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Lawmakers Continue Looking After Their Own Business Interests
- Details
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
As lawmakers return to Columbia this week to consider big issues such as the ongoing response to the coronavirus outbreak in South Carolina and the possible sale of state-owned utility Santee Cooper, some legislators are introducing bills that ultimately could fatten their own wallets.
And state law allows it.
Take Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, for example.
New Year, Same Road Problems Persist in SC
- Details
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to drive over pothole-free roads in South Carolina, you probably should choose a different goal.
The Nerve’s review of recently released state Department of Transportation records found that since the gas-tax-hike law took effect July 1, 2017, through Nov. 30 of last year, the total dollar amount of completed “pavements” projects statewide remained less than half of the estimated cost of all such projects.
Lawmaker-Controlled Panel Violates State Law – Again
- Details
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
A legislatively controlled committee has once again violated a state law requiring that it provide the General Assembly with written individual evaluations of S.C. Public Service Commission members.
The seven-member PSC’s authority includes setting utility rates for investor-owned gas and electric utilities. The PSC is holding additional public hearings this week on a proposed nearly 8% electric rate hike for Dominion Energy customers – after The Nerve raised questions about the public-comment process.
Attorney Who Works in SC Senator’s Law Firm One Step Closer to Judgeship
- Details
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
With 2021 nearly here, S.C. lawmakers likely won’t be making any New Year’s resolutions to loosen their tight grip on the state court system.
Legislative leaders have shown little interest in giving up power over the judicial selection process – which often favors friends and business associates of lawmakers.
Sen. Scott Talley, R-Spartanburg, the newest member of the state judicial screening committee, was appointed just two months before the legislatively controlled panel qualified an attorney – who works in Talley’s law firm – as a candidate for a judgeship to oversee cases in areas of law practiced by the firm.
No Shortage of Budget Pork amid COVID-19 Outbreak
- Details
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
When lawmakers return in January for a new legislative session, they likely will claim they will have far less money to spend next fiscal year because of the coronavirus outbreak.
But state government is far from poor, at least judging by agencies’ budget requests for fiscal 2021-22, which starts July 1 – and the hundreds of millions in state reserves.
Plenty of Ports Authority Employees in Six-figure Salary Club
- Details
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
More than 200 S.C. Ports Authority employees received at least $100,000 in total wages last fiscal year, with agency president and CEO Jim Newsome making $546,236, records show.
The total number of workers at the state-created agency who made $50,000 or more in fiscal 2020, which ended June 30, was 608, according to the records provided to The Nerve under the S.C. Freedom of Information Act.
Hundreds of Santee Cooper Employees Receive ‘Incentive’ Bonuses
- Details
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
“Incentive” bonuses totaling more than $5 million were doled out this year to 1,463 Santee Cooper employees, with individual cash rewards averaging about $3,500 and topping out at $165,000 for a high-level executive, The Nerve found in a review of utility records.
The records, provided by the state-created utility under the S.C. Freedom of Information Act, also show that 1,459 workers receive an annual salary of at least $50,000, with 483 paid $100,000 or more.
Bad Bridges Still Not Fixed With Gas-Tax-Hike Money
- Details
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
Despite lawmakers’ promises more than three years ago that part of the state gas tax hike would be used to fix South Carolina’s bad bridges, only one bridge project has been completed with that money, newly released records show.
The Nerve’s review of S.C. Department of Transportation records found that through Oct. 31, the department had identified 16 bridge projects in nine counties totaling $18 million, though only one of those projects – located in Charleston County – was listed as finished.
Judicial Department Reverses Course, Releases Staff Salaries After Nerve story
- Details
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
Less than three hours after The Nerve revealed Friday that the S.C. Judicial Department was keeping secret the salaries of department employees making at least $50,000 annually, the agency released a list of 300 staffers in that group, including judges.
Department public information director Ginny Jones provided the list without explanation to The Nerve late Friday afternoon. In a follow-up written reply, The Nerve requested who in the department made the final decision to provide the records, and the department’s reasoning in reversing its prior refusal to publicly release the salaries.
State Court System Keeps Staff Salaries Secret from the Public
- Details
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
The S.C. Judicial Department – the third branch of state government – is refusing to publicly reveal salaries of its own employees, contending it isn’t legally required to do so.
The Nerve on Oct. 18 submitted a request to the department under the state Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) asking for the name, title and salary of every department employee making at least $50,000 annually. The law says that the exact compensation of a public employee receiving $50,000 or more a year is not exempt from disclosure to the public.
How PSC Squelched Public Comment on Dominion Rate-Hike Request
- Details
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
Update: 11/18/20 – The S.C. Public Service Commission today voted to hold two additional public hearings in the first week of January on Dominion Energy’s proposed electric rate hike. The hearings will be held from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 5, and from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 7. Participants can either phone in their testimony or attend in person at either hearing. In-person testimony will be held in the PSC hearing room at 101 Executive Center Drive, Columbia; one person at a time will be allowed in the room to testify, and the room will be cleaned between witnesses to comply with public health guidelines in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Witnesses must register by no later than 4:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 6, by either emailing the PSC at
“No.”
That was the collective response by the small number of Dominion Energy electric customers who testified at last week’s virtual hearings about whether they supported the utility giant’s proposed nearly 8% rate hike.
It’s unknown whether the seven-member state Public Service Commission, which hosted the hearings, will allow more public comment before it issues its final order by Feb. 15.
Infowars "Stop the Steal" Rally Held at Statehouse
- Details
- By Jeff West
Columbia-Alex Jones' Infowars website based in Texas started a caravan to arrive at Washington, D.C. on Saturday and stopped at each state capital along the way. They arrived at the S.C. Statehouse on Wednesday night at 10:00 pm. Despite the late hour, bad weather, social media censorship, and short notice, approximately two hundred people showed up to greet Infowars.
Commerce Wants Fed Tax Dollars for Staff Time Spent on COVID-19
- Details
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
The S.C. Department of Commerce doesn’t employ any medical or infectious disease experts, but the agency is seeking $250,000 in federal funds to reimburse itself for staff time spent on coronavirus-related tasks.
The state earlier this year received $1.9 billion in federal “Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security” (CARES) funds. Under a state law passed in May, state agencies must provide monthly reports to the governor and General Assembly on federal spending related to the COVID-19 outbreak in South Carolina.
State Stonewalls Public Comment on Proposed Dominion Rate Hike
- Details
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
Dominion Energy electric customers in South Carolina are angry.
They were promised a rate cut following the 2017 collapse of the $9 billion V.C. Summer nuclear project. But Virginia-based Dominion now wants a significant rate hike.
And the state panel that will decide whether to approve the nearly 8% rate hike has quietly made it difficult for customers to publicly voice their concerns, an investigation by The Nerve found.
S.C. Senate Staffers Quietly Receive Pay Raises
- Details
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
Since last December, 15 S.C. Senate staffers, including the chamber’s top administrator, received pay hikes of up to nearly 34%, The Nerve found in a review of chamber records.
The top-paid staffer is Jeff Gossett, who, as the Senate clerk, manages the $16.3 million, 46-member chamber. He makes $225,000 annually, an increase of $14,864, or 7%, from his salary as of December 2019, according to records provided to The Nerve under the S.C. Freedom of Information Act.
No Big Gains Over the Summer in Fixing SC’s Bad Roads
- Details
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
In theory, the pace of fixing South Carolina’s pothole-riddled roads should have increased over the hot summer months.
The reality, however, was different.
The Nerve’s review of newly released S.C. Department of Transportation records found that through September, the total dollar value of completed “pavements” projects statewide was less than half of the collective estimated cost of all such projects.
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