COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - The latest on South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s sixth State of the State address, delivered Wednesday to the General Assembly:
8:40 p.m.
Gov. Nikki Haley had someone from each of the state’s 2015 tragedies in the audience.
There was the family of Walter Scott, the unarmed black motorist killed by a white officer now charged with murder in an April traffic stop in North Charleston.
Haley told her he appreciated their graciousness in a time of unimaginable sorrow and their call for calm after Scott’s death.
Haley also acknowledged the widow of Sen. Clementa Pinckney, the pastor killed along with eight others at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Jennifer Pinckney was among three people in the prayer study who survived.
The governor also thanked South Carolina National Guard commander Maj. Gen. Robert Livingston, state Emergency Management Director Kim Stenson and interim Department of Transportation Secretary Christy Hall for helping the state through the massive floods in October.
___
8:20 p.m.
Lawmakers were split on Gov. Nikki Haley’s surprise poll about which senators supported her ethics reform proposals at her State of the State address.
Pickens Republican Sen. Larry Martin was one of about a dozen senators who followed Haley’s request Wednesday to stand if they supported her ethics proposals.
Martin has pushed for Haley’s ideas, which include calls for greater disclosure of who pays lawmakers and for independent ethics investigations.
Senate President Hugh Leatherman laughed when asked about the governor’s actions, but told reporters they need to ask Haley if it was appropriate.
Columbia Democratic Rep. Todd Rutherford called it juvenile since senators didn’t have a chance to respond.
The House has passed Haley’s ethics proposals.
___was
7:50 p.m.
Democrats say if South Carolinians really want to improve their state, they need to stop voting for Republicans.
Rep. Mandy Powers Norrell of Lancaster gave the Democratic response Wednesday to Republican Gov. Nikki Haley’s State of the State address.
Powers Norrell says Haley has not made education funding a priority in her five years in office.
Powers Norrell says the governor is willing to give millions of dollars of incentives to out-of-state corporations for local plants but refused to ask for extra money to help farmers devastated by October’s floods.
She also said Democrats would have sent the governor a road funding bill in days.
Powers Norrell also says South Carolina is a much less healthy state because Haley and Republicans have refused to take federal money to expand Medicaid.
___
7:30 p.m.
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley gave a very public challenge to senators who she says have stopped her calls for ethics reforms.
During her State of the State speech Wednesday, Haley asked all senators who supported her calls for greater disclosure of who pays lawmakers and for independent ethics investigations of legislators to stand.
It was unclear how many senators stood as some uncomfortable shifting and murmuring could be heard in the House chamber.
After asking the senators to stand, Haley told the audience that the state can finally see what a vote on ethics reform in the Senate would look like.
The House has already approved the ethics reform Haley has asked for.
___
7:05 p.m.
Gov. Nikki Haley is outlining her plans to improve education in South Carolina and fight domestic violence in her State of the State address.
But Haley’s speech Wednesday also includes heartfelt reflections on 2015 - a year that she said thrust great challenges on South Carolina.
Haley says the state of the state is bent, but not broken.
She acknowledges the family of slain Sen. Clementa Pinckney in the audience. Pinckney was one of nine killed in June in what police said was a racially motivated shooting at an African-American Charleston church.
She also invited the family of Walter Scott, the unarmed black man gunned down in April during a traffic stop by a white officer now facing a murder charge.
For education, Haley wants to pay for college for teachers who go to poor, rural districts and spend money to improve buildings.
The governor also wants to add prosecutors to help try domestic violence cases faster.
___
3 p.m.
Gov. Nikki Haley will use her State of the State address to advocate her budget request aimed at combatting South Carolina’s dismal domestic violence statistics.
Haley is expected Wednesday to promote her $11 million budget request for hiring 144 prosecutors statewide.
The Republican governor said last week it’s immoral that police officers represent domestic violence survivors in magistrate’s court against high-paid defense attorneys. South Carolina is one of three states where that occurs.
Haley’s proposal includes moving those cases to general sessions court.
Solicitor David Pascoe praises the plan as a “big part of the solution.”
The Democrat says adding prosecutors will also address court backlogs. He says in his circuit of Orangeburg, Dorchester, and Calhoun counties, prosecutors’ average case load would drop from more than 400 to 300 yearly.
___
Associated Press writer Seanna Adcox contributed to this report.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.