William Christopher looks at this past week in the South Carolina legislature. The House was off, but the Senate accomplished more than usual…
(Legislative wrap MP3 1:48)
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Voices from the Statehouse, week of 2-12-10 (Audio)
February 12, 2010 By
Unknown gunmen shoot at Spartanburg school
February 12, 2010 By
In Spartanburg county unknown suspects opened fire on the G.D. Broome High School parking lot following a basketball game Thursday Night. Witnesses say they saw three or four men get into a getaway car.
The Spartanburg Sheriff’s Office says there were no injuries other than one victim who said he was grazed by a bullet, but had no visible injuries and refused medical attention.
The suspects face property damage charges as well as having a firearm on school property. Other charges may surface as the investigation continues. Sheriff’s spokesman Tony Ivey says the next step is interviewing witnesses.
“Were looking for three, possibly four, suspects that were seen getting into the vehicle and leaving. Investigators are going to be re-interviewing some witnesses and a possible intended victim,” he says. [Read more...]
State GOP and Upstate Tea Party make amends (Audio)
February 12, 2010 By
In hopes of clearing the air, the Upcountry Coalition of Conservative Organizations held a news conference in Greenville today. The news conference was prompted after appearances by South Carolina GOP chairman Karen Floyd on national TV raised concerns within the Coalition and other Tea Party groups nationwide that they were being commandeered by the state Republican party.
South Carolina GOP chairman Karen Floyd spoke at the press conference to clarify her actions.
(Floyd speaks to Tea Party concerns MP3 :15)
Floyd speaks to Upstate Tea Party concerns
Harry Kibler is a spokesperson for the Upstate Coalition and says the agreement group to work towards shared goals can stand.
“When the chairman of the GOP went on national television a couple of appearances, a lot of folks got the wrong impression from the message that they saw. We wanted it to be crystal clear–I thought it was on Monday—but we want to be crystal clear that we are independent and we are not a part of the Republican Party and that we will support the most conservative candidate regardless of party.”
Kibler stresses that his group considers themselves “in the same family” as Republicans, but are their own party, the Liberty Party.
Senate debates drug tests for unemployed workers (Audio)
February 12, 2010 By
Sen. David Thomas
The South Carolina Senate spent most of its time in session Thursday debating legislation that would deny unemployed workers their unemployment checks if they tested positive for illegal drug use. The measure would only establish a pilot program to randomly test 500 recipients. If enough workers tested positively, the program would become a permanent requirement. It’s part of a debate begun this week concerning the Employment Security Commission.
Greenville Senator David Thomas says A worker’s benefits would be restored if the applicant completed a treatment program. The applicant would then receive random testing, and testing positive would result in benefits being stopped until more treatment is completed.
Orangurg Democrat John Matthews challenged Thomas, questioning how an employer could deny unemployment funds that the worker had earned.
(Thomas-Matthews on drug testing MP3 2:38)
Thomas-Matthews on drug testing MP3 2:38
BEA leaves revenue projection as is, for now (Audio)
February 12, 2010 By
During its monthly meeting Thursday, the Board of Economic Advisers decided not to change the revenue estimates for the current year. That comes after several major revenue reductions over the past year.
The state economists have projected that the state of South Carolina will have $5.619 billion in revenues for this year, the same projection since November, when the figure made a two percent drop from the previous month. The projection is currently $5.622 billion for next fiscal year.
Board Chairman John Rainey said the economy is sliding on the bottom and there are no additional cuts recommended from the board’s current projection this month. “At least that’s it today,” he said. “It’s tough to anticipate in this environment. The big problem is unemployment. Employment has not picke up. Employers are not hiring people back.” Rainey says many of the jobs that were around three years ago were either with companies that have closed, or technology has taken their jobs.
Rainey says to put the current budget in perspective, realize that in the fiscal year ending in June 2007, the state collected just over $7 billion, about 25 percent more than this year.
