A bill sponsored by Senators Jake Knotts and Glenn McDonnell that was vetoed by the governor has had the veto overridden by the General Assembly. The purpose of the bill is to give in-state vendors preference over out-of-state vendors when competing for the State Government’s business. The South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce supports the bill and, in a release, says they expect this bill help small business owners in the state thus boosting the state’s economy. Small Business Chamber of Commerce co-founder Frank Knapp, Jr. says this is beneficial to small businessmen in the Palmetto State. [Read more...]
SPA reacts to port restructuring
June 17, 2009 By Leave a Comment
House and Senate members overrode Governor Mark Sanford’s veto on the port restructuring bill that was sponsored by Berkeley Senator Larry Grooms.
“The new law has a number of provisions that will impact how the ports run and managed in the future. Those changes will have to be implemented here at the Ports Authority, and we will continue to focus on doing what we are suppose to be doing, which is serving as an economic engine for the state,” Byron Miller with the State Ports Authority reacts.
Miller explains some of the changes that he says the Ports Authority will embrace aggressively.
“Well, there are a number of provisions included in the law. There are things such as how our board is qualified and to serve. Also, there are conditions on the information about the Ports Authority’s finances have to be made available publicly. All sorts of key requirements for both the ongoing governance and management of the Ports Authority,” says Miller.
The new structure sets up requirements to sell certain port properties and requires oversight of expenditures and the performance of the State Ports Authority leadership. Governor Sanford issued a statement that said: “The ideas contained in this bill were nothing more than a smokescreen for taking away governors’ ability to hire and fire board members.” Miller reacted to that:
“That’s something for the others involved in the bill to talk about. There are numerous provisions that will impact the port and the Ports Authority’s governance and management and we’ll have to deal with those,” says Miller.
When asked about rail access at the Port of Charleston, Miller said the Ports Authority is not involved.
The new law is effective immediately.
Nielson returns to state-level role in education
June 17, 2009 By Leave a Comment
A familiar face in education is back in elected office. Former state Education Superintendent Dr. Barbara Nielson was elected by the South Carolina Senate to the board of the public charter schools.”You never lose your passion for education and during my adminstration we passed the first public charter school bill and then it was refined, which was a good thing. Now we’re kind of known throughout the nation because we have a district.”
Any school district can create a charter school — or one can be established through the state charter school district—as is happening with virtual schools. It’s not as easy in some of the the rural areas of the state, says Nielson, where old or vacated buildings are harder to come by.
“But it gives parents a choice,” says Nielson, “And it is within the public school framework and it allows for innovation and I think that is really key. We want to be able to do new and different things for children. Many of the public charter schools that exist —whether by the school district authorized or by the South Carolina Public Charter School District — are small.”
Dr. Nielson is now approved and appointed by the Senate to the seat held by Dr. David Church.
