Just this week the Transparency and Integrity in Education Act passed the House Education and Public Works K-12 Subcommittee. Education Committee Chairwoman Shannon Erickson is predicting this bill, H.3728, will be in full committee next week. H.3728 will ensure that our public education system is a fair and open system where instruction is non-biased. It includes a broad scope of history. I especially like that our bill does NOT create extra work for teachers, but ensures that we have a transparency policy for teachers, parents, and students to maintain high quality education that is not clouded on bias. As this bill makes its way through full committee, I will keep you informed as it is my top priority to protect the future generation! 

 

I was disappointed with the ruling from the South Carolina Supreme Court earlier this month that declared our state’s “Heartbeat Bill” unconstitutional. Republican leaders reacted quickly and sent H.3774 to the House Judiciary Constitutional Laws Subcommittee. Our goal is to preserve life and to produce the best pro-life legislation South Carolina has ever seen. Our bill will have exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother with explicit language that life begins at conception. We expect to be voting on this bill on the floor within two weeks. As the bill moves through full committee and to the House for debate, I will be sure to send updates.

We made progress in the House this week on an urgent bill that increases penalties for trafficking fentanyl. Also, a House Subcommittee started the important work on bond reform that will stop the revolving door that allows repeat offenders back out on the streets. This concern was among the top ones named by our local law enforcement when I met with them, and I will do everything possible to make sure we have tough laws that are enforceable to back their efforts.

This week I joined the Military Caucus, where we focus on issues pertinent to our military families and veterans. In our first meeting, we elected officers and heard an excellent update from Adjutant General R. Van McCarty. His comprehensive presentation touched on everything from current deployments from our state, remodeling and refurbishing of armories throughout SC, and various budgetary requests. Attending these meetings will allow me to stay better informed on issues that affect not only our military and veteran families but also the safety of all of our citizens.

Recently you may have heard that a new and improved plan for the I-526 intersection with Long Point Road had been released that seems to potentially solve some of the major concerns of neighborhoods in the surrounding area. This plan was partly due to a meeting called by a group of neighbors including engineers to propose a better alternative. Both myself and Representative Mark Smith attended the meeting, and Joy Riley, the SC DOT Director in charge of this project was there with her team. It was great to see that effort by the community rewarded. Earlier we were told that the "no left turn" possibility was eliminated, and while Joy Riley is no longer on the project, this week I was assured by the interim spokesperson that they will do their very best to honor that since they know it is one of the primary concerns of the surrounding neighborhoods. He said the plan would be "reintroduced" to the public with the updates within the next month.  

Meanwhile, for those in the Highway 41 corridor, you may be wondering what has been happening. After Charleston County Council voted on the highly controversial "Road to Compromise," the engineers were working on a number of details before submitting the application to the US Army Corps of Engineers. That was supposed to occur last August, but has not happened yet. With the Laurel Hill Parkway still part of the plan, which I firmly believe is a huge environmental loss as well as an enormous cost, I asked for a meeting with the County engineers back in December. Herb Sass, who is now Chairman of Charleston County Council, arranged this meeting. My purpose was to better understand why this "bypass" which does not bypass the Phillips Community but rather Bessemer Road, was so necessary to the success of the plan. The numbers used to justify its need were very high, especially for additional traffic coming out of Park West and Dunes West by the year 2045. After an hour of discussions, I was still unconvinced and asked to see the data. Several weeks later, I received it, and now am even more convinced that the very high projections of growth in our neighborhoods that are almost entirely built out are too aggressive. Without those high numbers, the Laurel Hill Parkway portion might not be necessary nor justified. I initially sent the data to the Dunes West and Park West POA Boards. This information has now been forwarded to Chairman Sass and Vice-Chair Jenny Honeycutt for consideration. In case we still don't hear anything soon, I will do my best to keep you updated on this.