The Nerve

There’s always work to do By HANNAH HILL The Declaration of Independence wasn’t about revolution. Here’s what it says: “We hold these truths to be self-evident… that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men… that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to […]

With this commission, there will always be problems By HANNAH HILL When Mike Wooten resigned from the state Department of Transportation commission, he blamed the ethics provisions in the gas tax hike bill just passed by the General Assembly, saying “The new law basically states that commissioners cannot apply for permits from SCDOT, so, if […]

Governor should call time on DOT commission By HANNAH HILL In less than a week, Governor Henry McMaster will acquire the power to fire any or all the Department of Transportation’s commissioners. It was a DOT-reform element in the the gas tax bill that was passed this year. It takes effect July 1. The commission […]

Mike Wooten, commission expired, resigns By ROBERT MEYEROWITZ State Department of Transportation Commissioner Mike Wooten resigned his post today, ending a controversial tenure on the board. John Hardee, the commission’s vice-chairman, confirmed Wooten’s departure. Wooten, who runs an engineering firm in Myrtle Beach, was elected by the state legislature to the commission four years ago. […]

Judicial selection committee has a new member: a former senator By HANNAH HILL The state’s Judicial Merit Selection Committee screens and nominates judicial candidates. Its members are picked by the House Speaker and the Senate President Pro Tem. State law requires that four of the ten be “selected from the general public” (the other six […]

Legislature cripples higher ed commission By ELISABETH PARKER The state’s higher education sector keeps growing, in no small part by borrowing to expand and taking on debt that ultimately puts every taxpayer on the hook. No matter the merits of funding education, there ought to be oversight and accountability here. That role is vested in the […]

If legislators followed the law, this wouldn’t happen By HANNAH HILL The legislative session and the special extended session have ended, and we still don’t have a budget. Currently the budget sits in conference committee where lawmakers seem to be agonizing over the differences between the House’s $27.41 billion spending plan and the Senate’s $27.42 billion spending […]

Better hope they graded on a curve By HANNAH HILL At the SC Policy Council site, we’ve put together a post-session update detailing what the legislature did and didn’t do. So now let’s take a step back and look at the bigger picture: What did our lawmakers accomplish and what does it mean for you, the […]

  You could always Google it By ELISABETH ALLEN When it comes to keeping lucrative companies in South Carolina, state government will do just about anything — including, we fear, throwing common sense to the wayside by ignoring the environment, the interests of surrounding communities, and fairness in the marketplace. We see it in the […]

Readers react to our take on rights Last week, we ran a piece by Hannah Hill, “It’s the right, not the gun,” that inspired quite a few responses. Hannah argued that a bill in the state Senate that would allow people to keep their guns when they have to give up most of their assets […]