South-Carolina

South Carolina, Long Seen As A Red State, Is Now Becoming A More Conservative State

Published

2 years ago

June 15, 2023

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South Carolina, Long Seen As A Red State, Is Now Becoming A More Conservative State

The South Carolina State House in Columbia.

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South Carolina has long been considered a ruby red state politically and for good reason. Republican candidates dominate statewide races, hold large majorities in both chambers in the state legislature, and have held the governor’s mansion for two decades. While South Carolina has been and remains a red state, from a pure policy standpoint it hasn’t been very conservative. That, however, has begun to change over the past year, as landmark reforms long-sought by conservatives have finally made it to the governor’s desk in recent weeks and months.

The Palmetto State is home to highest state income tax rate in the southeastern United States. But last year, for the first time ever, South Carolina legislators made progress toward ending that dubious distinction by enacting the first personal income tax cut in South Carolina history. As a result, on January 1, 2023, South Carolina’s top income tax rate dropped from 7% to 6.5%. That 6.5% rate will be phased down to 6% over the next five years, while the bottom two brackets have been consolidated into a 3% bracket and indexed for inflation. South Carolina taxpayers will save approximately $1 billion annually once the tax cut is fully phased in. The bill also reduced the manufacturing tax assessment rate.

“About a third of South Carolinians will have their entire tax liability taken care of,” said former Representative Gary Simrill (R), who chaired the South Carolina House Ways & Means Committee last year when this income tax cut passed. “That’s more money in their pockets to spend how they see fit. A taxpayer knows better what to do with their money than the government does, and this gives that grand opportunity.”

After boosting take home pay for millions of South Carolinians with the state’s first ever income tax cut, state legislators came back this year and enacted S.39, legislation that will empower thousands of South Carolina parents with greater education options for their children by providing them with education savings accounts (ESAs). S.39 offers ESAs worth up to $6,000 annually to children from households with income below a certain level.

In the first year under S.39, children from South Carolina families that are eligible for Medicaid will also be eligible for ESAs. By year three ESAs will be available to any kid from a household with annual income below $100,000.

With the help of ESA funds, parents can send their child to a private school if they decide that’s the best fit. ESA funds can also be used to pay for other education-related costs.

An estimated 15,000 children will benefit from this new ESA program by year three. “There will be children whose lives will be changed for the better because of this bill,” Senator Greg Hembree said about S.39’s passage.

Enactment of ESA legislation in South Carolina comes amid what many consider to be a golden age for school choice nationwide. Over the past two years, seven states have enacted universal ESAs.

“Four states have adopted universal school choice already this year—Florida just extended school choice to every child, following Iowa, Utah, and Arkansas,” Dr. Oran Smith, a senior fellow at the Palmetto Promise Institute, said in his testimony in support of S.39. “West Virginia passed school choice for everyone in 2021 and Arizona expanded its program to universal in 2022. Oklahoma, Ohio, Wyoming, Texas, Nebraska, Kansas and Pennsylvania are likely next to act.” North Carolina is another state where lawmakers are moving to enact universal school choice this year. Another robust school choice bill, a more traditional tax credit scholarship program (S.285), has passed the Senate as well.

In addition to the first ever state income tax cut and the creation of an ESA program that will provide more education options to thousands of children, South Carolina lawmakers also enacted S.164, a reform aimed at reducing health care costs. S.164 repeals the state’s broad Certificate of Need (CON) program immediately except for acute hospitals, but those CON requirements go away in 2027, and they disappear immediately in any county where there is no hospital. When fully implemented, South Carolina will be able to tout what many consider to be most significant CON repeal in America in 25 years.

CON requirements force health care providers to ask state government for permission to expand facilities or invest in new and improved equipment. There is a wealth of research indicating CON mandates drive up the cost of care and reduce precious access.

A Mercatus Center study found states with CON requirements have 30% fewer hospitals per 100,000 people, which translates into CON states averaging 131 fewer hospital beds per 100,000 residents compared to states without CON mandates. With access to health care an acute problem in rural communities, it’s worth noting that CON states also tend to have fewer rural hospitals. Recognition of CON mandates’ inflationary effect is so widespread that it was one of the rare areas of agreement between the Obama and Trump administrations.

“This system is so broken, the concept is so deeply flawed,” Senator Wes Climer (R), co-sponsor of S.164, said of the existing CON regime as his repeal bill was debated in the legislature. “If our interest is expanding access and lowering cost, there are no other options besides complete repeal.”

“South Carolinians will have greater access to affordable health care services with the repeal of the certificate of need laws,” Governor Henry McMaster (R) said in his signing statement for S.164. “Everyone benefits when the proven power of the free market is unleashed in our state.”

Most states still have CON requirements, in part because powerful and influential constituencies lobby to keep them in place. When considering that, South Carolina’s CON repeal is an even more impressive achievement. Speaker Murrell Smith and Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey — with the help of conservative reformers like Senators Wes Climer and Tom Davis and Representatives Sylleste Davis and Jason Elliott — are leading South Carolina into a new era in the state’s rich history, one in which the Palmetto State is no longer simply a red state where Republicans easily win elections, but also one where conservative reforms are being enacted.

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South-Carolina

South Carolina announces signing of Ball State DB transfer Myles Norwood

Published

6 hours ago

December 27, 2024

Press Room

South Carolina announces signing of Ball State DB transfer Myles Norwood

South Carolina got a boost to its secondary for the 2025 season from the MAC of all conferences, as the Gamecocks announced the signing of defensive back Myles Norwood on Thursday.

The 6-foot-1, 183-pounder from St. Louis transferred from Ball State, so next fall he’ll be taking a significant step up in competition after deciding to test his talents in the SEC.

According to On3, Norwood’s final 2 choices came down to South Carolina and Kentucky, and Norwood chose Columbia over Lexington.

The junior had 38 tackles, 22 of them solo, with 2 tackles-for-loss, 10 pass breakups and a fumble recovery for the Cardinals in 2024. According to Pro Football Focus, Norwood earned a solid coverage grade of 71.8 across 456 snaps in 12 games for Ball State. The majority of his snaps were at outside cornerback, with 48 snaps coming at the nickel position — 35 of which came in 1 game.

Kentucky has several defensive backs leaving for the NFL Draft or the transfer portal, so the Wildcats really could’ve used Norwood but instead saw him go to an SEC rival school.

Norwood should be an important piece of South Carolina’s secondary in 2025 after working his way into Ball State’s rotation quickly.

Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.

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South-Carolina

South Carolina Lands Ball State Transfer Cornerback

Published

14 hours ago

December 26, 2024

Press Room

South Carolina Lands Ball State Transfer Cornerback

The Gamecocks return to the transfer portal this time landing a commitment from Ball State transfer cornerback Myles Norwood, On3’s Pete Nakos reports.

Norwood is a former JUCO product that began his collegiate career at Iowa State before landing at Ball State and ultimately South Carolina. His addition to the room is needed after the Gamecocks are expected to lose players due to eligibility reasons. The 6-foot-1 and 183 pounder out of St. Louis, Missouri had five passes defensed in 2024 to go along with two forced fumbles and 38 total tackles.

Norwood is the seventh transfer addition to South Carolina following the Christmas Eve addition of Western Kentucky offensive lineman Rodney Newsom.

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South-Carolina

SC archaeologists searching for former slave quarters in public dig • SC Daily Gazette

Published

22 hours ago

December 26, 2024

Press Room

SC archaeologists searching for former slave quarters in public dig • SC Daily Gazette

HILTON HEAD — Researchers believe Green’s Shell Enclosure Heritage Preserve was once a ceremonial spot for Native American tribes that inhabited the state’s Sea Islands. Centuries later, it was also part of a large plantation, according to South Carolina archaeologists.

As archaeologists dig, seeking to uncover the foundations of former slave quarters, along with more artifacts from the land’s Native American history, they’re opening the property up next month for members of the public to tour and observe their work.

From Jan. 7-16, archaeologists will lead three free tours daily to show interested visitors how they discover information about a piece of land. Each tour is limited to 15 people, so the Department of Natural Resources encourages registering for the event.

One advantage of public tours is people can see all the work archaeologists do and not just the pottery or other items displayed in museums, project manager Meg Gaillard told the SC Daily Gazette.

The tours have to remain small because the excavation will involve digging holes throughout the 3-acre property. To start, they will create a grid of 100 holes about 30 centimeters wide and 100 centimeters deep, which Gaillard calls “windows into the ground.”

SC considers buying land for 2 new nature preserves

The archaeologists will then use what they find to decide where to expand their dig, looking for artifacts that could date back as far as 1335 A.D., around the same time as the Renaissance in Europe.

“I would encourage people to come and visit us a couple times during the field season, because they’re going to see a little bit of a different take on archaeology in the different weeks,” Gaillard said.

Green’s Shell Enclosure is named for an enclosure made of oyster and other shells that snakes through part of the property. The ridge, which measures from 20 to 30 feet wide at the base and 4 feet tall at its highest points, was built by Native Americans during a period known as the Irene phase, according to DNR. The period is named after an excavation at Irene Plantation near Savannah, Georgia.

The inhabitants of Green’s Shell were farmers who lived in large villages. They used shells to make pendants, called gorgets, as well as masks and beads.

Archaeologists believe the enclosure could have been a ceremonial site, according to DNR. Artifacts, including remnants of pottery, could give researchers a better picture of what people did there, Gaillard said.

Researchers are hoping to uncover some more recent history as well.

The enclosure at one point was located on the western section of the 1,000-acre Fairfield Plantation, also known as Stoney’s Place. About 150 enslaved people were thought to have lived on the plantation in the 1800s, according to DNR.

An excavation in the 1980s found the remains of a chimney on the preserve, in the same place where historical documents indicated slave quarters existed. Archaeologists hope to uncover foundations for the quarters, whether that includes relics or simply changes in the soil that indicate a building once stood there.

The state took over the site in 1991.

Researchers frequently study the state’s 18 cultural preserves, which are meant to preserve culturally significant places, but major excavations like this happen less often.

Archaeologists try to strike a balance between what they dig up and what they leave for future researchers with more advanced technology to uncover, Gaillard said.

Because the archaeologists studying the property in the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s left parts of it untouched, current researchers were able to use newer ground-penetrating radar to discover the potential remnants of the slave quarters on the old plantation, Gaillard said.

Newest SC preserve opens, protecting 10,570 acres so far

Archaeologists will do the same thing this time around, excavating about 17% of the property to leave some mysteries for future researchers to solve, she said.

“In 20 years, there might be another excavation there for the next generation that’s going to disclose a whole bunch more about the past, so it’s very exciting,” Gaillard said.

While artifacts are often what people picture when thinking about excavations, other details in the land that are not as easily displayed can offer just as much, and sometimes more, information, Gaillard said.

“To an archaeologist, there’s so much more to that research than just the things and the objects that we bring out of the ground,” Gaillard said. “Sometimes, the dirt itself tells an amazing story that we can analyze for people that come and visit us.”

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