This week, your SC House took action on three of those four items.

The most important item was our economic development bill that was approved in committee this week and will be on the House floor next week. This bill has one goal: to create jobs. To do that, the legislation includes several tax and regulation changes businesses told us are necessary to help them create jobs.

The chief reform in the bill is the elimination of the corporate income tax. Eliminating that tax will entice more companies to locate here. Unfortunately, we don’t have the wiggle room in our state budget right now to eliminate it in one year, so it phases out over 10 years. We did accelerate that for any company that moves its headquarters here by including a provision that will immediately eliminate the corporate income tax for those companies. In addition, we broadened the definitions of what companies can qualify so that knowledge-based businesses have an equal footing with manufacturers.

We also approved a sweeping reform of the Employment Security Commission just three weeks after an audit that revealed widespread mismanagement. Included in the reforms approved Wednesday include creating a new Department of the Workforce in the governor’s cabinet, and moving several workforce and unemployment responsibilities from the ESC and the Department of Commerce to the new agency. The legislation also abolishes the board of the ESC and puts an executive director in charge.

The audit, released at the end of January, showed the ESC did not warn the General Assembly that the unemployment system was running out of money and that the agency did not properly investigate mismanagement – among many other findings. >From 2000 until today, the Unemployment Trust Fund plummeted from an $835 million surplus to an $800 million deficit. Noteworthy is that this is the second ESC reform bill to be approved by the House this year. The first was a series of procedural reforms that included restricting state payments to employees fired for gross misconduct or drug use and restricting claims by employers who cost the system more than they contribute.

Our actions this week are more examples of how we are moving quickly to reform government once problems are discovered.

In regards to election law, we shed more sunlight on campaigns and elections by approving a major expansion of online campaign finance reporting. Now, all local officials must file their campaign disclosures online – so anybody can see exactly who is funding their campaigns and what they are spending money on. Currently, only state-level candidates are required to file online. This bill is all about transparency and allowing the voters to see who is funding campaigns at all levels. With the technology available today, there is no reason that local candidates shouldn’t follow the same online reporting requirements that state officials follow.

In regards to our specific area issues, the proposed shopping mall incentive bill is sitting in Senate committee but members of the Senate are working hard to have it pulled to the floor “on special order.” Special orders are usually reserved for vital statewide bills like the recent property tax debate or the potential cigarette tax debate which we may see next week. Since I still have not received answers to questions I’ve posed to them regarding their business plan, I urge you to contact our Senators and let them know how you feel about this incentive package but also to share with them that there are much more important issues than this for “special order.”

Link to Senator list:
Senators

If you want to read more about the issue:
Issues

On the education front, I’m awaiting debate on the SC Public Charter School bill that will strengthen the public charter school options for our children and I have authored a bill allowing school districts the option of planning their school calendar with any start and end date they wish and the opportunity of configuring attendance based on hours, not number of days in school. Currently, the state requires 180 days at 6.5 hours of instruction per day. My bill would allow 1170 instructional hours in any arrangement they feel would best benefit the children and community they serve. My goal is that our schools will get more and more flexibility to manage themselves for the optimal learning of the children and for districts to have available cost-saving options.

The next week is set to be grueling with at least three Labor, Commerce and Industry meetings and several budget hearings with Ways & Means mixed in. Quite honestly, the budget process this year looks to be intense and painful. With more and more deficits, we’re tightening our belts in more and more ways, just as I know you all are having to do at home. We must hold down spending and we’re dedicated to doing just that.

As always, thank you for the privilege of serving you in Columbia. If I can ever be of assistance to you, or if you have ideas on issues you want me to share with the rest of the General Assembly, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Here if you need me,
Shannon

erickson4@charter.net
shannonerickson@schouse.gov
843-263-1867.