant emerges. As multiple countries, including Israel and Australia, bar travel as more cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 emerge, others proceeded with prior plans to reopen borders Monday. President Biden this week urged Americans to get vaccinated and is turning to a travel ban to buy more time to understand the new variant, according to The New York Times.
USC presidential candidate may be presented to faculty senate soon. A “preferred candidate” for the new university president at the University of South Carolina will be brought before the Faculty Senate in the near future, the search committee chair said, according to The Daily Gamecock. Past President Harris Pastides is serving as the school’s interim leader following the resignation of Bob Caslen following plagiarism accusations and a highly politicized selection process.
- Want more headlines every business day that are like this? Visit our friends at SC Clips.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!