SPIRIT OF THE LAW – The Scholarship Funding Organization (SFO) pledges to adhere to both the letter of the proviso, law and regulations that govern the tax credit funded scholarship program(s) of South Carolina, as well as the often broader legislative intent and spirit of those legal and regulatory requirements.

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The SC House cut the budgets of the College of Charleston and USC Upstate as a protest to required participation. (Fun Home & How to Become a Lesbian in 10 Days) Here’s a sample of what I’m getting from constituents:

You are my representative in the SC senate. I respectfully ask that you represent me by opposing the use of public funds to continue an openly biased, pro-homosexual agenda and the required reading of pornographic material at the College of Charleston and USC Upstate. I regret that administrators at these schools desire to force-feed such repulsive material to college freshmen, giving them no alternative but to lose credit. And, I am frankly outraged to hear that these administrators act as if they are entitled to public funds with no accountability. The people of SC do not want to pay for this trash in the name of academic freedom (or for any other reason). Still, academic freedom may allow for these voices, viewpoints and material (as repugnant as they are), but academic freedom would not attempt to exclude alternative viewpoints and reading materials from the classroom. As a taxpayer, I consider myself to be their boss. As my senator I consider you to be my representative to them. Please send this message clearly on my behalf. Thank you for your service to the people of Anderson County.

Well said! I support the cuts for the above reasons and more. Our higher education institutions need to focus on one thing: educating our kids for a job. They’ve expanded this role to all kinds of things like economic development and in this case social indoctrination.

By the way, the amendment is not censorship as it bans nothing, it is a simple statement to protect the taxpayers of South Carolina from this kind of nonsense.

H. 5108, is a bill to allow Anderson County School Boards to put forth a referendum to increase sales taxes for school construction. H. 5108 is a local bill. The members of the South Carolina House of Representatives and Senate that represent the particular county are the only ones that vote on local legislation. When the votes were cast on H. 5108 in the Senate, I voted no. I represent a larger portion of Anderson County than Sen. Billy O’dell, therefore because of the weighted vote (54.32%) it failed.
After a few cordial visits from district officials, I appreciate their sincerity and service to our students in Anderson County, however, I can’t imaging the devastating effects of taking $205 million dollars out of the pockets of Anderson County consumers.

s. 1251 (http://scstatehouse.gov/sess120_2013-2014/bills/1251.html) is a constitutional Amendment to allow the diversification of an unfunded liability approaching $10 billion. opeb stands for other post employment benefits. This is healthcare expenses that South Carolina is contractually bound to provide for retired state employees. It is on a down hill course as the unfunded debt will grow even further unless we repair this fund.

Last year, the opeb gained a mere 1.9%. Compare to the SCRIS’s (South Carolina Retirement Investment Commission) investments gained 10%. OPEB is constitutionally bound to only be invested in bonds. When these healthcare costs for state retirees climb, and opeb is empty, guess who pays then? Every South Carolina Taxpayer.

This is a critical issue, and hopefully, we can pass it this year.

S 1251 Joint Resolution, By Bryant, Campsen, Lourie, Cleary, Leatherman, Bennett, Alexander, Cromer, Campbell, Grooms, Hembree, Young, Turner, S. Martin and Fair

Yes, this is not a typo, the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce is making another early payment to the Feds.
For Immediate Release
April 30, 2014, DEW Makes Early Unemployment Trust Fund Loan Repayment, Agency on track to repay entire loan in 2015

COLUMBIA—The SC Department of Employment and Workforce (DEW) today announced it made a voluntary payment of $60 million to the federal government for the agency’s unemployment trust fund loan.

“Making this $60 million early repayment and saving the taxpayers and businesses of South Carolina $1.4 million in interest is great news and exactly what is possible when a state sees the kind of economic growth and success that we have,” said Governor Nikki Haley. “With our unemployment rate at a six year low and more people working than ever before, it’s clear we are moving in the right direction and today’s announcement is further proof that it’s paying off for the people of our state.”

“For the past three years, South Carolina has made early, voluntary repayments to the trust fund loan, further saving the state, and ultimately its businesses’ interest costs,” said DEW Executive Director Cheryl M. Stanton. “Making this $60 million early loan payment could not be possible without the work of the state’s business community in improving South Carolina’s economy faster than expected. In fact, South Carolina has more than 77,000 additional people working today than when the 2014 tax rates were set.”

DEW set the 2014 tax rates in September 2013 when the federal government estimated that 1,968,209 South Carolinians were working (August 2013). In March 2014, the estimates are that 2,046,000 people are working in South Carolina, leading to additional, unanticipated tax collections by DEW.

Additionally, South Carolina has paid nearly $23 million less in unemployment insurance benefits from October 1, 2013 through April 2014 in relation to the corresponding time period from the prior year.
With today’s early $60 million loan repayment, the state’s outstanding loan balance falls below $400 million to $396 million. To date, South Carolina has repaid more than $580 million of the $977 million borrowed from the federal government. The state is scheduled to repay the entire loan amount by the end of 2015.

Since becoming a borrowing state, the Palmetto State has been the only state to receive a waiver to avoid higher federal unemployment taxes for businesses. In fact, South Carolina has been granted this waiver for three consecutive years.
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