STATEHOUSE REPORT | ISSUE 19.52 | DEC. 24, 2020
THE SHOTS HEARD AROUND THE WORLD. This Charleston nurse at MUSC was one of many to receive a new vaccine against COVID-19 last week as thousands of doses were distributed to frontline health care workers across the state. Health officials caution, however, that residents need to continue to wear masks, be socially-distanced and take other precautions as the virus continues to rage across the state. In just the last month, the state has experienced almost a quarter of the 260,000+ cases reported since March. Photo via MUSC.
BIG STORY: Pandemic hits S.C. families hard, studies show
NEWS BRIEFS: McMaster, First Lady get COVID-19
LOWCOUNTRY, Ariail: It has been a heckuva year
COMMENTARY, Brack: A tale of two service levels by government agencies
SPOTLIGHT: Conservation Voters of South Carolina
MY TURN, Palm: An open letter to the General Assembly on mask-wearing
FEEDBACK: Who will pay my bills, care for my children if I get sick?
MYSTERY PHOTO: Send us a mystery
EDITOR’S NOTE: Next Friday, we’ll start our 20th year of Statehouse Report. Happy holidays.
Pandemic hits S.C. families hard, studies show
By Sam Spence and Skyler Baldwin | The protracted pandemic economy has hit South Carolina families hard statewide, but especially in non-white, multi-generational and single-parent households, according to two new studies.
Between Nov. 10 and Nov. 17, the Conservation Voters of South Carolina surveyed the impact the pandemic has had on South Carolina ratepayers. Results show the pandemic caused additional hardship for more than 70 percent for those who reported trouble paying bills this year.
The survey notes the widespread impact of the pandemic, but also reveals dramatically different experiences for South Carolinians when comparing across socio-economic statuses.
For instance, 33 percent of all S.C. residents polled reported serious trouble paying bills during the pandemic, but that figure was 57 percent among ratepayers in multi-generational households.
Overall, 32 percent of respondents reported serious issues affording food, but that figure was 65 percent for multi-generational households and 63 percent for single-parent homes.
“Economic disparities are magnified in times of crisis. Across South Carolina people are struggling to make ends meet, while caring for their families.” said Ann Warner, CEO of the Women’s Rights and Empowerment Network, in a press release.
As South Carolina has faced record unemployment, another survey by the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Kids Count project found additional evidence the economic downturn and school disruptions have pushed families to the brink.
With one of eight families lacking health insurance, health care constitutes a critical vulnerability and pain point for many, the report reads. Although the exact numbers of children without coverage is unknown, their well-being naturally depends on that of their parents or guardians, the data of which are known.
The Kids Count survey analyzed those pain points on a state-by-state basis, showing that 10 percent of S.C. households sometimes or often do not have enough food to eat. Also, 14 percent have only slight or no confidence in their ability to pay rent on time.
“Every child in the United States should have the basics, and families should have support to survive the considerable stress and pain of these times,” the Kids Count study argued.
“We have tools to respond. Federal, state and local decision makers can take several steps to enable America’s children and families to weather this crisis. Timely action is essential to ensure they — and our nation — mount a sufficient response to COVID-19.”
This story first appeared in our sister publication, the Charleston City Paper for which Spence is editor and Baldwin is a reporter. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com
McMaster, First Lady get COVID-19
Staff reports | Gov. Henry McMaster’s office said Tuesday that he has tested positive for COVID-19. The news came four days after First Lady Peggy McMaster tested positive for the virus.
The governor learned of his test results late Monday and was experiencing “mild symptoms with a cough and slight fatigue,” while the first lady was asymptomatic, according to a Tuesday press release. As of Dec. 24 at 2 p.m., the governor’s office had not issued any updates on their conditions.
The couple is isolating at home as Christmas approaches and remain in good spirits, the Tuesday press release stated. Governor’s residence employees have also been sent home to quarantine and get tested.
“Peggy and I urge everyone to be extra careful during the Christmas holiday season,” McMaster is quoted as saying. “This virus spreads very easily.”
State health officials believe “there is no way to pinpoint precisely when or how Gov. McMaster or the first lady contracted the virus,” the governor’s office said.
McMaster, often seen not wearing a mask in public, has resisted calls for a statewide mask mandate to thwart the spread of the coronavirus.
As of Thursday afternoon, state officials reported 2,260 new cases of COVID-19 for a total of 263,392 cases since march. There were 11 new confirmed deaths for a total of 4,662 South Carolinians who have died from the disease this year. The percentage of people testing positive is 22.1 percent. More.
Also in the news:
State lawmakers to wear masks in session. State lawmakers will need to wear masks and get tested for COVID-19 prior to returning to Columbia Jan. 12, according to a new agreement. The State newspaper reported.
Newton named to GOP leadership. Four years after becoming the youngest member of the S.C. House, Rep. Brandon Newton of Lancaster has taken his first step up the leadership ladder with an appointment to assistant majority whip for the House GOP Caucus, the Lancaster News reported.
Nurses critical on Graham’s vaccine. Kelly Bouthillet, the president of the South Carolina Nurses Association, called U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham’s inoculation a “slap in the face” to nurses and other medical professionals still waiting to get their shots, The Washington Post reported.
Cunningham gives last floor speech. U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham, D-Charleston, cracked open a cold one during his farewell speech to the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday. In a final speech urging bipartisanship, Cunningham raised a beer as his parting shot in Congress. Read more.
Gas prices lower. South Carolina has gas prices 30 cents lower than last Christmas, but there may not be more people on the road as the pandemic has eaten into holiday travel. Meanwhile, experts warn against Christmas travel.
It has been a heckuva year
Enjoy this week’s cartoon by Robert Ariail, republished from our sister newspaper, the Charleston City Paper. Love it? Hate it? What do you think: feedback@statehousereport.com.
A tale of two service levels by government agencies
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | The United States Postal Service used to get my unabashed support.
Note the verb: “used to.” No more. After unacceptable performance over the last month, it’s time for Congress — not exactly the barometer of something with stellar performance — to do something about the post office, a constitutionally-mandated, bureaucratic time-suck of an agency.
Contrast it with the S.C. Department of Motor Vehicles, an agency once known for being its own bureaucratic time-suck. These days, however, it’s a model of customer service, a place where long lines generally are things of the past.
Here are two very different experiences with these two agencies:
Back in November as my company prepared to move office locations in Charleston, we decided to get a post office box for mail, instead of having it delivered to the office. We figured it would be safer than mail sitting in a box over a weekend, particularly since the new office didn’t have an actual mailbox.
So we filled out the form to forward the mail from the old address to the new box. That was November 26. Since then, we’ve received three — count them, three — letters that have been forwarded from the old address to the box. And that means we haven’t received any letters from clients who pay their advertising bills by sending checks by mail. They’ve paid, but we haven’t received. Not the best situation for a small business that has to meet a payroll every two weeks.
We went to the local post office, only to be told that because we forwarded the mail, it went first to Virginia to be sorted before being returned to Charleston. Which makes as much sense as knocking myself in the head with a hammer. (What’s more dysfunctional is that the mail delivered to the old address was sorted in the physical post office where the new box is located, meaning that the mail got to the right place, but was sent off to be sorted to be sent back to the same place.)
Unfortunately, the postal service has no idea where the mail that has been accumulating currently is. Why? Because some nimrod in the Trump administration screwed with the sorting machines. And then there are the staff shortages due to the pandemic as well as the extra volume of mail being sent because the disease has altered how people are spending the holidays.
When we complain to the folks at the post office, we get kind words of sympathy and assurances that our request to find the lost mail will be expedited. But so far — nada, nothing, zip.
This miserable (lack of) delivery by the postal service is the exact opposite of the service at the motor vehicle agency.
Just last week, we approached a visit to get a new sticker for a vehicle license plate with some dread. Four minutes — yes, just four minutes — after walking in, the transaction was complete and the sticker was in our hot little hands. In fact, it took longer to find the office manager to congratulate her on the agency’s service than it did to talk with the attendant, pay a fee and get the sticker.
Congratulations, DMV. Keep up the good work.
In general, employees for the state of South Carolina offer good, helpful service, despite being mostly underpaid. Sure, they have the benefit of a pension after retirement, but state lawmakers should do more now to reward their good service. If there is any extra money in next year’s budget, they should consider another pay raise. If they only have some money, they should prioritize it for corrections officers and teachers.
While it’s easier to make changes at the state level because of its comparative size to the federal government, real changes are needed at post offices. What doesn’t need to happen is willy-nilly political grandstanding that negatively impacts vulnerable and rural communities — in other words, don’t close lots of post offices. Instead, perhaps, reimage how delivery can happen — maybe once every other day instead of daily. Or reform how benefits and pensions are paid.
And fix the sorting system. It’s a bloody mess.
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Statehouse Report. His column also is published in the Charleston City Paper, Florence Morning News, Greenwood Index Journal, The (Seneca) Journal, Camden Chronicle Independent and Hartsville Messenger. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
Conservation Voters of South Carolina
Through scorecards and advocacy at the Statehouse, CVSC holds South Carolina legislators accountable for their votes and actions. As a small organization that operates as a nonprofit and has a political action committee, we have a big impact. Learn more today by clicking any of the links below:Open letter to the General Assembly: Settle masking policy
By Fred Palm, special to Statehouse Report
Honorable members of the General Assembly:
Hope for South Carolina comes in many forms. The latest is that our senators seek safety by wearing masks and evidently, by agreement, have achieved a small win in preventing the spread of COVID-19 among members of this esteemed legislative body.
Legislative leaders say it is IMPERATIVE that legislators meet in person. Your work is important to you and my family. It is IMPERATIVE for your constituents to attend school and show up at work. My work is important to our state and my family.
There is lingering concern of possible death among many lawmakers in the House and in the Senate — where there are fewer members, but the majority of them are older.
Got that right. If you catch COVID-19, you are more likely to die, especially if you are over 50. It’s a stage of life where most of the senior level leaders of governance, business, industry, education and nonprofits are found. That is part of the science we are following: All age groups matter to COVID-19. Some more than others.
Taking care of self is important. But please do not stop there. What about the rest of us who live here who cannot corral agreements going into retail establishments?
We need soft regulation, strong guidance and communication programs to shift to much higher participation in donning masks.
“The protocols require the participation and cooperation of everyone.” said S.C. Sen. Harvey Peeler, R-Cherokee.
Got that right. The rest of your constituents endure the risk of South Carolina’s “MASKS ARE NOT REQUIRED” stance. We cannot get agreements with thousands to stay safe. Only you can prevent the COVID-19 spread.
Gov. Henry McMaster says mask ordinances are unenforceable. He makes masking an enforcement issue. No more need be said. End of discussion. Nope. Nada.
But should it be? The burden of leadership requires mastery of the facts on the ground and communicating the what and why of the needed responses. It is hard work. This governor, who now has the disease, apparently does not do pandemics.
Effective leaders communicate. Effective leaders would approach the need to mask, especially in communities such as Greenville or Columbia or Myrtle Beach that are on fire, as a communication problem. Effective leaders would engage and not withdraw to the infrequent black-shirted executive press conferences sponsored by McMaster.
Leadership requires both persuasion and engagement. Virus containment is of much longer duration than the 10-day hurricane model.
Rooms are boxes to share viruses. Bars, classrooms, workplaces, legislative chambers are rooms. To the coronavirus, they are all the same.
Why is it that you are so busy protecting your own backside in the enclosed rooms you occupy? Protect the people of our state who are at as much risk in their public rooms as you are in yours but cannot strike “agreements” with passersby. Why do you not unequivocally insist on seeing to it that the people of our state are as protected as you going through your contortions for yourselves?
During the shutdown earlier this year, most of us were “essential.” No doubt the same policy of essentials will be resurrected for vaccine distribution as we go forward. Quite a few of us will be more equal than others.
The vaccine show will not serve the most economic and health affected. Underserved communities of S.C. need equity in our public policy. That requires explicit policy standards written by the legislature when you get back from your bunker.
While you are in session, how about one for masking? Shut off the local brouhahas over masking. Settle the question. This is a health question and not an ideological test that is now being acted out in education and county elected bodies.
You want to survive. So do we. Please send real effective help this way.
Merry Christmas.
Fred Palm of Edisto Island is a retired professor of oversight and investigations at the John Jay College School of Public Management and a former executive director of the Association of Inspectors General.
Who will pay my bills, care for my children if I get sick?
To the editor:
Our people are hungry with the longest lines to date at food banks. Our children are at risk every day going to school and then bringing the virus home. Our families are losing members daily. Our people are drowning in debt because unemployment is a joke and causing us all to not meet deadlines in payments due, overextending credit lines to survive.
Parents are going without meals so the children have a normal meal. Christmas is happening through basic motions of family rituals. I shudder to think of the disappointment on the little faces of children who have already made sacrifices on a daily basis to only have one present under the tree.
Our EBT benefits are meager at best. No one should have to lie to meet a beggars requirement to obtain food for their children. God forbid we get sick with the virus. Who will care for my children? Who will pay my bills? Who will pay my hospital bills? And what do we do if I survive this virus? Complete financial devastation at best. Hopefully, I still will have a home to return to. Power and water would be great, but I suppose I can do without so long as we have some place to lay our head.
Now with all of that said, our officials are supposed to make choices for us on our best behalf. McMaster is so out of touch with reality that perhaps he should go into a few neighborhoods of our average parents and actually speak to them. Ask questions. Ask how bills are being met. Tell him to figure out a budget based on what we get weekly from unemployment/ And then — and only then — try to make some decisions based on the true life dilemmas that our families are facing and the destitution that many of us feel during the “best time of the year.”.
— A Charleston resident at her wit’s end
Keep up the drumbeat
To the editor:
One could rant for hours about the failure of [Gov. Henry] McMaster to effectively address the COVID-19 pandemic, but unfortunately this would not be productive. We need a governor who establishes policy on the basis of facts and information, not distorted by industry lobbyists and those who blindly follow “experts” such as Scott Atlas. Please keep up your messaging.
— Michael Kirk, Santee, S.C.
Use CARES money for public service announcements on virus
To the editor:
I appreciated the excellent column you wrote, “Governor’s pandemic leadership has been a train wreck.” I was appalled when he (Gov. Henry McMaster) came on the news on December 9. His first introduction was whining that the South Carolina’s Supreme Court declared his proposed use of millions of dollars in CARES Act coronavirus relief money for private schools as unconstitutional.
Maybe, he could use that saved money for public service announcements informing South Carolina residents that he will be mandating a state order to wear masks in all indoor businesses and organizations in order to continue the fight against this deadly virus until a vaccine reaches us. There is no mandated mask ordinance in my area and the number of deaths and hospitalizations reflect it.
Many of us have to work in the community so, if we contract the virus we cannot afford the top health care that we know our governor’s wife will receive.
Our county leadership backs our governor in whatever he shows as his top priority. I can tell you now it is not about saving lives, as you have written in the article.
Please continue your fight so more South Carolinians can live until the vaccine takes effect.
— Silissa R. Bischof, Seneca, S.C.
If schools are safe, why are education bureaucrats working at home?
To the editor:
I read your article , “McMaster’s Pandemic Leadership is a Train Wreck.” Thank you for writing this article.
I am a teacher in South Carolina with over 30 years experience. The governor and state superintendent should lead by example. My question is, if it’s safe, why is the Governor’s Mansion closed? If it’s safe, why do all S.C. Department of Education employees work from home?
Instead of hiding behind closed doors, these leaders should be visiting and working in public schools. Henry McMaster and Molly Spearman should be ashamed for sending teachers to meet their deaths when they are not willing to do the same.
— Name withheld upon request, Lexington, S.C.
Send us your thoughts
We love hearing from our readers and encourage you to share your opinions. But to be published, you’ve got to provide us with contact information so we can verify your letters. 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
Send us a mystery
We’re taking a holiday break from the mystery photo. We’ll be back in the new year with a new 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.
ORDER NOW: Copies are in Lowcountry-area bookstores now, but if you can’t swing by, you can order a copy online today.
ABOUT STATEHOUSE REPORT
Statehouse Report, founded in 2001 as a weekly legislative forecast that informs readers about what is going to happen in South Carolina politics and policy, is provided to you at no charge every Friday.
Meet our team
- Editor and publisher: Andy Brack, 843.670.3996
- Special correspondent: Lindsay Street
Donate today
We’re proud to offer Statehouse Report for free. For more than a dozen years, we’ve been the go-to place for insightful independent policy and political news and views in the Palmetto State. And we love it as much as you do.
But now, we can use your help. If you’ve been thinking of contributing to Statehouse Report over the years, now would be a great time to contribute as we deal with the crisis. In advance, thank you.
Buy the book
Now you can get a copy of editor and publisher Andy Brack’s We Can Do Better, South Carolina! ($14.99) as a paperback or as a Kindle book ($7.99). . The book of essays offers incisive commentaries by editor and publisher Andy Brack on the American South, the common good, vexing problems for the Palmetto State and interesting South Carolina leaders.
More
- Mailing address: Send inquiries by mail to: 1316 Rutledge Ave., Charleston, SC 29403
- Subscriptions are free: Click to subscribe.
- We hope you’ll keep receiving the great news and information from Statehouse Report, but if you need to unsubscribe, go to the bottom of the weekly email issue and follow the instructions.
- Read our sister publications: Charleston City Paper (every Wednesday) | Charleston Currents (every Monday).
- © 2020, Statehouse Report, a publication of City Paper Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!