The Nerve

By RICK BRUNDRETT In another power move by county legislative delegations, a Spartanburg County lawmaker has proposed legislation that would establish base pay for members of a local school board. It’s not the first time in recent years that a county delegation, made up House and Senate members representing that county, has inserted itself into […]

By RICK BRUNDRETT In South Carolina, public school boards have broad powers, such as hiring the district superintendent, setting administrators’ salaries and approving annual budgets. Yet since Gov. Henry McMaster closed public schools statewide in March, school boards in at least five districts have given their board chairpersons under identical emergency resolutions the sole power […]

By RICK BRUNDRETT When it comes to receiving taxpayer-funded state retirement and health insurance benefits, lots of folks have their hands out – and it’s not just government employees. Certain nonprofit organizations and quasi-government groups participate in the state pension and health insurance systems, which mainly cover state, county and local government agencies, as well […]

By RICK BRUNDRETT For many years, S.C. lawmakers have exerted considerable control over local matters through county legislative delegations. Take the Clarendon County legislative delegation, for example. In April, Democratic Sen. Kevin Johnson of Manning introduced a bill to give the three-member delegation, of which he is the chairman, direct control over appointing the nine-member […]

By RICK BRUNDRETT S.C. Sen. Kevin Johnson’s wife and daughter work for Clarendon School District 2. Another daughter is the school board chairwoman. Last week, Johnson, a Democrat from Manning, introduced a local bill – which passed the Senate in two days – that would give the three-member Clarendon County delegation, of which Johnson is […]