May 21, 2013

Haley says pass ethics bill, Senate says roads come first

haley and GOP sens

Senate Republicans join Haley in calling for ethics bill passage.

Gov. Nikki Haley and the state Senate disagree once again on end-of-year priorities for bill passage.  Haley wants to see a comprehensive ethics reform bill pass this spring, concerned that it may not be revived in the second year of the session.

As the Senate headed into its second week of budget debate, Haley took a press conference podium to challenge the state Senate take up the ethics bill next.  She says a handful of Senate Democrats could move the bill along, once the the chamber passes the budget.

Budget debate, however, has been slowed by a few Republicans who continue to argue for one-time road repair money. The spending plan bill is also laden with contentious issues like Medicaid expansion, school choice funding and use of the state’s airplanes. 

Next, senators are planning to take up a bipartisan bill to create a longterm solution for the state’s ailing roads and bridges.

Haley said, “D.O.T. (Dept of Transportation) is not something that I have looked at. My focus has been on ethics, it’s been on DOA, it’s been on getting the budget passed. It’s on all those things that are sitting right there at the finish line that we need to push over. But I have always said there needs to be a strong debate on transportation in this state.”

Haley argues that there is no reason that the legislature cannot stay later and do more: “Get it done. And if they want to hear it, hear it all night if you have to, but get it done.”

In an early glimpse of 2014 campaign kabuki, the governor was surrounded by a mix of Senate Republicans and her ethics study group appointees, while a large contingent of Democratic party and legislative leaders looked on, ready to hold a rebuttal press conference. 

She charged: ”Finish the budget and move right on to ethics, because it is time. We need to show the people of the world that we don’t have issues in South Carolina. That we are not afraid of ethics reform and that we’re going to pass a strong ethics reform bill.”

House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford (D-Richland) said his priorities are based on what he hears about on a day-to-day basis. “That is fixing roads and bridges, ethics reform is ‘inside politics.’”

“We spent a long time on it in the House. This is a two-year session and we are five months in. The ethics reform bill was 38 pages of amendments we had to read through and most of them were crucial changes.”

Orangeburg Senator Brad Hutto jabbed at Haley, “Having her lead this charge is like Barry Bonds call for stronger drug testing…We’ve got a governor here who is promoting ethics only because of her own ethical failure.”

Haley spokesman Rob Godfrey immediately fired back to the media, “Hutto was taking it to a personal, not a policy level.” Ethics charges about Haley’s activities as a House member were dismissed, charges that Godfrey calls “trumped up.”

Longtime South Carolina ethics watchdog John Crangle of Common Cause, says the ethics changes need to be as strong as possible and should include local government officials.  Local lobbying regulation has been cut out of recent version of the bill. Crangle says if a better bill means working into next year, it’s worth it.

There are a couple of weeks left in the regular legislative session. In 2011, Haley called the General Assembly back into session in one end-of-year argument over failed passage of a major government restructuring bill. The Senate sued and the SC Supreme Court ruled she was outside of her authority. The bill was not passed in the next year, either.

Voices from the Statehouse, week ending May 17 (AUDIO)

Haley spring

Gov. Haley defends paying for campaign staff to accompany her on state plane (file photo).

What to do with two planes owned by the state was a hot topic last week.  The Senate spent the week on the state budget, with a few detours. The House handled government restructuring and citizens got a preview of the 2014 race for governor.

Matt Long has the South Carolina legislative wrap-up of week ending May 17, featuring voices of the House, Senate and Gov. Nikki Haley.

AUDIO: Voices from the Statehouse (1:45)

Legislative Update: May 17

— Capping off a long day of debate Thursday, senators voted to sell the two planes owned by the state. South Carolina has owned the planes for decades, but it appears the bad headlines they’ve garnered in recent years finally led legislators to get rid of them entirely. Senators voted 26-14 to include language in the budget to sell the planes.

Gov. Nikki Haley participated in the Governor's Volunteer Awards outside her Statehouse offices Thursday

Gov. Nikki Haley participated in the Governor’s Volunteer Awards outside her Statehouse offices Thursday

— It was a dispute over Gov. Nikki Haley’s use of the planes that appears to have been the final straw. Democrats on Thursday focused on the governor’s videographer Zach Pippin, who frequently flies with Haley to film her press conferences and speeches. The problem is that he’s not a state employee; he’s paid by her campaign. The Governor’s Office insists Pippin is conducting state business and is legally allowed to go on the flights, even producing an email from a State Ethics Commission attorney to back up their case.

— The state Department of Public Safety on Thursday released the dashboard camera video of Rep. Ted Vick’s (D-Chesterfield) arrest on Tuesday night. An officer says he stopped Vick in the Statehouse parking garage after watching him stumble across the Statehouse grounds, then hit a traffic cone with his car. In the video, Vick can be seen struggling to avoid being handcuffed. He also repeatedly tells the arresting officer that he is “not intoxicated.”

— As the House Ways & Means Committee prepares to take up a cyber-security reform bill, a consultant is warning them not to do too much at once. Michael Wyatt of Deloitte & Touce, LLP., was hired to help recommend changes in South Carolina’s antiquated computer network after the Department of Revenue hacking. On Thursday, he told committee members that he felt they were wrong to centralize all aspects of information security into a single office.

— When senators come back for a second week of budget debate next Tuesday, they will likely take up a controversial school-choice proposal. The issue of giving tax deductions for parents whose children attend private school has been fought in the public sphere for years now. But supporters feel they are very close to winning support in the Senate for the first time. Opponents prevented it from coming up to a vote Thursday, knowing three critical “no” votes were not in Columbia at the time.

— Lt. Gov. Glenn McConnell joined with Honda to kick off a new effort to fight hunger among seniors in South Carolina. The Sustain Our Seniors effort launched after a brief Statehouse ceremony Thursday. Honda donated two minivans for senior centers to use, while Leadership South Carolina presented over $100,000 in donations. South Carolina has the second-highest level of senior hunger in the nation.

Consultant warns state not ready for cyber-security changes lawmakers want

As South Carolina legislators consider reforms to the state’s computer security network, a top consultant is warning them to not do too much at once.

Michael Wyatt of Deloitte & Touch briefs members of the House Ways & Means Committee Thursday

Michael Wyatt of Deloitte & Touch briefs members of the House Ways & Means Committee Thursday

The House Ways & Means Committee is scheduled to take up a cyber-security bill next week in response to a massive hack at the state Department of Revenue (SCDOR) last fall that compromised over 3.8 million Social Security numbers.

As part of a state contract, New York-based Deloitte & Touche, LLC., conducted a six-week assessment of how the state operates and maintains its complicated computer networks and databases. The project’s lead director Michael Wyatt presented the findings to the committee Thursday.

“There is a crawl, walk, run model that needs to be in place here,” Wyatt told legislators. He said the recommendations would cost nearly $15 million to implement immediately, and over $7 million to maintain each year after that.

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Dashcam video released in arrest of Chesterfield legislator

The South Carolina Department of Public Safety (SCDPS) has released dashboard camera video taken during the arrest of State Rep. Ted Vick (D-Chesterfield) Tuesday night. Vick was arrested in the Statehouse parking garage on a suspicion of driving under the influence.

Vick can be seen briefly struggling with the officer at the beginning of the video (Courtesy: SCDPS)

Vick can be seen briefly struggling with the officer at the beginning of the video (Courtesy: SCDPS)

A Bureau of Protective Services officer said he saw Vick stumbling around the Statehouse grounds. The officer said he then stopped the lawmaker after seeing him strike a traffic cone with his car minutes later.

Vick’s attorney Rep. Todd Rutherford (who is also the SC House Minority Leader) has said the arresting officer’s report includes some inconsistencies. He said Vick was having trouble walking due to a pebble in his shoe and that many legislators often hit the cone due to its location in the garage.

He did not return two calls from South Carolina Radio Network after the video was released.

The dashcam release came after multiple media outlets requested the video under the Freedom of Information Act.

In the released video, Vick can be seen briefly struggling to avoid being handcuffed. The video then jumps ahead to show him inside the car as he and a second officer wait for backup. In the video, the lawmaker repeatedly states he is not intoxicated and asks the officer to remove his handcuffs.

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