STATEHOUSE REPORT | ISSUE 21.05 | FEB. 4, 2022
BIG STORY: A big pot of money: State has $750M in unclaimed funds
NEWS BRIEFS: South Carolina still has no hate crimes law
LOWCOUNTRY, Ariail: Sandbagged
COMMENTARY, Brack: Those who govern can do better for the people
SPOTLIGHT: AT&T
FEEDBACK: Look at GOP women legislators, too
MYSTERY PHOTO: Lots of trees
A big pot of money: State has $750M in unclaimed funds
By Skyler Baldwin | The state has $750 million in unclaimed funds and some of it might be yours.
S.C. Treasurer Curtis Loftis recently announced more than 615,000 new properties were added to the state’s Unclaimed Property Program, a total value of $84 million in additional funds available to owners just a day before the observance of National Unclaimed Property Day.
Unclaimed property can be a lot of different things — but it’s usually intangible cash like stocks, bonds or uncashed checks. And although about one in 10 Americans has unclaimed property, according to Loftis, most would never know it.
Billions of dollars are returned to state treasurer’s offices around the country every year. Since 2011, more than $260 million has been returned to South Carolina residents alone.
“It’s kind of funny,” Loftis told Statehouse Report this week. “You have to practically knock them over the head with the money to get them to take it. They think it’s not theirs, or that you’re a crook.”
Big and modest payouts
Loftis recounted the tale of one woman who was called at least five times by different offices and associates before she was finally given the money she was owed — nearly $600,000. But payouts of that size are few and far between, Loftis said.
“We talk about the big ones because that motivates people to think they got lucky,” he said. “The big claims, the funny claims, the extraordinary claims, they just get people to check in.”
And it isn’t just big-time stockholders or business aficionados who may find unclaimed property with the treasurer’s office.
“Anyone who owns or possesses unclaimed property … it’s supposed to stay in the state treasurer’s office. That’s banks, water departments, the government itself and individual residents. It could be anything from $5 to over $1 million.”
The average claim is about $500, which may seem like a small chunk compared to the more-than-$750 million in total unclaimed property sitting in the state treasurer’s office today, but Loftis said those small claims can be the most impactful.
“This isn’t politics. This can really make a difference in people’s lives,” he said. “The people you give $500 to, it’s a single mom with three kids, and that’s the balance on her rent money, or it gets their kids back in school, grandma can buy her medicines. That’s who we do it for.”
Program helps in tough times
S.C. Rep. Robert Williams, D-Darlington, agrees, saying the program is extremely important to residents of South Carolina, especially in today’s tumultuous economic climate as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage the state and inflation is driving the prices of common goods sky-high.
“It’s their money, and we want to make sure that they get it and use it to their advantage,” he said. “The state has a tradition of holding the money of those they can’t find, but they work very hard at getting the money out to the individuals that they need.
“It’s a benefit to the community and a benefit to the individual, especially with the costs of everything going up and nobody’s paychecks going up. This kind of money is exactly what folks need to help get them over the hump.”
Do you have money in the fund?
Loftis said he is encouraging everyone — businesses, charities, schools, churches and individual residents — to check treasurer.sc.gov to see if there are funds waiting for them to be claimed.
There is no cost to search for or claim funds, so Loftis said the best practice is to check the database at least twice a year for unclaimed funds.
- Skyler Baldwin is a reporter with the Charleston City Paper, a sister publication. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
South Carolina still has no hate crimes law
Staff reports | Passing a state hate crimes bill seems to be on the back burner in the Palmetto State. Only South Carolina and Wyoming have no hate crimes law, according to stories in today’s news that highlight how S.C. Republican senators don’t appear to be in any rush to make their state the 49th in the county to pass a hate crimes law. More: WCSC TV, The State, The Post and Courier.
In other recent news:
DHEC says Omicron has peaked in S.C. schools. Amid an unprecedented strain on keeping classrooms open nationwide, South Carolina health officials are reporting that the Omicron strain of the coronavirus has peaked with quarantines and case numbers are somewhat ebbing. Meanwhile, South Carolina health officials on Thursday reported 5,136 total new cases of COVID-19, with 3,284 confirmed. They also reported 137 new deaths, 107 of which were confirmed. With 17,562 tests reported Thursday, 24.4 percent were positive.
Premature birth rates rise in South Carolina. South Carolina’s premature birth rate rose from 11.5% to 11.8% in 2020 — leading to a failing grade on the 2021 March of Dimes Premature Birth Report Card. Premature birth/low birthweight is the second leading cause of all infant deaths during the first year of life and the leading cause of infant death among Black infants.
Common ground being found in S.C. Senate’s proposal on school choice. A proposed law seeks to require every school district in South Carolina to offer some type of program to send children to a school outside their zoned areas and allow children to go to a school in a different district. It would make the popular program statewide. A Senate panel has the proposal under consideration, and it has lawmakers and educators finding common ground. More: The Post and Courier.
S.C. House bill would set 2 weeks of early voting. A bill introduced Feb. 3 by S.C. House Republicans would allow South Carolina residents to vote early without excuse, but would require people voting by mail to include their ID.
S.C. House leaders take aim at income tax cut. Republican lawmakers in the South Carolina House are eyeing a cut to income taxes in the state ahead of the end of this year’s General Assembly session. More: The State, SC Public Radio.
McMaster, lawmakers at odds on $525M SRS settlement fund distribution. The federal government paid South Carolina $525 million after it failed to build a facility to convert plutonium into fuel for nuclear power and stored the plutonium on the Savannah River Site. Now, Gov. Henry McMaster and lawmakers are at odds as to who gets the settlement. More: The State.
Lowcountry lawmakers rally behind Childs for SCOTUS nomination. South Carolina Representative J.A. Moore, D-Berkeley, introduced a resolution Tuesday in support of South Carolina Judge Michelle Childs’ potential nomination to be the first Black woman on the United States Supreme Court. More: WCBD TV. Meanwhile on Sunday, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a key member of the Senate Judiciary Committee from South Carolina, signaled support for Childs: “I can’t think of a better person for President Biden to consider for the Supreme Court then Michelle Childs,” Graham said in an interview with CBS.
Orangeburg Confederate monument bill gets approval in S.C. Senate. The S.C. Senate has approved a bill allowing the city of Orangeburg to move a Confederate monument from Memorial Plaza to a Confederate cemetery. But the bill might face an uphill battle in the House. The state’s Heritage Act of 2000 requires local governments to get General Assembly approval to move or change monuments in honor of the Confederacy or other movements.
S.C.’s Harrison smacks down rumors of leaving DNC post. As President Joe Biden sinks in the polls, a media outlet reported a strain has arisen between the president and Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison of South Carolina. But Harrison quickly dismissed rumors he would leave his post. He then went on to tout record fundraising levels for the DNC in the midterm cycle.
S.C. cities, counties sharing up to $410M in landmark opioid settlement. Communities across the Palmetto State are set to get financial relief from drugmakers as part of a multibillion-dollar, nationwide settlement.
- Want more headlines every business day that are like this? Visit our friends at SC Clips.
Sandbagged
Cartoonist Robert Ariail always has an interesting take on what’s going on in South Carolina. Love the cartoon? Hate it? What do you think: feedback@statehousereport.com.
Those who govern can do better for the people
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | In civil rights circles, it’s not uncommon to hear people say, “Justice delayed is justice denied,” particularly when it comes to recent shootings and deaths of Black men across America.
This phrase, a legal maxim attributed to 19th-century British statesman William Gladstone, led my father, a longtime Georgia columnist, to paraphrase it when considering how government doesn’t seem to work well these days. “Government delayed is government denied,” he suggested.
“What most Americans want is a government at all levels which stands for a fair and impartial functioning of our nation, and for the just execution of the laws it has passed,” he wrote in late January. “Back in the 50s and 60s, the Eisenhower and Kennedy years, people had a 75 percent trust in government. But these days, no matter the party, people have less than a 25 percent trust in government.”
That got me to think about how government, an unwieldy process sometimes likened to making sausage, often seems to be stalled from doing much that’s meaningful at all. Here are two examples just this week:
State senators continued to debate whether to approve the so-called “Compassionate Care Act,” a proposal pushed for eight years by state Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, to allow people ailing from epilepsy, cancer and more to use legal cannabis to relieve major pain and suffering. While Davis says it’s the most conservative medical marijuana proposal in the country, opposition remains and the bill seems like it’s being talked to death. After eight years.
Next, there’s a renewed call for South Carolina legislators to pass a hate crimes law. The Palmetto State and Wyoming are the only two states in the union to not have such a measure. In a state that spawned a racist hopped up on Internet hate who gunned down nine people praying in a Charleston church, it’s not too much to ask lawmakers to criminalize hate. And if they want to go further, they can wake up and close the gun loophole that allowed the murderer to buy the pistol used in the slayings more than six years ago.
With both cases, the people are waiting for government to act. In Washington, it’s no different as Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate seem to be in a continuing game of one-upmanship simply to score points, not do much to help regular people.
Notes my father in his column:
“Because of the 50-50 split between the parties in the Senate, Republicans are stalling with all their might, not allowing even simple bills to get to the floor. President Biden’s plan to bolster many aspects of our government, such as passing a voting improvement plan, and items to bolster our infrastructure, are turned back by Republican shenanigans.
“The main obstructionist in all this is Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who by his use of his Senate rules has already changed the way the Supreme Court is now made up. McConnell has said that Senate Republicans will offer no legislative agenda before the 2022 elections and that he is ‘100 percent’ focused ‘on stopping’ Biden. That in itself seems to be another way to say ‘government denied.’ And now can McConnell block another Supreme Court nomination?”
National, state and local governments don’t need to rush things and create bad legislation that may lead to unintended, harmful consequences. But they need to talk with each other, collaborate and work on problems, not just obstruct, obfuscate and slither.
South Carolina has myriad challenges that need serious attention – better teacher pay, proven education programs that fill big gaps, access to health care for more of our neighbors, tax fairness and comprehensive tax reform. Our state’s ethics laws need to be updated to stop giving unfair advantages to legislators.
Our governments are supposed to be of the people, by the people and for the people. These days, the first two seem to be broken so they often are of little help. We can do better.
Andy Brack, editor and publisher of Statehouse Report, also is publisher of the Charleston City Paper. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
AT&T
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Look at GOP women legislators, too
To the editor:
We progressives must look at the Republican men AND women in the legislature supporting and promoting anti-reproductive rights legislation. I know of no female Republican legislator who believes in the Roe v. Wade ruling, not one. Do you? It’s a Republican policy, not just a male Republican policy, to restrict women’s choices, and Republican women are all onboard with that direction.
Where are progressive men on this issue? When they decide to show up, they are few in number. I suggest you exhort your fellow progressive/ Democrat men to be actively involved in the struggle to protect and promote women’s reproductive rights. Blaming Republican men isn’t enough.
– Esther Lapin, Mount Pleasant, S.C.
Columnist is arrogant
To the editor:
So, if someone does not see things the way you do, they must be on weed. You are clearly (unfittingly) arrogant but that takes it to another level.
It’s frustrating when someone with a public platform (no matter how minor) doesn’t have the intelligence to look at both sides of a subject. To slightly paraphrase a famous line in Cool Hand Luke, “Some men, you just can’t reach. So you get what we have here.”
You wrote about helping poor and young women. You know how they can help themselves (there’s a unique notion to your ilk)? Don’t get pregnant. Just say “No.” Then there is no abortion issue. I know you think life is difficult and complex but it’s really not. Life is actually relatively simple when you make good decisions.
– Marshall Brand, Hartsville, S.C.
Enjoys Statehouse Report
To the editor:
Just wanted to commend you for the Statehouse Report. You do an excellent job.
For those not politically aligned and looking for a place to project their unconscious shadow self, it says more about them than anyone else. They should ask themselves where the anger comes from and see a therapist. Only then will they mature and grow.
– Katharine Beard, Camden, S.C.
Send us your thoughts
We receive a few comments a week and look forward to publishing. But often we can’t because we can’t verify the identity of the writer. To be published, you’ve got to provide us with contact information so we can verify your letters. Verified letters to the editor are published weekly. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity. Comments are limited to 250 words or less. Please include your name and contact information.
- Send your letters or comments to: feedback@statehousereport.com
Lots of trees
A reader sent in this mystery photo of a whole bunch of Spanish moss hanging from live oak trees along a dusty avenue. Send your guess to feedback@statehousereport.com — and remember to include your name, home city and contact information.
Last week’s mystery, “Might be tough,” was a photo sent in by George Graf of Palmyra, Va., that showed the Garvin-Garvey freedman cottage in Bluffton. Congrats to those who identified it correctly: Tray Hunter of Bluffton; Elizabeth Jones of Columbia; Haidee Stith of Lexington; David Lupo of Mount Pleasant; and Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas.
Jones added, “The Garvin-Garvey House stands today as a local history museum in Bluffton. Cyrus Garvin, a former slave and later a freeman, built his home of hand-hewn timbers and other local materials in or around 1870. It remained in the Garvin family until 1961, when the Beaufort County Land Trust acquired the house and property. Restoration of the house was completed in 2017. It stands today as a great example of late 19th century Carolina Lowcountry architecture.:
Send us a mystery. If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!) Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com and mark it as a photo submission. Thanks.
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