Poll: California Voters Oppose Cash Reparations for Slavery
- By David Kelley - The New American
The results of a poll released Sunday indicated a majority of California voters oppose the proposed reparation payments to descendants of enslaved black residents currently living in the state by a 2-1 margin, exposing the “steep uphill climb” lawmakers face in implementing the plan.
According to the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) poll, co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times, 59 percent of voters oppose the California Reparations Task Force recommendations to make cash payments, compared to 28 percent who support the plan, and “most of those opposed (44%) say they are strongly opposed to the idea.”
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State Agency Surpluses Total $4 Billion to Start Fiscal '24
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
When fiscal 2022-23 ended on June 30, the state’s general fund had a balance of less than $58 million – a relatively paltry amount compared to the $1.2 billion surplus reported a year earlier.
But that doesn’t mean state government in South Carolina is poor. Far from it, in fact.
State agencies collectively carried over $4 billion in general funds into this fiscal year, which began July 1, ranging from $248 carried forward by the S.C. Secretary of State’s Office to more than $1.5 billion transferred by the S.C. Department of Commerce, according to the state comptroller general’s annual financial summary of the general fund – one of three main pots of money in the current $41 billion total state budget.
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Important Legislative Update for South Carolina
- By The John Birch Society
We would like to update you about the outcome of several important bills in the South Carolina General Assembly.
Article V Convention
We are monitoring several resolutions for an Article V constitutional convention, which would open up the U.S. Constitution to radical revisions that could obliterate the God-given freedoms that it guarantees.
Senate Concurrent Resolution 369 (S.369) and House Concurrent Resolution 3676 (H.3676) would apply to Congress for a convention to propose a so-called “Balanced Budget Amendment.” Additionally, Senate Concurrent Resolution 481 (S.481) and House Concurrent Resolution 3895 (H.3895) would apply to Congress for a convention to propose a congressional term-limits amendment.
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Federal School-Choice Suit Raises Questions About Future Court, Legislative Actions
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
A federal appeals court has dismissed a lawsuit claiming that a state constitutional provision banning direct public funding of religious or other private schools in South Carolina was rooted in religious and racial bigotry.
But it’s unclear whether the ruling last month by a panel of the Virginia-based U.S. 4th Court of Appeals will affect legislative efforts to remove the constitutional provision through a statewide ballot measure, or a predicted legal challenge to historic school-choice legislation passed this year.
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Ohio Rejects Issue 1, Possibly Paving the Way for Pro-Abortion Victory in November
- By Ben Johnson - The Washington Stand
Abortion activists claimed a pivotal victory in a swing state Tuesday night, as Ohio voters rejected a measure making it more difficult to add a constitutional “right” to abortion to the state constitution.
With nearly all votes reported, 57% of Ohioans voted against Issue 1 in the August special election, according to unofficial results reported by the Ohio Secretary of State’s office. The issue would have required 60% of state voters to approve a proposed constitutional amendment in the initiative and referendum process, up from a simple majority adopted during the Progressive Era in 1912. It would also mandate that petitions for future amendments receive the signatures of at least 5% of voters who cast a ballot in the last gubernatorial election in all of Ohio’s 88 counties, rather than in half of those counties under present law.
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S.C. Counties Spending Above Population Growth, Inflation
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
Oconee County Council Chairman Matthew Durham will tell you he ran on a campaign promise of low taxes and limited government growth.
Durham, who was elected to County Council in 2020 and became its chairman this year, says he was alarmed that the county’s annual budget grew by 45% since 2016, contending that if limited to population growth plus inflation, overall spending during the period should have increased by no more than 22%.
So Durham joined last month with two other conservative council members in passing a fiscal year 2024 general-fund budget that totaled $60.7 million – $6 million-plus less than what originally was proposed for the fiscal year that started July 1, and nearly $231,000 less than the final amended budget for last fiscal year.
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SAFE Act Explosion: 72% of Red States Now Protect Minors from Gender Transition Procedures
- By Joshua Arnold - The Washington Stand
As the 2023 state legislative season winds toward a conclusion, it’s time to analyze whether state efforts to protect minors from gender transition procedures were successful. The answer is a hearty “yes.”
Before this year, only four states had passed legislation prohibiting gender transition procedures on minors, which include irreversible removal of healthy organs and permanent sterilization through cross-sex hormones. As of Tuesday, when the Louisiana legislature enacted protections over the governor’s veto, 21 states have protections (one state improved on previously enacted language). Nearly three-quarters (72%) of Republican-controlled state legislatures have passed legislation protecting minors from gender reassignment procedures, and 18 out of 29 (62%) of Republican-controlled legislatures have passed a law this year.
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Governor's Vetoes Don't Touch Hundreds of Millions in Earmark Spending
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
When it came to reining in lawmakers’ spending on their favored local projects for the upcoming fiscal year, Gov. Henry McMaster used a veto butter knife on earmarks totaling more than $709 million.
In his annual written veto message released Tuesday, McMaster vetoed just six out of 515 state budget earmarks approved by lawmakers for the fiscal 2023-24 fiscal year that starts July 1. The six projects totaled $1.5 million – a fraction of 1 percent of the overall $709.4 million in earmarks, The Nerve found in a review of House and Senate earmark lists overwhelmingly approved last week by the Legislature.
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MAJOR VICTORY: America First Legal Prevails in Lawsuit to Protect the South Carolina Freedom Caucus’ Right to Free Speech
- By America First Legal
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, America First Legal (AFL) and co-counsel Christopher Mills won our lawsuit to stop establishment politicians from silencing the South Carolina Freedom Caucus. In a forty-page opinion, United States District Court Judge Cameron Currie permanently blocked the enforcement of state statutes that sought to limit the expressive and associational activities of the Freedom Caucus and other “legislative special interest caucuses,” finding them to be “a ban on speech.” The court held that these laws, written to favor the House Democratic Caucus, House Republican Caucus, the Black Caucus, and the Women’s Caucus, violated the Freedom Caucus’s First Amendment and Equal Protection rights.
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Lexington County Republican Party censures Senator Katrina Shealy
- By Press Release
The Lexington County Republican Party (LCRP) censured District 23 Sen. Katrina Shealy during their Monday, June 5 monthly executive committee meeting.
County Chairwoman Pamela Godwin stated, "The LCRP members presented a wide body of evidence and voted to censure Sen. Shealy." She added, "Being pro-life is a bare minimum expectation for Republican legislators in Lexington County and Sen. Shealy has unfortunately failed that test very outwardly."
All legislative seats in South Carolina are up for election in 2024 with the Republican Primary taking place in June.
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Under the Hood: Huge Taxpayer Tab, ESG Mandates in Scout Motors Deal
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
Taxpayers in South Carolina likely will be on the hook for more than the $1 billion already dispersed to help a recently created Volkswagen company build its first electric vehicle plant near Columbia.
On top of that, under a state incentives agreement obtained by The Nerve, Virginia-based Scout Motors Inc., an independent company backed by the Volkswagen Group, which is headquartered in Germany, will have to comply with an ESG-related German law dealing with environmental, human rights and property rights issues.
The Nerve over the past year has reported extensively about the liberal environmental, social and governance movement in South Carolina. In a May 2022 story, for example, the president of an Anderson-based food company expressed concerns that two corporate customers, including a foreign-based company, which he asked The Nerve not to identify, were starting to pressure his business to comply with ESG-related practices.
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Finally, SC Joins Other Republican-Led States in Supporting Life
- By James Spurck, Publisher
Great Way to Celebrate South Carolina's 235th Birthday by Supporting the Unborn
Even Though It Is Not Perfect, It Is A Start And Will Save Lives
The long and fought for S.474 called the "Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act" has passed the South Carolina Senate by a vote of 27-19.
McMaster announced on Twitter after the vote that he is looking forward to "signing this bill into law as soon as possible."
This bill will ban most abortions after detecting early cardiac activity in the unborn child. This can be as early as six weeks. If any physician in South Carolina violates this law, they would have their license revoked in the state. They could even face felony charges, fines, and jail time.
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Appeals Court Returns Counterfeit Ballot Case to Lower Court; VoterGA Seeks Recusal to Prevent Obstruction of Ballot Inspection
- By VoterGA
ATLANTA -- On December 20, 2022, VoterGA Petitioners in a counterfeit ballot case won a confirmation of standing from the Georgia Supreme Court which forced the Court of Appeals to remand their case back to Superior Court where Petitioners could open discovery and proceed with the inspection of 2020 Fulton County mail-in ballots. Today, Petitioners, who expected Judge Brian Amero to resume the case, announced a motion to recuse newly assigned Judge Robert McBurney for bias.
The inspection was delayed for over two years after Judge Brian Amero's false ruling that Petitioners had no standing. Once Amero's ruling was overturned, he transferred the case to McBurney who accepted it in a surprise move that Petitioners claim will obstruct an inspection.
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McKissick Approved to Serve Fourth Term as SC GOP Chairman
- By Terry M. Thacker, Times Examiner Reporter
Three-term South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Drew McKissick was narrowly reelected on the first ballot this past Saturday to serve a fourth term at the helm of a party experiencing great division.
The party's bi-annual convention was held in the gymnasium of River Bluff High School in Lexington. Over 1,000 delegates and alternates from across the state filled the huge gym. Delegates and alternates had already been chosen at the various county GOP conventions, which were held in the several weeks prior to Saturday's convention.
The attendees were given an hour and a half during which to check in. A few minutes before the commencement of the meeting, some alternates gathered at their county check-in tables to find out if they would be promoted to delegate status. If a person selected to serve as a delegate does not show up at the beginning of the convention, an alternate gets to take his or her place.
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South Carolina: Constitutional Carry Advances to Floor from Senate Judiciary Committee
- By NRA-ILA
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 12-11 to pass S.109, the NRA-backed Constitutional Carry bill, and it has now been sent to the Senate floor for further consideration. This is a huge step toward South Carolina becoming the next state to recognize the fundamental right of law-abiding adults to carry firearms for self-defense without having to navigate burdensome government regulations. Constitutional Carry does not change the criteria for eligibility to obtain a carry permit, nor does it affect previously issued permits.
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Senators Feast on Taxpayer-Funded Earmarks for Pricey Projects
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
Through largely hidden budget earmarks, S.C. senators have proposed a total of more than $314 million for projects next fiscal year mainly in their respective legislative districts – including dozens of $1 million-plus requests, a review by The Nerve found.
The 46-member Senate two years ago changed its rules purportedly to require more disclosure of historically secret taxpayer-funded earmarks, but the chamber hasn’t posted online its latest earmark list, though it passed a $38-billion, fiscal year 2023-24 state budget version on April 19.
The Nerve recently obtained the Senate earmark list under the S.C. Freedom of Information Act. A separate request under the open-records law was made for any House earmarks; House Clerk Charles Reid in a written response said the 124-member chamber has “no document(s) responsive to your request.”
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