Recent editorials from South Carolina newspapers:
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Jan. 25
The Post and Courier of Charleston on the confirmation of Nikki Haley as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations:
So now they are Ambassador Nikki Haley and Gov. Henry McMaster. Congratulations are due both, particularly Mrs. Haley, who dispelled doubts about her ability to handle the Cabinet-level position by her straightforward testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Her nomination as ambassador to the United Nations received the committee’s endorsement, and the overwhelming confirmation by the full Senate.
As Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., said Tuesday, “What Governor Haley lacks in foreign policy and international affairs experience, she makes up for in capability, intelligence, and a track record of building coalitions in South Carolina.”
Indeed, despite her lack of diplomatic experience, Mrs. Haley brings a lot to her new job. There’s a reason for her meteoric political rise that began just 11 years ago as a junior Republican legislator who wasn’t afraid to take on the legislative power brokers over a simple matter of ensuring that lawmakers’ votes were on the record.
It was a test of transparency and accountability, and Mrs. Haley ultimately won out and the Legislature made the change. In taking on the issue, she demonstrated her mettle to the voters who elected her in the ensuing race for governor.
In that office, she demonstrated the same strength of character as she followed through on her campaign promises of economic development and fiscal accountability.
During her six years as governor, she wasn’t afraid to tangle with the Legislature if warranted. And she was able to use her considerable powers of persuasion in the successful effort to bring down the Confederate flag from the Statehouse grounds.
Ambassador Haley’s straightforward approach and her toughness will serve her well at the United Nations, where a strong voice for America’s interests is essential.
As Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., said Tuesday, Mrs. Haley’s “amazing leadership during very trying times in South Carolina” have prepared her for the challenges she will face at the U.N. “She is the type of visionary leader that will help turn the diplomatic tide of the past years,” he said.
Later Tuesday, Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster took over as South Carolina’s 117th governor, being sworn in according to the constitutional rules of succession. Mr. McMaster, a former two-term attorney general, has a commendable record of public service: fighting political corruption, environmental crimes, animal cruelty and prosecuting domestic abuse.
In 2012-13, he served as co-chairman of a committee named by Gov. Haley to address the need for ethics reform, and in that role helped produce a comprehensive plan that was far better than what the Legislature finally approved.
And who will replace Mr. McMaster? Certainly not Sen. Hugh Leatherman, who decided to quit his position as S.C. Senate president pro tempore shortly before the U.S. Senate vote on Mrs. Haley.
The longtime Florence Republican was in line for the lieutenant governor’s office, when he resigned as Senate president, saying he had no interest in statewide office.
Sen. Kevin Bryant, R-Anderson, is expected to be elected president pro tempore, and soon move up as lieutenant governor.
The next nominees for governor will be able to select their running mates for the first time ever under a constitutional change approved by the voters in 2012.
Sen. Leatherman is expected to seek re-election as Senate president after Mr. Bryant moves up. The Senate should take the opportunity to deny Mr. Leatherman the position considering his unwillingness to assume the lieutenant governor’s position as the state constitution instructs. Mr. Leatherman already serves in a variety of legislative positions that make him, at 85, the most powerful politician in the state.
South Carolina has produced exemplary leaders in Ambassador Nikki Haley and Gov. Henry McMaster. And there should be no shortage of able senators to choose from as the next Senate president.
Online:
https://www.postandcourier.com/
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Jan. 24
The Aiken Standard on Rep. Chris Corley’s resignation:
We took no comfort in calling for former Rep. Chris Corley’s resignation earlier this month, but in announcing his intentions to step down, Corley made the right move for residents living in S.C. House District 84.
Corley, 36, of Graniteville, is facing felony charges relating to a domestic dispute in late 2016. On Dec. 27, he was arrested after an altercation in which his wife was beaten and threatened with a gun, according to police records.
Corley was suspended from office Jan. 4, but he didn’t officially step down until Tuesday afternoon, moments before efforts to expel him from the S.C. House of Representatives could be completed.
“I have received and accepted Rep. Chris Corley’s letter of resignation,” House Speaker Jay Lucas, R-Hartsville, said in a statement.
“The South Carolina Constitution clearly states that the House of Representatives has the sole authority to expel one of its members for disorderly conduct,” the statement said. “Even though I prepared a resolution calling for his removal, I am grateful that the House did not have to take such extraordinary measures and expel Rep. Corley from this Institution.”
We couldn’t agree more. Expulsion is an extremely rare and humiliating step, though deserved in the most extreme of circumstances. Rather than pontificate as to whether expulsion was warranted in Corley’s case, we’re simply glad he negated that scenario by stepping down.
We are concerned he waited until the last minute to resign. With every passing day, it further delayed meaningful representation in the House for nearly 40,000 residents. As it stands, the special election to fill Corley’s vacant seat is May 30, toward the end of this year’s legislative session.
District 84 is vast, encompassing virtually all of the Midland Valley area, including Graniteville, Warrenville, Clearwater and eastern parts of North Augusta. Those folks deserve a voice in Columbia.
S.C. Rep. Bill Hixon, R-North Augusta, is correct when he points out that residents still have representation through any other member of the Aiken County Legislative Delegation. But because voters turned out to elect Corley in 2012 and re-elect him in 2016, the circumstances of Corley’s departure risks disenfranchising the voters who turned out to support him.
We were also glad to see state lawmakers, with relative swiftness, call for Corley’s resignation. Among them were S.C. Sen. Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, S.C. Rep. Bill Taylor, R-Aiken, and Hixon.
Corley’s departure presents a tremendous opportunity for residents in District 84. We hope more candidates will put their names out there; and, ultimately, we look forward to welcoming Aiken County’s next House member.
Online:
https://www.aikenstandard.com/
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Jan. 22
The Herald-Journal of Spartanburg on road work in the state:
A working and safe road system is crucial to the future of this state.
We are all used to hearing hyperbole as bureaucrats ask for more money for their programs, but a state engineer may have set a new record as he appealed to the Transportation Commission last week.
“It would be safer for me to send my kids to war at the peak of conflict” than for them to drive on S.C. roads, state traffic engineer Tony Fallaw told state Transportation Department commissioners Thursday, according to The State newspaper.
This is, of course, nonsense. Fallaw was trying to make his point by noting that more people died in traffic incidents in South Carolina last year than the nation lost in any single year of either of the conflicts in Iraq or Afghanistan.
The comparison is specious. There are many more Americans driving on South Carolina roads than fighting in overseas wars. And no one truly believes that Fallaw’s children would be safer if sent to a war zone so they’d be off the state’s roads.
But his exaggeration should not obscure the truth of the genuine need for road work in this state. South Carolina’s roads are more dangerous because of the lack of maintenance and improvement.
A working and safe road system is crucial to the future of this state. It is critical to our economic development. We cannot afford the economic cost and the cost in lives of not properly maintaining and improving our transportation system.
Improving our roads is expensive. The Transportation Department has estimated it needs an extra $943 million a year to maintain the state’s roads properly.
And our roads need a stable source of funds for continuous maintenance. Part of the reason our road system is in trouble now is because of deferred maintenance. During recent periods of economic downturn, lawmakers saved money by cutting road funding.
Deferred maintenance accumulates and leads to additional deterioration of roads, making the overall problem of catching up on road maintenance worse.
State lawmakers need to devise a steady source of revenue that covers road needs each year. That way, once the state’s highway system is in good shape, another recession won’t cause years of deferred maintenance that put the state behind again.
This is why House GOP leaders introduced a proposal to raise the state’s 16.75-cent per gallon gasoline tax by 10 cents over five years. Such an increase, devoted to road improvement, would provide the stable stream of funding needed to make real progress on the state’s transportation infrastructure.
The Palmetto State’s gasoline tax is the second lowest in the nation, and the S.C. Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office estimates that about a third of the tax is paid by residents of other states traveling through South Carolina.
Lawmakers need to give the proposal serious consideration. Whether it is a gasoline tax or some other stream of funding, a stable, steady method of paying for road repair and improvement is a necessity.
Online:
https://www.goupstate.com/
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