On August 16th in a Rock Hill school gymnasium, Governor McMaster signed into law the first in the South 6 Weeks Paid Family Leave for Teachers Act. Although I was not able to attend the ceremonial signing in person, this bill struck a personal chord for me. This year I have been honored to serve on the Education & Public Works Committee as well as the K-12 Subcommittee. We looked for every opportunity to bring the best possible education to the children of South Carolina. One of the most effective ways to do this is to recruit and retain the best teachers for our students. My Mom was a schoolteacher for 24 years and a working Mom. I was also a working Mom, and only took 6 weeks off with each of my children. With what was at that time a commission-only job, taking time off not only meant no income, it could also mean losing clients. So I had to take calls from home (decades before the pandemic made working from home commonplace), and return as quickly as possible to the office. It is with that personal experience in mind that I was very happy to vote to support our teachers having 6 weeks of paid parental leave. This was one of several important steps we took this year for teachers, and there is much more to be done. Education is the key to success for our children, and we can't do this without great teachers!

On Tuesday, August 22nd, Pastor Jeff Lingerfelt of the Capitol Ambassadors met with Representatives Mark Smith, Tom Hartnett, Jr. and myself to discuss a very exciting upcoming event here in the Lowcountry. Pastor Lingerfelt hosts a weekly Bible study for all House Members and staff on Wednesday mornings during Session. I learned fairly quickly that this 30 minutes to an hour was a great opportunity to learn and be energized for facing whatever might come up during that week's session. Early in the 125th Session, Capitol Ambassadors presented every Freshman House Member with a beautiful Bible. Capitol Ambassadors is holding a fishing tournament here in Mount Pleasant on October 11 at the Shem Creek Boardwalk as a fundraiser to continue the work of helping legislators learn from the lessons of thousands of years of history and staying grounded in God's Word. Details are available in the graphic below.

On Monday, August 7th, the Charleston County Election Board held a ceremony and ribbon cutting for their brand new Election headquarters. Transitioning from a 15,000 sq ft warehouse building to a 40,000 sq ft corporate location in just 4 months was no small feat. I joined several fellow State House members along with other elected officials as we heard remarks from County Council Chairman Herb Sass, Elections Board Chair Christie Varnado, Executive Director Isaac Cramer & others. This new expanded facility will allow for much easier voter registration, early voting, candidacy filing, and more. In addition to the roomier spaces, there is plenty of parking. On display during the presentation was a trophy won by Charleston County for their excellent processes during the 2022 election.

Everyone has been wondering what is happening regarding the US Army Corps of Engineers permit application for the Highway 41 project. When I last updated you, I let you know that there was a huge response of emails and letters to the Corps requesting that they leave the Laurel Hill Parkway out of the plan. We have been waiting for word from the Corps of a public hearing. I check the website regularly, and as of today, the Corps has not yet announced the hearing. Supposedly, with the amount of outcry from the public against part of this plan, there will almost certainly be a public hearing. Meanwhile, an update was posted on Wednesday this past week on the Hwy41SC.com site by the Charleston County Engineers which mentioned only that the public comments are being reviewed and will be responded to by the USACE. It has a link to the permit application notice, which can be accessed here. Note on the third page that part of the mitigation of filling in substantial wetlands right near homes in our area will be to purchase "credits" from mitigation banks created in Berkeley County off Hwy 176 and the other on Wadmalaw Island. While this practice is fairly common, it demonstrates how far afield from Mount Pleasant they have to go to get enough credits to allow this project. 

A Mount Pleasant resident called me over a month ago to let me know that the drainage ditches all along his road off of Coleman Boulevard were backing up and overflowing during rainstorms. He apologized because he didn't think he was in my District and hated to bother me with this. I promised to do my best to help. After confirming that this road in the heart of Mount Pleasant was considered a state road, I reached out to my contact with SCDOT. Within just a few weeks, SCDOT had sent a crew out to Vincent Street to clear out the ditches so they could drain properly. The gentleman thanked me for the quick follow-up. As I mentioned at the beginning of this newsletter, don't hesitate to let me know your concerns even if you don't live in District 80. If necessary, I'll reach out to my fellow House Member in your District so we get the problem solved.

Thank you for your continued interest and support. Please let anyone you know who would like to be kept informed of what is going on in South Carolina, and especially in Mount Pleasant that they can sign up for this newsletter by submitting their names and email addresses at www.KathyLanding.com. We also keep an archive of past newsletters on the website. 

Have a wonderful Labor Day Weekend!

Kathy

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Representative Kathy Landing

South Carolina State House District 80