Legislation that would give Clemson University some freedom from state bureaucracy on certain construction and real estate projects is now headed for the South Carolina House.

Artist’s rendering of possible future work on Memorial Stadium. The project could soon be exempt from South Carolina’s bureaucratic oversight (Source: Clemson University)

The measure passed the Senate after a 37-4 vote Thursday. It would let the school create a special “enterprise division” to oversee construction projects related to economic development and athletics. That division would be exempt from the grueling approval process that universities must follow.

A college currently must get approval from the Commission on Higher Education, then the Joint Bond Review Committee, and finally the Budget & Control Board, before proceeding with any construction or land deals. The bill would exempt the “enterprise division” from those steps. However, the school would still have to submit a list of all its capital projects or real estate deals each year.

Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler (R-Gaffney), who sponsored the bill, says the idea would ultimately save taxpayers money. “Government is a slow-moving beast sometimes. This helps them to create jobs and help our economy.” He said the idea is to give the school more leeway to partner with private and nonprofit groups.

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State senators would expand four-year-old kindergarten across the state, under legislation that cleared its first hurdle this week.

State Sen. Vincent Sheheen (D-Camden) sponsored the legislation that would expand pre-K education

Under the conditions of a 2006 court order, South Carolina is currently offering all-day pre-K education in about eight at-risk school in a pilot program. Now a group of state senators wants to expand it for all at-risk children across the state

“It’s time to act and I think the time is now,” Sen. Brad Hutto (D-Orangeburg) told South Carolina Radio Network. “While we might not be able to fully fund it this year, I think we can fund it and get it into more schools next year.”

Right now, all school districts offer half-day pre-K programs, but only eight at-risk districts participate in the full Child Development Education Pilot Program (CDEPP). A Senate education panel voted 6-1 Wednesday in favor of a bill expanding beyond the CDEPP program to other high-poverty school districts. That bill sponsored by Sen. Vincent Sheheen (D-Camden) now heads to the full Senate Education Committee.

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Six seats on the South Carolina State University Board of Trustees are up for a vote in the Statehouse on Wednesday. And it does not look good for any of the incumbents.

Several legislators told South Carolina Radio Network that they do not expect any of the current trustees up for a vote Wednesday to be re-elected— even those not accused of any wrongdoing at the embattled school. Two of the seats are currently vacant. Most of the others will be up for re-election in 2014 or 2015. The governor chooses the last member of the board.

“There’s been way too much turmoil, way too much division,” Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter (D-Orangeburg) told South Carolina Radio Network. “It is in the best interests of South Carolina State University, the community, and most importantly the students that we have some stability.”

“I think what we’re going to see is that probably none of the incumbents will be returned,” Rep. Jerry Govan (D-Orangeburg) said.

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