BRACK: Time to make smart investments with robust economy
By Andy Brack | The good thing about budgeting on the conservative side is that when things go well, there’s a little extra money left over. On a national level, the stock market is relatively robust....
View ArticleTOP FIVE: On DHEC, DSS, schools, more
This week's Top Five: DHEC is too big, Peeler says; House panel scrutinizes, praises DSS; Spearman says poor schools should get grants, not loans; Obama on guns; Graham on the presidential race.
View ArticleNEWS: 2016 is the year of the short-list legislative agenda
By Bill Davis, senior editor | The 2016 legislative session’s agenda in the General Assembly is so brief it could be contained on a bumper sticker: “Gas tax -- and MAYBE education.” House Minority...
View ArticleTOP FIVE: Supreme Court, income gap, more
This week's Top Five stories: Supreme Court screening panel faces questions; Income gap widening across U.S.; Haley proposes to fund college tuition for rural teachers; DHEC wants fetal tissue law...
View ArticleTALLY SHEET: From affordable housing to better public education
State senators introduced only a dozen new bills over the past week, while House members added more than 100 to the hopper, including many resolutions commending youths for becoming Eagle scouts. In...
View ArticleNEWS: Slim pickings this year for pork, roads, colleges
By Bill Davis, senior editor | Nine years ago when the state’s most famous hiker, Mark Sanford, was still governor, the state Senate approved a line item that would divert nearly $1 million to erect a...
View ArticleNEWS: 2016 is a mixed bag of treats for education, so far
By Bill Davis, senior editor | A package of bills from the House dealing with a longstanding education equity lawsuit may hit the floor for debate next week in the Senate. It’s a piece of the good news...
View ArticleNEWS: Legislature has ho-hum year — so far
By Bill Davis, senior editor | Digging into this year’s legislative session was like sitting down to eat your favorite hoagie and noticing the cooks skimped on a few key ingredients. The three biggest...
View ArticleTOP FIVE: On education, nuclear fuel, interstates, renters and poverty fixes
Here are five stories you might have missed for the week ending July 1, 2016: State issues report on education fixes (so far); Arguments heard in nuclear fuel lawsuit; State's interstates are sixth...
View ArticleNEWS: When skill sets don’t match workforce requirements
By Lindsay Street, contributing correspondent | The state’s top educators say all the elements are in place for creating a South Carolina workforce that matches the labor market, but there’s still a...
View ArticleTOP FIVE: On education reform, conservative academy, DSS, more
Here are five top stories that could impact S.C. that you might have missed: A Connecticut judge's ruling on education reform; a secret weapon for conservatives, DSS and tracking; understaffed prisons...
View ArticleNEWS: Spearman gets a passing grade
By Bill Davis, senior editor | State Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman is getting praise from all corners for the job she’s done to rebuild the state Department of Education. Spearman began...
View ArticleLETTERS: Legislature needs to act on education
Bessie Wright, Orangeburg: "What does this say about our state when it values prison over education? What does that say about our state when it sets our children up to fail instead of being successful?...
View ArticleRICHARD: What will help rural schools?
By Alan Richard, republished from Chalkbeat.org with permission | Rural and small-town voters helped Donald Trump win the White House last month. Some of those voters are now counting on him to bring...
View ArticleNEWS: Shorter session may imperil second-tier issues
By Bill Davis, senior editor | State Rep. Bruce Bannister (R-Greenville) said this week that no issue has flooded his email inbox more than a proposal this year to allow teachers to carry guns “since...
View ArticleNEWS: A look back yields a look forward
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | A look back at Statehouse Report’s news coverage in 2016 gives a pretty good primer of challenges that lawmakers will continue to face in 2017: * How to cover...
View ArticleTOP FIVE: On protectionism, lawsuit, courts, education and corruption
Our weekly Top Five feature offers big stories or views from the past week with policy and legislative implications. This week: protectionism, disability lawsuit, courts, education and corruption
View ArticleBRIEFS: From plastic bags to education policy and Fritz Hollings
Staff reports | Who knew there was a “plastic bag lobby?” But there apparently is, according to environmental activists who are trying to thwart an effort to limit local governments’ abilities to make...
View ArticleBRACK: South Carolina needs to stop shooting itself in the foot
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | There’s some high-fiving going on in Columbia as state lawmakers are pushing through measures to raise the gas tax and fix the state employees’ pension system....
View ArticleBRACK: State continues to underfund public education
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher| There’s a bunch of money in the proposed House version of the state budget for education, but it’s still not what the law requires. South Carolina has a funding...
View Article
