The Issues

Look for Future Web Casts outlining details of the following issues:

• The State Budget:
  • The major task of the Legislative Session will be to pass a prioritized budget that allocates funds to our most vital state agencies and departments that directly impact the people of South Carolina. There will be tough decisions that will have to be made in this bad budget year. The goal is to do no more harm than has already been done.
• Jobs and Employment:
  • In a state where we have had record unemployment we must find ways to encourage and produce jobs for the people of South Carolina. Putting people back to work has to be a primary goal of each elected official. It is our job as leaders who have been elected to represent our respective districts and communities to help create job opportunities for our constituents. We have started this process with the securing of Boeing Airlines to SC. Now we must improve the coordination and the effectiveness of our unemployment and workforce development programs. It’s pointless to have these programs if we can’t get people to new jobs. Additionally, we also need to help our small businesses in South Carolina. We have to remove the burdens on these businesses and provide them better incentives to expand and create more jobs in our state.
• Transparency & Accountability:
• There is an old saying in church, “What is done in the dark must come to the light”. This saying is fitting for what needs to happen in our state government. There are too many things that happen each day of the legislative session that most citizens never find out about until long after its over. We must have more transparency and accountability in our government. I have always been a strong proponent of shining the light on our government process so citizens can know about the decisions we make and how we vote on the issues. I am proud to say that I co-sponsored and voted for a rule change in 2009 that requires more on the record voting but many votes are still done anonymously and are never recorded, particularly on the committee level. That’s right, we can’t go online and see how our legislators vote in committee meetings. As you would assume, there are several votes that happen long before a bill gets to the floor of the House of Representatives and I think its important to see the entire voting record.