South Carolina Senate Republican Caucus

Republican Senate District 10 Candidate Dee Compton joined Governor Mark Sanford at a press conference Wednesday supporting a roll call mandate in the state legislature. The press conference was held at the State House. Sanford expressed his support for the proposed roll call legislation.

In August, Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell (R-Charleston) and Representative Nikki Haley (R-Lexington) announced their intentions to introduce a bill in both legislative chambers that would require roll call votes. Specifically, the legislation would require roll call votes on matters that significantly impact tax payers or benefit legislators personally or professionally or that spend money. Read the rest of this entry »

Governor: Recording members’ votes would keep public better informed

Gov. Mark Sanford used a statewide flyaround Wednesday to drum up public support for a bill that would force the 170 General Assembly members to cast recorded votes.

Citing the nation’s current credit-financial crisis, Sanford said, “If there had been transparency, many of the problems we’re dealing with could have been avoided.”

South Carolina legislators rarely vote on the record, Sanford said, so the state’s taxpayers have little idea how their lawmakers vote, especially on funding issues. Read the rest of this entry »

The leader of the South Carolina Senate says the state needs a comprehensive energy plan.

Walhalla Sen. Thomas Alexander said his State Regulation of Public Utilities Review Committee is excited and ready to go to work to make that happen.

Alexander said Monday the committee would begin work within a week, hoping to have recommendations ready by the end of the year.

Charleston Sen. Glenn McConnell wrote Alexander’s committee, outlining challenges the state faces. The president pro tem of the Senate said South Carolina faces problems that go well beyond $4 per gallon gasoline prices and double-digit increases in wholesale power costs prompted by coal prices. Read the rest of this entry »

MCCONNELL CALLS FOR COMMITTEE TO STUDY ENERGY

With the energy crisis at its political and socioeconomic nadir, there have been a lot of great ideas floating around the forum of public debate lately.

It’s difficult to say which proposal is the best, and in 10 or 20 years I’m sure we’ll be doing a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking, but everyone agrees we must act now. Even the state legislature, lead by Sen. Glenn McConnell, who has requested that a joint legislative body provide members of both the General Assembly and the state’s Congressional delegation with a comprehensive overview of South Carolina’s energy resources.

“I believe responsibility lies with our General Assembly to conduct research, hold hearings, and act when it comes to policy that will put our state among a list of winners – both as to energy supply and environmental stewardship,” McConnell said in a press release Monday. “While the onset of $4 per gallon gasoline and double–digit increases in wholesale power costs caused by skyrocketing coal prices have moved ‘energy’ to front and center in the public’s mind, the challenge for our state is truly a long-term one. Read the rest of this entry »