PICKENS COUNTY, S.C. –

Sen. Larry Martin, a Republican who represents Pickens County in the state Senate, is home in Pickens after the 2009-10 legislative session ended in June. But Martin is already thinking about next session.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ve got a big job ahead of us,” said Martin.

Some of that work is aimed at what Martin called a “top priority” early in the next session when it comes to South Carolina’s crack down on illegal immigration.

“I believe that we do have the ability to make it a state law violation,” said Martin.

Right now, cracking down on illegal immigrants is in the hands of the federal government, something Martin said is a big problem for local and state law enforcement officers.

“They know when they make that call to the immigration folks, they’re not coming,” said Martin. “What we’re trying to do is set up a policy that discourages illegal or undocumented folks from coming to South Carolina.”

A bill that Martin said would have allowed local and state law enforcement to arrest a person in the state illegally died last session because lawmakers ran out of time.

Martin said he and other lawmakers are paying attention to what’s going on in Arizona, regarding that state’s controversial immigration law.

A federal judge put most of the law on hold this week, including sections that require immigrants to carry their papers and law officers to check on a person’s immigration status while enforcing other laws.

Martin said a similar bill will be reintroduced when lawmakers go back to Columbia in January. He said it will send a strong message to illegal immigrants.

In 2008, a law forcing businesses to verify all workers are documented passed in South Carolina.

Martin said that was the beginning of the crackdown on illegal immigration.

- Mandy Gaither, WYFF News 4 Reporter

Here in South Carolina, the Senate is committed to both fighting the overreaching from D.C. and standing up for the rule of law by passing our own illegal immigration bill. Just three years ago the SC General Assembly passed what newspapers called “the toughest immigration law in the nation.”  Unfortunately that plan was founded on federal immigration programs that Nancy Pelosi and her liberal regime have consistently threatened. Like failing to secure our borders, the federal government has dropped the ball on promise after promise.  

That’s why State Senator Larry Grooms filed an Arizona style immigration plan in the Senate last year and why, yesterday, Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell vowed to continue the push for an Arizona model in our state when the legislature returns in January.

On the day the court decision was handed down, McConnell said, “We see today’s decision as only the first step in an important legal struggle. This ruling will not deter me from continuing to work on this issue. I am committed to continuing full steam to have a bill ready for the Senate and for us to pass a stronger Arizona style immigration bill when we return in January.”

State Senator Larry Grooms weighed in on the subject as well: “The number one responsibility of government is to protect its citizens.  Because the federal government has failed miserably, the states took action to protect our borders,” Grooms says.  “With yesterday’s decision the feds have failed us twice.”

Many of the talking heads are saying that the ruling will place a chill on state efforts to properly enforce immigration policy. As of right now, there are 17 states pursuing legislation in the Arizona mold. One judge’s ruling in violation of states’ rights won’t deter state legislators from making the right move.

“We’re still early in the innings of a major legal contest,” Sen. Larry Martin said in The Washington Post this morning.

The judge’s decision isn’t the end for common sense immigration reform. It’s the beginning. Will you stand with the Senate in its fight against illegal immigration, even if it means taking on the federal government too?

Please click here now and give us your thoughts on how our state legislature should best deal with the illegal immigration problem plaguing our state.

- South Carolina Senate Republican Caucus

Majority Leader Harvey Peeler

“The number one responsibility of government is to protect its citizens.  Because the federal government failed miserably, the states took action to protect our borders,” Grooms says.  “With yesterday’s decision the feds have failed us twice.”

“A state’s police power is a basic right ensure community protection.  The Arizona bill was passed by a legislature elected by the people, for the protection of the people.  Like Arizona’s law, my bill is a reasonable, commonsense step and I’m moving as quickly as possible to reintroduce it in the upcoming session.  I won’t simply roll over and turn a blind eye toward the safety of our own back yard.”

Grooms, R-Bonneau, represents portions of Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton and Dorchester counties. A small business owner, he is chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee.

Charleston, SC – July 28, 2010 – Today South Carolina Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell vowed to push Arizona style immigration reform in the palmetto state, despite today’s judicial action by a federal judge.

“Like Arizona’s legislators, we are tired of Washington’s failure to act. We can’t rely on the federal government anymore. That’s why states are being forced to do whatever they can to fight illegal immigration. The federal government fiddles while Rome burns and then sues states who try to throw water on the flames,” Senator McConnell said.

He continued, “We see today’s decision as only the first step in an important legal struggle. This ruling will not deter me from continuing to work on this issue. I am committed to continuing full steam to have a bill ready for the Senate and for us to pass a stronger Arizona style immigration bill when we return in January.”

Headquartered in Dallas, Independent Pipe Products is a supplier of high-density polyethylene pipes. The company has opened its new operation in the former Performance Pipe building in Abbeville.

The company has committed to investing $9 million and creating 25 new jobs. The Abbeville operation will produce pipes for municipal water service, mining, oil patch, landfill and industrial markets on the East Coast.

“Independent Pipe Products’ decision to come to South Carolina is a compliment not only to our state’s pro-business environment but also to our work force,” Gov. Sanford said. “The new investment and jobs the company brings represent a solid gain for Abbeville County, and I’d express sincere thanks to Ron Hopton-Jones and his team at Independent Pipe Products Inc.”

Sanford also said 2010 could be a record-breaking year with regard to jobs and capital investment in South Carolina.

“In just the last several months we’ve made five 1,000-plus job announcements, and indeed going into this year we were already ranked first in job recruitment in the entire Southeast,” he said. “Boeing’s decision to land in North Charleston last fall marked the largest economic development announcement in state history, and only last week the German-based company ZF announced plans to invest $350 million and create 900 new jobs in Laurens County.”

Anderson Independent Mail

Posted July 26, 2010 at 6:39 p.m.

Tom Przybojewski, Vice-President of CFX, says, “South Carolina has done a better job than any state we’ve opened a factory in, in providing resources, and just feeling that you’re a part of a community.

The company currently has around 50 employees at its Greer site. The Governor’s office says the company will create 100 new jobs.

At the ceremony, Governor Mark Sanford said:

I think it’s a celebration of a neat small business that has a remarkable legacy in regard to quality of what they produce. But it’s also a celebration of BMW’s considerable presence in the world of automotive.

by William Christopher on July 26, 2010; “South Carolina Radio Network”

CHARLESTON — Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell wants to play Twenty Questions with the cash-strapped, state-owned tourist attraction at Patriots Point, and not one of them is a softball.

He’s got 19 inquiries, to be exact, all spelled out in a letter to the director of the Legislative Audit Council, an organization that conducts oversight evaluations of state agencies and programs when requested by legislators.

Five lawmakers must come together to get an audit, but McConnell and House Speaker Bobby Harrell, both Charleston Republicans, can make it happen with their requests alone.

Columbia , S.C. —  Gov. Mark Sanford, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, State Senator Hugh Leatherman and  Commerce Secretary Joe Taylor today praised Boeing’s announcement that it will locate its new 787 Dreamliner interiors  fabrication facility in N. Charleston, South Carolina, which will bring more than 150 new jobs to the South Carolina coast.

“Since Boeing announced it would put down roots in South Carolina last fall, we’ve had continual reminders of just how momentous that decision was for our state’s economy,” Gov. Sanford said.

The ‘ripple effect’

“Since last October we’ve seen a number of  aerospace-related companies choose South Carolina for new locations and expansions. The ‘ripple effect’ isn’t just  rhetoric it has real-world implications with regard to jobs and capital investment. The news that Boeing will use a North  Charleston facility to construct the interiors of the new Dreamliner, adding 150 new jobs, is the just the latest installment in  a larger narrative of great economic news. Once again we’d thank the leadership at Boeing and say how much we value  their presence in our state.”

‘Great news’

“This is great news,” said U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham.  “I truly appreciate Boeing’s continued investment in South  Carolina.  Our citizens have made a strong commitment to Boeing and they have in turn made a strong commitment to  South Carolina. We realize that the company’s success will reap benefits for the whole state.  I look forward to continuing  to work with Boeing in the years ahead.”

The new fabrication facility will be 10 miles (16 km) from Boeing’s 787 final assembly and delivery site in North  Charleston.

The close proximity of the two facilities will help improve the efficiency of the final assembly and delivery  process in South Carolina

“Today’s announcement related to Boeing interiors is another example of the strong relationship between Boeing and the  State of South Carolina.  When our team sealed the deal with Boeing last fall, we knew that the spin-off effects would be  monumental.  And, I anticipate there will be other announcements to follow,” said Sen. Hugh Leatherman, chairman  Senate Finance Committee.    

New jobs

The interiors fabrication facility is expected to create more than 150 new jobs.

“This investment marks another step forward for the state’s growing aerospace industry. By locating an interiors facility in  South Carolina, Boeing is committing to invest and create additional jobs in our state. The company’s announcement last  fall to locate final assembly here continues to produce exciting results for N. Charleston and for the entire state. As  investments by Boeing in South Carolina send a powerful message to the global marketplace that we have the strengths  and capabilities to produce world-class products,” said Joe Taylor, Secretary of Commerce.

Construction begins in fall

At the new facility, the Interiors Responsibility Center South Carolina team will manufacture 787 interior parts, including  stowbins, closets, partitions, class dividers, floor-mounted stowbins used by flight attendants, overhead flight-crew rests, overhead flight attendant crew rests, video-control stations and attendant modules.

Construction of the facility is expected  to begin in the fourth quarter of 2010.

More information: www.boeing.com/

In an effort to further grow South Carolina’s role in the aerospace industry, an economic development team, led by the  Department of Commerce, will be at the 2010 Farnborough International Airshow next week.

For more information visit  www.scccommerce.com/farnborough.

On the outskirts of Columbia, South Carolina’s capital, lies a rolling swathe of farmland where cattle graze, tomatoes sprout and razor wire glints in the afternoon sun. This well-tended campus is home to seven of the state’s 28 prisons, including both Broad River, where inmates sentenced to die are lethally injected or electrocuted, and Campbell, which houses prisoners on work-release, who spend their days at fast-food restaurants or laundries and return to their “dorms” to sleep.

Part of their earnings goes to repay the cost of jailing them. And it is a cost: from 1983 to 2008 spending on the state’s prisons increased more than sixfold, as its prison population rose from just over 9,000 to almost 25,000. That rise had several causes, among them the greater number of people imprisoned for non-violent crimes and the heavier sentences that came with new laws laying down mandatory minimum terms.

Another factor was the decision of South Carolina, like many states, to adopt statutes in the mid-1990s that said certain criminals had to serve 85% of their sentence before becoming eligible for parole. Those serving such sentences now account for 42% of the state’s total prison population. Not only do these inmates clog the system, they are also less likely to take advantage of vocational training or education in prison, and more likely to be put back behind bars after their release.

On June 2nd South Carolina joined a growing number of states trying to bring their growing prison population—and the associated costs—to heel by changing the way criminals are sentenced. The bill that Mark Sanford, South Carolina’s Republican governor, signed into law that day, after it sailed through the Republican-dominated legislature, allows non-violent drug offenders to be eligible for parole or probation rather than automatically being sent to prison. It requires drug offenders to pay a fine, which then goes to drug-treatment programmes.

It also improves post-release and parole supervision, easing prisoners’ transition from incarceration to the working world and ensuring that fewer prisoners will be locked up for non-criminal breaches of their parole. At the same time, it increases penalties for some violent offences. The Pew Center on the States, which helped the state’s sentencing-reform commission analyse data, believes this bill will save the state almost $250m in prison building and operating costs over the next five years.

Similar sentencing reform has taken hold in some unlikely places. Hang-’em-high Texas, by financing drug-treatment and mental-health services and improving post-release supervision, has dramatically slowed the rate of growth of its prison population. Mississippi has also avoided an expected increase by making non-violent prisoners eligible for parole after serving 25% rather than 85% of their time. The Pew Center is helping to draw up reforms in 22 states; the two most recent recruits are Arkansas and Indiana.

“The Economist”

July 22, 2010