Like this quote, State Sen. Majority Leader Harvey Peeler said he has always held fast in his political life to keeping his focus on helping children, elderly and the downtrodden in society who cannot help themselves.

Peeler received the Legislator of the Year award Tuesday in the Cherokee County Public Library from the South Carolina Association of Children’s Homes and Family Services. He is being honored for sponsoring an education bill of rights for foster children. It was signed into law by Gov. Mark Sanford on June 7.

Surrounded by his family and local lawmakers, Peeler said he was humbled and deeply appreciative to be honored with the award. “This is the easiest legislation I have ever been able to pass. The support was universal,” Peeler said. “When Judy Nix (from the Cherokee Children’s Home) called to ask if I would sponsor this bill, the answer was yes. On behalf of those who give love to children and those who receive it, I accept this award.”

South Carolina averages more than 5,000 children in foster care each month. Seventy percent are school-age children.
The South Carolina Association of Children’s Homes is a nonprofit organization which serves as an advocate in providing family services for abused and neglected children.

Peeler’s education bill of rights law requires school districts to assist with enrollment, school records and credit transfers for children in foster care who are starting a new school. The new law requires school districts excuse student absences for court-ordered appearances and treatment services for foster children.

A representative from the state Department of Social Services can now access school records of a child in foster care to monitor his or her education progress and help place a child in a new school.

South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Karen Floyd wrote a letter to commend Peeler for his work in sponsoring the bill. Floyd and her husband, Gordan, are the parents of adopted teenage boys.

“We’ve seen what kids go through as they transition from foster care to adoption. It’s one of the toughest situations a child can go through and the last thing these kids need is government getting in the way or making a tough situation even tougher,” Floyd wrote in her letter. “This bill shows exactly what compassionate conservatism means. We can help so many kids by removing restrictions and hard rules that punish them for situations way beyond their control.”

By Scott Powell, “The Gaffney Ledger”

The streamlining commission will first be tasked with identifying the “core” functions of state government, as required by the South Carolina Constitution.  The commission will be further instructed to quantify an adequate amount that should be appropriated to ensure the functioning of the core aspects of state government prior to funding any other programs.  These other programs shall be delineated as “discretionary.”   The commission shall also investigate each “discretionary” program within state government to determine what is being spent, for what purpose the monies are being spent, what goals are being accomplished, and whether the state should be providing that service, or if there is a more cost-efficient private sector alternative to continued state activity.  The commission will use a zero based budgeting technique to make recommendations on what should be funded in the discretionary areas.

Senator McConnell said “it is vitally important that we undertake this review as soon as possible.”  “It is time to make hard choices about how money is being budgeted.  We cannot continue business as usual in Columbia.  Not all programs are equally important and they cannot be funded the same.  We must determine priorities for the limited dollars available.  It is important for us to find every chance for savings and efficiency possible in state government, implement those now, and see if, in some cases, government programs should be privatized.”

Governor Mark Sanford today signed that 24-hour abortion waiting period bill, legislation that South Carolina’s State Senators made a top priority in the 2009-2010 legislation session.  The bill was passed in the closing hours of the 2010 legislative session, and was pushed by Conference Committee Chairman Kevin Bryant.

Senator Bryant released the following statement upon the bill’s signing today:

“I supported and fought for this legislation for one simple reason. An unborn child is a person just like you and me. We must do what we can in South Carolina to recognize and cement the rights of the unborn, and this law is another step in that journey.

The timing of this ceremony is appropriate inasmuch as we very recently suffered the confirmation of Elena Kagan to the US Supreme Court. Justice Kagan will spend the next few decades denying unborn children their constitutional rights. This issue is most important to me when I vote for justices to the South Carolina Supreme Court.

I would also like to commend Governor Sanford for standing up for the unborn child, and thank the countless pro-life activists  and crisis center volunteers who stood with us during the legislative debate.”

DETAILS – H. 3245 – 24 Hour

Requires a woman to certify the she has received printed materials produced by DHEC 24 hours prior to an abortion.

Materials include:

- List of healthcare providers offering free ultrasounds

- Plainly worded explanation of how to determine gestational age of fetus

- Role of genetics in reproduction

- Forms for certifying you have seen the material

Materials may be printed from DHEC’s website – or requested to be mailed to the woman.

“I believe life is sacred, and in the debate over when life begins, I think we as a society should always err on the side of life,” Gov. Sanford said. “Given current federal law, I think it’s imperative that a decision of this magnitude only be made with the fullest and most accurate knowledge available. It’s our hope and expectation that this new law results in a substantial decrease in the number of abortions carried out in South Carolina. Accordingly, I’d give credit to Sen.
Kevin Bryant on the legislative side, and on the ‘grassroots’ side I’d thank Oran Smith of the Palmetto Family Council, Lisa Van Riper of SC Citizens for Life, Alexia Newman here at the Carolina Pregnancy Center, and a host of others for the work they put into this.”

“This legislation requires 24 hours to expand the amount of information that is being considered before a very important decision concerning the life of a child is made,” Senator and Chairman of the Conference Committee Kevin Bryant said. “I’d thank those in the legislature and concerned citizens throughout the community for helping push this effort, and in the same light thank the Governor for signing this significant legislation that further recognizes the
sanctity of life for all.”

In the United States, about a quarter of all pregnancies end in abortion, while in South Carolina around 10 percent of pregnancies end in abortion.

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.”