Kevin Bryant

As you know, the Labor Commerce & Industry Committee has been looking at adjustments to the unemployment rates for a few weeks. After six subcommittee meetings and 18 proposals, we finally found a plan that may, and I stress may, garner enough support.

On Thursday, March 3, The LCI subcommittee adopted a plan, commonly referred to as plan 15, that was authored by representatives from the staffing industry to cut the top rates by 18% and extend the loan repayments. I hope that we will be able to move forward and produce relief as soon as possible.

There is one negative aspect in plan 15, however, that gives me concern as to if the General Assembly will support it. Plan 15 extends the debt repayment a full year. This extension leaves us in a very vulnerable situation in 2016. History tells us that the economy usually sees a downturn every 7 years. Many of my colleagues are hesitant to support plan 15 because of this vulnerability, so its adoption is questionable.

As the LCI sub-committee continues to explore adjusting the unemployment rates, there is a very important thing to remember: There are 20 rate classes, 1 being the lowest and 20 being the highest. No industry average is above 12. The State Newspaper helped clarify this:

State Newspaper: A state lawmaker today countered claims that manufacturers will have to unfairly carry the cost of repaying a billion-dollar federal loan that allowed the state to continue to pay unemployment benefits.

State Sen. Kevin Bryant, R-Anderson, cited a list of manufacturers in his district and elsewhere that would pay less under proposed new unemployment insurance rates.

Some manufacturers have complained their rates have increased six-fold under the new rating system, with some now paying more than $1,000 an employee for jobless insurance.

Michelin and BWM, two major Upstate manufacturing employers, both are in the sixth-lowest of 20 rate classes, Bryant said.

Manufacturers and other businesses are pushing to adjust the proposed rates, either by lowering the top rates or extending the length of time to repay the loan.

A Senate subcommittee will debate the bill again tomorrow.

– John O’Connor

I’m not sure of the source of this e-mail, but here’s an example of a fine conservative. Obviously, this person doesn’t mind be associated with our campaign and yet finds good use for an old piece of corrugated plastic.

Gina Smith of The State newspaper wrote an excellant article on the Medicaid drug provisos:

The State: Milking South Carolina? Legislators seek change By GINA SMITH – Drug dollars for lawmakers

South Carolina’s Medicaid agency paid $24 million in taxpayers’ money last year to provide three mental health drugs to the state’s poorest residents.

Some research says the popular class of drugs, called atypical antipsychotics, are over-prescribed, can have dangerous side effects and, for some patients, are no better than some cheaper, alternative drugs and treatments.

State lawmakers, dozens of whom have accepted more than $100,000 in campaign cash from the makers of the drugs in the last few years, have inserted in the state budget a rule that makes it easier for doctors to prescribe the drugs.

But that could be about to change.

Some lawmakers are backing a measure that would make it more likely physicians will prescribe cheaper alternative drugs or generics. The Senate approved the measure Thursday.

“There are other drugs that doctors should consider prescribing,” said Republican state Sen. Kevin Bryant, an Anderson pharmacist. “We’ve got three (drug) manufacturers milking South Carolina, making lots of money off three drugs. It needs to end. We have to be responsible to the taxpayers who are funding Medicaid.”

Mental health advocates are fighting back, saying the drugs – used to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and other mental health conditions – are improving the lives of poor patients. They say doctors need the flexibility to prescribe whichever drug works best for their patients and should not have their hands tied by government bureaucracy.

“You can have two people both diagnosed with bipolar disorder and a drug works for one and not for the other,” said Bill Lindsey, executive director of the state chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, an advocacy group for those with mental illnesses.

It is up to the state Senate and House to decide what to do as legislators prepare the state budget for the year that begins July 1.

That budget is expected to include about $700 million in cuts to the state’s budget. Within that budget, most attention this year has been focused on health care spending, the fastest-growing part of the state budget. That spending has grown so fast the state’s Medicaid agency, the Department of Health and Human Services, is projecting a deficit of $255 million for this year. read on