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Top Lawmakers’ Campaign Spending Didn’t Stop with Re-election
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
Over the last three months of 2020, the November general election wasn’t the only expense that top S.C. lawmakers covered with campaign funds.
The Nerve’s review of the latest campaign-spending reports filed this month by Senate and House leaders found that a number of them spent some of their campaign funds on sponsorships and other donations to their favorite charities, membership dues to various organizations, and gifts to their staffs or constituents.
- Hits: 1371
Health Agency Slowly Spending Covid Money
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
A state House proposal would send an additional $63 million out of state surplus funds to the Department of Health and Environmental Control to speed up COVID-19 vaccinations and continue testing statewide.
But DHEC has spent only about 60% of the $45 million in state surplus funds awarded to the agency last March to combat the coronavirus, and less than a third of the collective $261 million in federal funding received since the outbreak hit South Carolina, The Nerve found in a review of the agency’s latest spending report.
- Hits: 1269
Plenty of Pork in Governor’s Proposed State Spending Plan
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
In touting Gov. Henry McMaster’s proposed fiscal 2022 state budget, his office in a recent news release contended it “significantly invests in the state’s core functions of government” while “maintaining his commitment” to “fiscally responsible practices.”
But although emergency spending in response to the coronavirus outbreak in South Carolina likely will continue in the fiscal year that starts July 1, McMaster’s proposed nearly $30.8 billion state budget also contains a number of pricey, questionable items, a review by The Nerve found, including, for example:
- Hits: 1955
Lawmakers Want to Grow Size of State’s Top Court – and Their Control Over Judges
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
The powerful S.C. House speaker, who controls half of the appointments on a committee that nominates judges for election in the Legislature, wants to expand the size of the state’s highest court and eliminate the cap on judicial nominees.
Rep. Jay Lucas, R-Darlington, is the main sponsor of a joint resolution calling for an amendment to the state constitution that would increase the total number of justices on the S.C. Supreme Court from five to seven, and a related bill that would keep the General Assembly in control of electing those judges for 10-year terms.
- Hits: 1240
Priorities Ignored in Awarding Covid Grants to Some SC Nonprofits?
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
In announcing recently that 686 nonprofit organizations in South Carolina would receive a total of $25 million in federal coronavirus-relief grants, state officials said the recipients received a “successful due diligence review” by a legislatively created panel.
A state Department of Administration (SCDOA) spokeswoman told The Nerve last week in a written response that priority was given to organizations that provided services in one or more of the following categories:
- Hits: 1383
Lawmakers Continue Looking After Their Own Business Interests
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
As lawmakers return to Columbia this week to consider big issues such as the ongoing response to the coronavirus outbreak in South Carolina and the possible sale of state-owned utility Santee Cooper, some legislators are introducing bills that ultimately could fatten their own wallets.
And state law allows it.
Take Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, for example.
- Hits: 1652
New Year, Same Road Problems Persist in SC
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to drive over pothole-free roads in South Carolina, you probably should choose a different goal.
The Nerve’s review of recently released state Department of Transportation records found that since the gas-tax-hike law took effect July 1, 2017, through Nov. 30 of last year, the total dollar amount of completed “pavements” projects statewide remained less than half of the estimated cost of all such projects.
- Hits: 1344
Lawmaker-Controlled Panel Violates State Law – Again
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
A legislatively controlled committee has once again violated a state law requiring that it provide the General Assembly with written individual evaluations of S.C. Public Service Commission members.
The seven-member PSC’s authority includes setting utility rates for investor-owned gas and electric utilities. The PSC is holding additional public hearings this week on a proposed nearly 8% electric rate hike for Dominion Energy customers – after The Nerve raised questions about the public-comment process.
- Hits: 1235
Attorney Who Works in SC Senator’s Law Firm One Step Closer to Judgeship
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
With 2021 nearly here, S.C. lawmakers likely won’t be making any New Year’s resolutions to loosen their tight grip on the state court system.
Legislative leaders have shown little interest in giving up power over the judicial selection process – which often favors friends and business associates of lawmakers.
Sen. Scott Talley, R-Spartanburg, the newest member of the state judicial screening committee, was appointed just two months before the legislatively controlled panel qualified an attorney – who works in Talley’s law firm – as a candidate for a judgeship to oversee cases in areas of law practiced by the firm.
- Hits: 1347
No Shortage of Budget Pork amid COVID-19 Outbreak
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
When lawmakers return in January for a new legislative session, they likely will claim they will have far less money to spend next fiscal year because of the coronavirus outbreak.
But state government is far from poor, at least judging by agencies’ budget requests for fiscal 2021-22, which starts July 1 – and the hundreds of millions in state reserves.
- Hits: 1465
Plenty of Ports Authority Employees in Six-figure Salary Club
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
More than 200 S.C. Ports Authority employees received at least $100,000 in total wages last fiscal year, with agency president and CEO Jim Newsome making $546,236, records show.
The total number of workers at the state-created agency who made $50,000 or more in fiscal 2020, which ended June 30, was 608, according to the records provided to The Nerve under the S.C. Freedom of Information Act.
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Hundreds of Santee Cooper Employees Receive ‘Incentive’ Bonuses
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
“Incentive” bonuses totaling more than $5 million were doled out this year to 1,463 Santee Cooper employees, with individual cash rewards averaging about $3,500 and topping out at $165,000 for a high-level executive, The Nerve found in a review of utility records.
The records, provided by the state-created utility under the S.C. Freedom of Information Act, also show that 1,459 workers receive an annual salary of at least $50,000, with 483 paid $100,000 or more.
- Hits: 1910
Bad Bridges Still Not Fixed With Gas-Tax-Hike Money
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
Despite lawmakers’ promises more than three years ago that part of the state gas tax hike would be used to fix South Carolina’s bad bridges, only one bridge project has been completed with that money, newly released records show.
The Nerve’s review of S.C. Department of Transportation records found that through Oct. 31, the department had identified 16 bridge projects in nine counties totaling $18 million, though only one of those projects – located in Charleston County – was listed as finished.
- Hits: 1571
Judicial Department Reverses Course, Releases Staff Salaries After Nerve story
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
Less than three hours after The Nerve revealed Friday that the S.C. Judicial Department was keeping secret the salaries of department employees making at least $50,000 annually, the agency released a list of 300 staffers in that group, including judges.
Department public information director Ginny Jones provided the list without explanation to The Nerve late Friday afternoon. In a follow-up written reply, The Nerve requested who in the department made the final decision to provide the records, and the department’s reasoning in reversing its prior refusal to publicly release the salaries.
- Hits: 1415
State Court System Keeps Staff Salaries Secret from the Public
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
The S.C. Judicial Department – the third branch of state government – is refusing to publicly reveal salaries of its own employees, contending it isn’t legally required to do so.
The Nerve on Oct. 18 submitted a request to the department under the state Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) asking for the name, title and salary of every department employee making at least $50,000 annually. The law says that the exact compensation of a public employee receiving $50,000 or more a year is not exempt from disclosure to the public.
- Hits: 1417
How PSC Squelched Public Comment on Dominion Rate-Hike Request
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
Update: 11/18/20 – The S.C. Public Service Commission today voted to hold two additional public hearings in the first week of January on Dominion Energy’s proposed electric rate hike. The hearings will be held from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 5, and from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 7. Participants can either phone in their testimony or attend in person at either hearing. In-person testimony will be held in the PSC hearing room at 101 Executive Center Drive, Columbia; one person at a time will be allowed in the room to testify, and the room will be cleaned between witnesses to comply with public health guidelines in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Witnesses must register by no later than 4:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 6, by either emailing the PSC at
“No.”
That was the collective response by the small number of Dominion Energy electric customers who testified at last week’s virtual hearings about whether they supported the utility giant’s proposed nearly 8% rate hike.
It’s unknown whether the seven-member state Public Service Commission, which hosted the hearings, will allow more public comment before it issues its final order by Feb. 15.
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