It is truly hard to believe that summer is gone and September is over as well. I hope everyone enjoyed a great, albeit very warm, summer. Despite being out of regular session, I continued to have a number of committee responsibilities that required trips to Columbia as well as the Upstate. There are more and more critical issues I am trying to address either by co-sponsoring bills that have already been filed, or preparing for the second year of session by pre-filing new bills myself. With this in mind, I would like to announce my candidacy for reelection for a second term in 2024. It will take more than just two years to accomplish some truly critical needs that I believe I can tackle and help solve. 

What do all these bills have in common? They all deal with some aspect of high school athletics. Let me tell you, if you don't have a teenager in school currently, the emotions are very high among many that do because of inequities in various programs, especially for division tournament play. Education Chair Shannon Erickson appointed me to the Ad Hoc High School Athletics Committee, and we met twice in September for several hours each time. The purpose is to review all the above bills, hear testimony from the public, and then consolidate these 6 bills into one comprehensive bill that addresses all the concerns. There are two bills that specifically deal with topics that seem less contentious. One is eliminating the one-year waiting period for children who become home-schooled. The second is allowing private school students to play for their home public school team if it is a sport that doesn't have enough students to field a team. Both of these bills seem very logical, and that they might pass if the bill were up for a vote right away. The rest of the bills address the issue of certain schools seeming to have an advantage in attracting student athletes easier than a traditional school, yet playing in lower divisions. Many schools have forfeited games rather than play schools that are substantially stronger. I have made multiple calls and will continue to research this to help our committee craft the best possible bill to solve the problems.

After one of the Ad Hoc committee meetings, I was able to schedule a full hour with State Superintendent of Education, Ellen Weaver. We discussed a number of pertinent topics, one of which was the bill above, one of my first two proposed. This bill came about by request of the American Heritage Association here in Charleston. I took the draft their President Brett Barry sent to me, modified it somewhat, and had our research team turn it into a true proposal. In reviewing the possibility of her support for this bill, Ellen told me that the Social Studies Standards portion of the annual reviews will be coming up soon. She said that while she agreed with all of the points in the bill and already intends to use its precepts with her own appointments to the Standards Committee, this was a great way to codify this topic so that future Superintendents would know the rules and be required to follow them.

Earlier in September, the Republican Caucus met up in Greenville for 2 days to discuss strategy and priorities for next year. For the record, this was not taxpayer-funded; rather, we paid for our own room and most meals as well as transportation. Each of the current committee Chairs stood up and outlined their top agenda items to begin in January. Among the highlights were plans to work on reform bills both for the Judicial Merit Selection Committee as well as the Judicial Election Process, banning "gender affirming care" for children as well as being sure that parents are always informed of their children's concerns and any healthcare issues, closing primary elections, Drug Induced Homicide (to fight back even harder against dealers who peddle fentanyl), Joint and Several Liability Reform (which we have now learned likely needs to include modifying the current 2017 liquor license liability insurance requirement), continuing to cut our budget and lower the state income tax rate, get the Integrity & Transparency in Education bill across the finish line (which we passed but the Senate changed so much that no agreement was reached), and many others. I believe one key is not to waste so much time on useless amendments (in one case 1000 or more!) designed to make a point, or worse, purposely delay a vote. Your time and taxpayer dollars should be better utilized for us to get the work done.

Most cities and towns, including Mount Pleasant will be holding municipal elections on Tuesday, November 7th. This election is so important, yet in the last Municipal election, barely 15% of our population voted! Although Municipal elections are thought to be non-partisan, we learned through the pandemic that all elected positions are partisan now. Even if someone tries to stick to the purview of zoning and permitting, there will be others who drag partisanship into Council. Please do your homework, and vote for candidates you have researched to be truly conservative. If you live in Mt. Pleasant, please also consider voting for candidates from the north end of town. Two candidates who both live in the north end of Mount Pleasant and are strong conservatives are Shari Sebuck and Perry Rourk. Over half the population lives north of the connector, yet this end of town is often underrepresented. Why? Because this end of town tends not to show up for the Municipal elections! This may be due to all our POA's and HOA's that prohibit yard signs, and some neighborhoods that prohibit doorknocking. Many people simply don't realize when elections are or who to vote for. Please tell your neighbors and friends. One last important point is, that while it is our duty to vote, and our right to vote for as many candidates as we are allowed (4), it is a mistake to vote for someone if you don't know anything about them. Just because you've heard his or her name does not mean they will represent your interests or share your values. Please keep this in mind, and if you aren't sure, just vote for the ones about whom you are reasonably confident.

Last week, Roy Neal's El Jefe Restaurant on King Street hosted a campaign fundraiser for Carl Ritchie for Sheriff. Councilman & long-time former MPPD Chief Ritchie gave a powerful, compelling presentation on why he is absolutely ready Day 1 to take over the helm as Sheriff of Charleston County. Joe & I were delighted to participate in this event. Having lived in Mt. Pleasant for nearly 20 years, we know and greatly appreciate how much this gentleman has done to protect our citizens. Combine his 30+ years on the force with his many years serving our nation in the military, as well as his common sense, and you have the perfect formula to win this seat back for conservative values to uphold the rule of law and stop crime in Charleston County. Being at El Jefe reminded me of May 2020, when I arrived on King Street on a Sunday morning at 8:15am. and was cleaning up glass right in front of this restaurant. If it weren't for Chief Ritchie the night before, the damage would have been much worse. The protestors were determined to cross the bridge to Mt. Pleasant, and Chief Ritchie commanded his force to form a human wall blockading the bridge. Charleston County needs that kind of leadership & determination!