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Senator-Lawyers Support Bill That Could Fatten Their Wallets
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- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
Four senator-lawyers who, or their law firms, received workers’ compensation fees last year are co-sponsoring a bill that would allow employees to file workers’ compensation claims involving COVID-19 vaccines.
Three of the lawmakers sit on a Senate committee that will consider the bill and also screens candidates for the seven-member Workers’ Compensation Commission (WCC), which renders decisions and approves attorney fees in workers’ compensation cases.
State ethics law generally bans lawmakers and other politicians from using their office to financially benefit themselves, family members or business associates, though legislators over the years have relied on a legal loophole to push bills that pose potential conflicts of interest.
Commerce Mum on Details of Massive Budget Request
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- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
The S.C. Department of Commerce wants $100 million more in state funding for next fiscal year – which represents nearly 80% of its entire current budget – for an unspecified “infrastructure” program.
“South Carolina does not have a funding mechanism to address significant needs that are necessary for the state to continue and capitalize on its economic development success,” according to Commerce’s formal budget request submitted recently by new agency head Harry Lightsey to the state Department of Administration. “Currently the state addresses the need to modernize or construct new infrastructure based on population density or individual economic development projects.”
Secrecy Still Part of Judicial Screening Process
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- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
A legislatively controlled committee that screens judges ruled last week that a longtime circuit court judge was no longer qualified to serve, though the general public wasn’t informed afterward about its decision.
When it comes to secrecy surrounding how judges are nominated in South Carolina, it’s business as usual for the six-legislator, 10-member Judicial Merit Selection Commission (JMSC).
The JMSC on Dec. 1 voted not to qualify Horry County circuit judge Steven John, who has been on the bench since 2001, Erin Crawford, the JMSC’s chief attorney, confirmed Monday when contacted by The Nerve. In an email response, she said the commission in “open session” voted 9-0 to find John unqualified – an unusual action involving a veteran, sitting judge.
Judicial Department Keeping Staff Salaries Secret – Again
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- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
In a repeat of last year, the S.C. Judicial Department is resisting The Nerve’s request to reveal the current pay of its employees, including dozens of judges making six-figure salaries.
Meanwhile, Supreme Court Chief Justice Donald Beatty, the administrative head of the state court system, wants nearly $9 million more in general funds for next fiscal year, which starts July 1, to cover 76 full-time-equivalent (FTE) administrative support positions that have been funded with court fines and fees, according to the agency’s annual budget request submitted to the S.C. Department of Administration.
If approved, that amount would be in addition to $7 million in general funds that lawmakers approved for this fiscal year to cover 92 other FTE administrative support positions that had been funded with court fines and fees, according to the budget request.
House Member Proposes Big Pay Hike for Lawmakers
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- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
S.C. lawmakers would receive an annual $18,000 pay hike under a House proposal, with the bill’s sponsor contending that legislators deserve the raise.
“This is not a part-time job,” Rep. Wendell Gilliard, D-Charleston, a former Charleston City Council member who was first elected to the S.C. House in 2008, told The Nerve when contacted Tuesday. “What these lawmakers do in South Carolina should be considered a full-time job, and then when you look at the last pay increase that we had, we’re talking years.”
Gilliard’s bill, which was prefiled last month, would raise lawmakers’ current $1,000 monthly “in-district” payments by $1,500, or 150%, to $2,500 per month. On a yearly basis, the total payments would jump from $12,000 to $30,000.
Legislatively Controlled Panel OKs Big Raises for State Agency Heads
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- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
Over a week ago, a legislatively controlled committee quietly approved five-figure salary hikes for six state agency heads, including increases for two university presidents whose total annual compensation is much more than their state pay.
Medical University of South Carolina president David Cole received a $42,308, or 13.5%, raise from the state Agency Head Salary Commission (AHSC), bringing his state salary to $354,941, according to information from MUSC and the State Fiscal Accountability Authority (SFAA), an agency that provides administrative support to the AHSC.
The AHSC also approved a $23,009, or 10.6%, raise for Lander University president Richard Cosentino, bringing his state salary to $238,520, records show. His total compensation last year was at least $377,830, which besides his state salary included $122,319 from the university’s private fundraising arm and a $40,000 “housing supplement” from the university, according to his annual income-disclosure statement filed with the State Ethics Commission.
Millions Owed to SC Taxpayers Over Local Road Fees, Lawsuits Contend
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- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
Nearly half of South Carolina’s 46 counties were charging annual road maintenance fees as of last December, records show, though the state’s top court earlier this year in a Greenville County case ruled that its fee was unlawful.
Whether taxpayers will receive any refunds remains to be seen. Class action lawsuits seeking multimillion-dollar refunds have been filed in at least seven counties – Aiken, Beaufort, Georgetown, Greenville, Horry, Richland and Sumter – since the June court ruling, which did not order refunds in the Greenville County case.
Most of the suits cite a state law that would allow the plaintiffs, if successful, to be awarded 10 times the amount of the collected road fees, The Nerve’s review found.
Lawmakers Want More Control Over Agency Head Pay Hikes
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- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
Lawmakers just can’t resist trying to exert more power over another branch of government.
Reps. John King, D-York; Annie McDaniel, D-Fairfield; and Wendy Brawley, D-Richland, prefiled a bill last week that would require separate majorities in the 124-member House and 46-member Senate to give final approval to any pay raises for state agency heads recommended by a legislatively controlled committee.
The Agency Head Salary Commission (AHSC), which includes eight lawmakers, approves state salaries for the heads of at least 90 agencies, including public colleges, according to the State Fiscal Accountability Authority (SFAA), an agency that provides administrative support to the AHSC.
Revolutionary War project: 250 Years Later, Taxpayers Squeezed Again?
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- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
When it comes to South Carolina history, some state officials might need a refresher course.
S.C. taxpayers are on the hook for about $1.5 million this fiscal year and possibly could shell out as much as nearly $10 million in fiscal 2022-23 for a legislatively controlled committee created in 2018 to recognize the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution – which, ironically, started largely over taxation of the colonists.
The S.C. Department of Archives and History (SCDAH) recently has been advertising for an executive director for the “South Carolina American Revolution Sestercentennial (250th anniversary) Commission,” at an annual state salary ranging from $90,000 to $100,000, records show. In comparison, SCDAH director Eric Emerson makes $100,821 yearly, according to the state salary database.
Raises Continue to Flow to Well-paid House, Senate Staffers
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- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
Another year, another round of raises for higher-paid S.C. House and Senate staffers.
The Nerve’s review of chamber records provided under the state Freedom of Information Act show that over the past year, 76 House staffers making at least $50,000 received raises ranging from $1,602 to $34,857. The median increase, which represents the midway point on the salary list, was $4,713.
The pay hikes ranged from 3% to nearly 53%, with 34 employees getting raises of more than 7%.
Lawmakers Trying to Shift Focus Away from Gas-tax-hike Woes?
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- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
As a special legislative panel considers a yet-to-be-revealed road funding proposal, the state Department of Transportation continues to plod along in fixing South Carolina’s bad roads and bridges while sitting on a massive reserve created with the 2017 gas-tax-hike law.
Recently released DOT records show that through September, a special fund created with the law had a cash balance of $895.1 million, which represented more than 42% of the $2.1 billion in revenues collected since the law took effect on July 1, 2017.
Taxpayer Tab Growing for ‘Boeing’ AG Project
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- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
Hugh Weathers, South Carolina’s agriculture commissioner, dubbed the project as the “Boeing of agriculture.”
In touting the project in September 2020, Gov. Henry McMaster called it a “tremendous win for the local community and our state as a whole.”
Sonny Perdue, then-President Donald Trump’s agriculture secretary, cited the project as a potential national model.
But more than a year after the public announcement, there’s relatively little to show for the “Agriculture Technology Campus” – a proposed $314 million, produce greenhouse production, packaging and distribution complex in rural Hampton County, which is supposed to bring 1,547 jobs by 2025.
Life Legal Lawyers in Court Challenging New California Law Criminalizing Free Speech
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- By Life Legal Defense Foundation
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Life Legal attorneys appeared remotely in federal court in San Jose on Wednesday to argue that a new California law severely restricting speech on public sidewalks is unconstitutional.
The law, SB 742 prohibits, among other things, "harassing," which is redefined as "knowingly approaching, without consent, within 30 feet of another person or occupied vehicle for the purpose of passing a leaflet or handbill to, displaying a sign to, or engaging in oral protest, education, or counseling with, that other person in a public way or on a sidewalk area."
SB 742 was enacted ostensibly to ensure that the public has access to COVID-19 vaccines without interference from protesters. However, legislators amended the law before it was passed to remove references to COVID vaccine sites, instead defining a "vaccination site" as a location offering any type of vaccine services, which includes Planned Parenthood and other abortion facilities that dispense Gardasil and other STD vaccines.
Number of SC Taxpayers Claiming Gas Tax Credit Continues to Drop
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- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
Once again, the state’s chief revenue forecasters have grossly overestimated the popularity of an income tax credit that legislators created with the 2017 gas-tax-hike law.
In a Sept. 21 letter to Hartley Powell, director of the state Department of Revenue (DOR), Frank Rainwater, the S.C. Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office (RFA) director, estimated that 68,350 taxpayers will have claimed a total of $4,273,721 in credits for tax year 2020, or an average credit of $62.52 per taxpayer. The actual total amount claimed for last year as of September this year was virtually the same as the estimate, DOR records show.
But the RFA initially predicted last year that for tax year 2020, 322,088 taxpayers – 253,738 more than its latest estimate – would claim a total of about $25.2 million in credits – nearly $21 million more than its latest forecast – or an average credit of $78.
Foundation Sues Virginia AG Mark Herring, Challenges New Virginia Statute
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- By Christian Newswire
RICHMOND, Va. -- The Parental Rights Foundation, on behalf of a Virginia family, today sued Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring, challenging a new Virginia statute that says parents may not consider religion when hiring a babysitter.
Jane and Scott adopted their daughter, M.W., in 2015. Because M.W. has medical conditions, the couple has hired babysitters to help with her care for several hours each week, helping her get ready for school, driving her to and from school, and supervising her after school.
It is important to this family that the babysitters they hire share and support their beliefs as Christians. "We are Christians and are looking for a likeminded caregiver," they said regularly in advertisements for the position.
Top Court Rarely Disciplines Judges Despite Numerous Complaints
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- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
Prio week, the S.C. Supreme Court suspended Oconee County probate judge Kenneth Johns for 18 months after he formally admitted – for the second time in five years – violating ethics rules for judges.
It’s not often that the state’s top court, headed by Chief Justice Donald Beatty, publicly disciplines a judge, though the court system’s recent annual disciplinary reports show that more than 200 complaints on average are filed annually against judges statewide.
According to the latest report for fiscal 2020-21, which ended June 30, out of 213 complaints received during the year and 36 complaints that were pending when the fiscal year started, just 15, or 6%, were not dismissed.
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