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- From Sewer Expansion to Six-Figure Sanctions
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Road-Naming Legislation Cuts Into Road Repair Funds
- Details
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
When in session, S.C. lawmakers routinely introduce legislation dedicating an existing road section, bridge or intersection to a living or deceased person – including ex-legislators.
Their road- and bridge-naming proposals are made through concurrent resolutions, which unlike general bills, can’t be reviewed by the governor.
SCDOT Continues Slow Pace of Road Repairs with Tas-Tax-Hike Money
- Details
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
With the start of the third year of the state’s gas-tax-hike law, the S.C. Department of Transportation had completed less than 16% of $711.4 million in identified “pavements” projects statewide, newly released DOT records show.
The Nerve last month revealed that DOT plans to complete about 2,300 miles of road repairs by the end of 2021, though that number represents less than 7% of the approximately 33,600 miles of state roads that the agency says have to be resurfaced or rebuilt.
SCDOT spending tens of millions on the nonexistent I-73; can’t account for $8M
- Details
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
Some 37 years after the idea was first proposed, Interstate 73 in South Carolina exists only on paper.
Yet since 2004, the state Department of Transportation has spent at least $77 million on the project – much of it for design costs and land purchases along the proposed route from North Carolina to the Myrtle Beach area, The Nerve found in a review of DOT records.
State Agencies Sitting on Big Reserves; Lawmakers Returning Little to Taxpayers
- Details
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
If the S.C. House of Representatives decided to forgo its entire $22.7 million budget this fiscal year, it could still pay all of its expected bills – with more than $650,000 left over.
That’s because the 124-member chamber carried over nearly $23.4 million in general funds into this fiscal year for its operations, state comptroller general records show. And the legislative body isn’t the only state agency with fat taxpayer-funded reserves, a review by The Nerve found.
More Debt for More Interstates: Takeaways from the Latest STIB Meeting
- Details
- By The Nerve
Members of the State Transportation Infrastructure Bank (STIB) board recently discussed their desire to explore expanding South Carolina’s interstates through the STIB.
While nothing was voted on or confirmed, the ideas floated included finding additional funding streams, “encouraging” the state Department of Transportation to partner with STIB to build interstates, and expanding the STIB’s charter to allow it to circumvent DOT’s priority list and build interstates now.
Federal Probationary Sentence, Supervised Release Sentence, and Suspended Sentence
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- By Edward D. Sloan, Jr.
Federal probationary sentencing is a complex matter that began in 1908; it has continued to evolve. It’s extensively governed by many sections of the U.S. Code of Law and Policy Statements of the U.S. Sentencing Commission. It’s intended to be a substitute for imprisonment. Federal supervised sentencing is an unrelated system that began in 1984 and is in addition to imprisonment. Federal suspended sentencing was abolished in 1984.
SCGOP Executive Committee Votes to Save Taxpayer Money and Forgo 2020 GOP Presidential Preference Primary
- Details
- By SCGOP
Columbia, South Carolina. – The South Carolina Republican Party released the following statement regarding the State Executive Committee's decision today to forgo the 2020 GOP Presidential Preference Primary and save South Carolina taxpayers over $1.2 million.
Payouts in Pothole Claims Against SCDOT Total Hundreds of Thousands
- Details
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
In January 2016, a driver swerved around a pothole on Bate Harvey Road in York County, crossed the center line and hit an oncoming vehicle, court records show.
The S.C. Department of Transportation last year paid, through the state Insurance Reserve Fund (IRF), $150,000 in damages and $26,592 in legal expenses to defend the agency in that case, according to IRF records.
SCDOT Plan Would Make Small Dent in Fixing Bad State Roads
- Details
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
The S.C. Department of Transportation plans to complete about 2,300 miles of road repairs by the end of 2021, records released to The Nerve show, though that number represents a small portion of the major road work the agency says needs to be done statewide.
Ex-DOT Commissioner Hardee Was Dealmaker for Program that Collected State Money, Funded Political Campaigns
- Details
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
Ex-state transportation commissioner John Hardee negotiated $1.57 million in payments since 2014 from government agencies and nonprofits for public service announcements through a billboard-industry trade group, though much of the revenues were not used to produce billboards, records reviewed by The Nerve show.
Treasurer Curtis Loftis kicks off National 529 Day observance with $529 College Savings Grants
- Details
- By SC Treasurer Curtis Loftis
COLUMBIA, S.C. – State Treasurer Curtis Loftis announced that South Carolina’s Future Scholar 529 College Savings Plan would once again celebrate National 529 College Savings Day (May 29) with its PalmettoBaby Grant Program.
The annual program, which is in its seventh year, promotes the importance of families saving for college and provides a privately-funded $529 grant to each baby born in South Carolina on May 29 to put toward a Future Scholar account.
Beaufort Federation of Republican Men Resolution # 2019-07
- Details
- By Beaufort Federation of Republican Men
Resolution Urging the South Carolina Senate and House to vote in favor of Senate Bill 112 and House Bill 3125 Calling for a Convention of States
WHEREAS, the purpose of the Federation is to promote, support and defend conservative Republican governance at the local, state and national levels; and
WHEREAS, the Founding Fathers gave us two (2) viable methods for amending the Constitution of the United States with the second being vested in the people in Article V of the U.S. Constitution; and
Gov. Henry McMaster Announces Next Director of the S.C. Department of Social Services
- Details
- By SC Governor's Office
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Governor Henry McMaster today nominated Michael Leach to be the next director of the South Carolina Department of Social Services (SCDSS). Leach, a trained mental health clinician, has over 10 years of experience in Tennessee’s Department of Children’s Services (DCS) and has most recently served as the Deputy Commissioner for Child Programs at the agency.
To watch video of the governor’s announcement, click here.
House, Senate Chambers Sitting on Huge Reserves While Seeking More Tax Dollars
- Details
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
The S.C. House and Senate know how to take care of each other – with taxpayer money.
As The Nerve reported in September, the 124-member House carried over $25 million in general funds in its chamber budget for this fiscal year, which started July 1 – nearly $2.9 million more than its total $22.2 million budget for last fiscal year.
The 46-member Senate had $6.1 million in reserves as of July 1, which represented 43 percent of its $14.3 million chamber budget for 2017-18.
What's Happening at the Statehouse this Week
- Details
- By SC Policy Council
This week, a handful of important bills are getting their first committee hearing, while other bills that have passed the committee process will be deliberated on the floor.
Tonight, there will be a public hearing for the Senate’s version of the education omnibus bill, which would create a new committee to monitor students from K-12, and beyond. The Senate bill also amends teacher pay, the Read to Succeed program, and school district consolidation, among other things. The hearing will be held at 6pm tonight at the McCormick Middle School gym (agenda here).
Senators Continue Tradition of Keeping Magistrates on Short Leashes
- Details
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
In South Carolina, state senators largely control the selection of more than 300 county magistrates, who handle thousands of relatively minor criminal and civil cases annually.
That power is amplified when magistrates finish their terms without being reappointed, a period known as “holdover” status in which they can serve indefinitely – and potentially feel more pressure to please their local senators.
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