SC Business Magazine | Wes Hayes 2006 Public Servant of the Year

2006 Public Servant of the Year
Robert Wesley Wes Hayes, Jr.

By Kristine Hartvigsen | 2007 SC Business Magazine

While Sen. Wes Hayes doesn’t work on Wall Street, he nonetheless knows a good investment when he sees one. Take education, for instance.

The research is pretty clear that money invested in the early childhood years is money well spent, Sen. Hayes said. It is where you can have the biggest impact on a child’s future success in the classroom. Brain development is phenomenal in those years, and to go back later and try to correct it is often more expensive and less successful.

In addition to the 2006 opinion in the school equity funding lawsuit, Hayes credited business groups for garnering needed attention to early childhood education by incorporating it into their recent agendas. Businesses, he said, were instrumental in garnering support for the passage of funding for a pilot 4-year-old kindergarten program.

Posted May 30, 2007 by scsenategop

Wes Hayes named SC Chamber of Commerce 2006 Servant of the Year

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Posted May 30, 2007 by scsenategop

Ritchie says state must tighten immigration laws

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From The Spartanburg Herald Journal

May 30, 2007
By ROBERT W. DALTON, Staff Writer

COLUMBIA - State Sen. Jim Ritchie said Tuesday that South Carolina could become a Southeastern haven for illegal immigrants if it doesn’t act quickly to pass stronger laws.

With just five days remaining in this year’s session, Gov. Mark Sanford joined Ritchie, R-Spartanburg, and several other lawmakers in calling on the Legislature to approve a bill aimed at addressing the issue.

“Unless South Carolina acts now, it will be nearly a year before we can address the issue again,” Ritchie said. “We can’t afford to wait.”

Posted May 30, 2007 by scsenategop