Ethics reform derailed in Senate
State senators voted 25-19 late Wednesday against a proposal that would have allowed state lawmakers to continue to be involved in policing themselves on ethical issues. While some worry about ethics...
View ArticleRay of hope still in Senate for ethics reform
By Andy Brack | State senators voted Thursday to carry over a motion to reconsider a comprehensive ethics reform measure that looked all but dead late Wednesday. In layman’s terms, the Senate bought...
View ArticleNEWS: Session-shortening debate uncovers growing rift in legislature
By Bill Davis | When the S.C. House again passes a bill this year to shorten future legislative sessions, it may do more than die in the state Senate. Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Larry Martin...
View ArticleQUOTES: Blocking and tackling
“The Senate is going to have to come to terms with its use of cloture (ending a filibuster) when someone is just attempting to stall and block. At some point in time, we’re going to have to resolve to...
View ArticleNEWS: Inching toward a flag’s removal
By Bill Davis | South Carolina’s legislature will likely be in a no-win situation when it likely returns to vote on removing the Confederate battle flag from Statehouse grounds in two weeks. Consider...
View ArticleNEWS: Hate crimes bill may get good look in January
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | People motivated by hate or prejudice to act criminally against those who are different may face a felony charge if a state hate crimes bill becomes law. South...
View Article7/31, full issue: Hate crime bill; What next?; Sex ed
In the July 31, 2015, issue, editor and publisher Andy Brack offers a news story on the likelihood of the legislature passing a bill that would outlaw hate crimes (the state is only one of five in the...
View ArticleNEWS: Lines drawn early in reapportionment
By Bill Davis | State Sen. Joel Lourie (D-Columbia), a 17-year veteran of the legislature who won’t face voters next year, wants to change how South Carolinians elect their representatives and...
View ArticleNEWS: Planting seeds of growth for rural South Carolina
By Bill Davis, senior editor | Looks like some of South Carolina’s state lawmakers are waking up to the needs of the state’s rural areas, many of which are bogged down by a seemingly endless laundry...
View ArticleNEWS: A fork in the road
A news analysis by Bill Davis | Devastation and death in South Carolina wrought by Hurricane Joaquin could push state legislators to tackle the state’s growing $40 billion transportation infrastructure...
View ArticleBRACK: Senate disappoints in inability to pass ethics reform
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | It almost defies reality that the downfall since 2012 of the state’s number two and number three elected officials hasn’t yet led to major ethics reform. The once...
View Article11/13 issue: On ethics reform and the state’s brand
In the Nov. 13, 2015, issue of Statehouse Report: NEWS: A tale of two brands COMMENTARY: Senate disappoints in inability to pass ethics reform SPOTLIGHT: S.C. Association of Counties FEEDBACK: Letters...
View ArticleNEWS: 2016 is the year of the short-list legislative agenda
By Bill Davis, senior editor | The 2016 legislative session’s agenda in the General Assembly is so brief it could be contained on a bumper sticker: “Gas tax -- and MAYBE education.” House Minority...
View ArticleNEWS: Car dealers, consumers clash over closing fee
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Car dealers and consumers backed by plaintiffs’ lawyers are clashing in the General Assembly over the transparency of a closing fee paid by some consumers who...
View ArticleBRIEF: Dumping on plan to dump coal ash in Pickens County
Environmentalists are pretty happy with the quick movement of a pair of bills introduced this month to fight an out-of-state company that reportedly had plans to dump tons of coal ash in Pickens County.
View ArticleBRACK: Haley’s last stand?
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Gov. Nikki Haley and political cronies fueled by dark money are working hard and quietly to overthrow the South Carolina Senate. But Democrats aren’t their...
View ArticleSCORECARD: A Senate on fire in more ways than one
Thumbs up to Sens. Joel Lourie and Marlon Kimpson -- and for the whole Senate. Thumbs down to Justice Don Beatty and not being able to save a smelter.
View ArticleSCORECARD: From toasted bills to toasting middle class
Thumbs up for the week of May 13, 2016: Death of bills on "personhood" and sharia law. In the middle for gun registration measure, expected farm aid veto and hijab vote. Thumbs down on shrinking of the...
View ArticleBRIEFS: Budget conference, ethics awards
House and Senate budget conferees are scheduled to start meeting to work out compromises between differing provisions of the state’s $7.5 billion budget. Also: Martin, Finlay receive ethics awards.
View ArticleBRIEFS: Whole lot a-shakin’ up goin’ on
While the “throw all the bums out” ethos hasn’t quite hit the Statehouse, some incumbents are still biting their fingernails. Here’s a rundown of what’s ahead June 28 during primary runoffs: In the...
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