Sen. Peeler 2007 Public Servant of the Year | S.C. Chamber of Commerce honors local dairyman

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You could say that Sen. Harvey Peeler has milked his image for all it’s worth. Even after 27 years in the state Legislature, he still remembers his first time running for public office, a seat on the Cherokee County Council.

“Being in the milk business, everyone knew me, and I knew everyone,” Peeler said. “We used to deliver glass bottles of milk on people’s doorsteps. Many customers left their houses unlocked so we could go right in and place the bottles directly in the refrigerator. People generally didn’t lock their doors back then.”

Peeler’s tall stature and friendly disposition - along with the giant fiberglass cow that traveled with him on the campaign trail - were impossible to miss.

“Yup, this cow has gotten me lots of votes,” the senator chuckled.

Peeler won that county council seat and served for four years until 1980, when he seized on the opportunity to run for the District 14 seat in the state Senate. He was elected and continues to serve. He was named Senate Majority Leader in 2005.

When he’s not sorting through compelling political affairs in the General Assembly, Peeler remains a dairy man, through and through. While maintaining a herd of beef cattle on his picturesque Gaffney farm, he actually keeps his dairy herd in Newberry, where their milk is processed, pasteurized, bottled, and shipped.

“I love every bit of this job, from District 14 to Columbia and back,” he gushed. “I love being able to accomplish things, seeing things start and watching them through to completion, just by being part of that. I love knowing I have done the best I could do with what I have.”

Keeping a balance between work and family is a priority for Peeler, and he credits his wife, Donna, a school nurse, for keeping things in check. The couple first met back in high school, but the attraction was not reciprocal at first.

“I remember it just like it was yesterday. Love hit me like a lightning bolt,” Peeler recalled. “She was in the cafeteria line. I didn’t know her and asked who she was. I was told she was the ‘new’ girl at school. Well, I got up and left my cheese sandwich and soup and went right up to where she was standing in line, and I said, ‘Do you believe in love at first sight?’”

“‘No!’ she had retorted adamantly.

“I had to work on her for a while,” he said, sighing. They married when Peeler was a junior at Clemson.

Peeler is well aware of the sacrifices that spouses of those in public life must make.

“She has raised good children,” he said of his wife. “You have to have good support back home to do this. The more seniority you have, the more time it demands.”

‘Put it in Gaffnese’

Peeler sometimes finds himself frustrated at the sluggish pace of government. Issues take on a complexity that, at times, rivals quantum physics, so he relies on an excellent staff and others to help translate much of the legal or bureaucratic language.

“I tell them to put it in ‘Gaffnese’ so I can understand it,” he quipped. “In business or politics, you must surround yourself with good people. I am smart enough to know that I need smarter people around me. I have been blessed since my very first time in office to have a good staff. It really makes a difference.”

Peeler believes that to be successful in politics is like being successful in business.

“If we ran government like a business, government would run better,” he said. “You need to sell the milk in the most cost-effective way possible. You have to have a good product and a good sales force to sell that product - and your ideas.”

That’s true in politics and in business, and Peeler is quite the entrepreneur. In fact, he invented his dairy operation’s Vend-a-Moo milk vending machines, which are conveniently located throughout Gaffney. Customers can drive up and purchase gallon containers of milk in varieties of whole, low-fat, skim, and chocolate.

“It’s the next best thing to home delivery,” Peeler said proudly. “It’s fast, fresh, cold, and convenient.”

While overseeing a dairy business or keeping tabs on cattle herds has its trials, keeping order and striving for unity in the Senate presents a whole new dimension for Peeler.

“It is a challenge sometimes to be majority leader and trying to herd all these cats,” he said. “It takes patience, and that is one thing that I don’t have. That is tough when it comes to legislation. I just naturally want to fix things quickly.”

Looking ahead to 2008, Peeler anticipates that several issues not resolved in 2007 will be resurrected, including the cigarette tax, funding for roads, and immigration issues. Upcoming elections will create additional pressures and, perhaps, a few unexpected obstacles.

“Next year is an election year. The House and Senate both are up for election,” Peeler said. “We need rules of engagement for the governor and the General Assembly. The state and the presidential elections will be on peoples’ minds.

“One of the key topics next year will be the relationship between the executive branch and the legislative branch. I think it ended with the treasurer’s race. There is still some turmoil with that.”

Peeler is forthright in addressing questions about his and his colleagues’ differences with Gov. Mark Sanford.

“The governor is different. I have served under many governors, and it is a challenge working under Gov. Sanford,” he admitted. “As majority leader of the Senate, I am required to be more active in things and interact with the Governor’s Office. Sometimes I have to be more constrained. In light of his talents and those of the majority party, we need to work more closely together. We could accomplish so much more.”

Peeler said that the difference between the executive and legislative branches of government can be measured in the level of compromise observed. He believes that the legislative branch lives and breathes compromise, whereas the executive branch does not compromise at all. Nonetheless, many of their goals are the same, and that is particularly frustrating.

“The Sanford administration is like a chainsaw without a chain,” Peeler said. “It is making a lot of noise but not getting the job done. I want to help the governor put the chain back in the saw. What he is saying obviously resonates with the people of South Carolina.”

Even though workers’ compensation reform passed the Legislature in 2007, advocates said some sought-after measures didn’t make it into the final legislation, details that undoubtedly will see continued debate in 2008. Not included in the final bill was a measure to require reasonable adherence to American Medical Association (AMA) impairment guidelines as part of their formula for determining permanent disability awards, a detail that can save businesses $72 million in workers’ compensation costs annually.

Even though Gov. Sanford signed an executive order on Sept. 20 requiring workers’ compensation commissioners to restrict awards commensurate with the AMA guidelines, commissioners challenged the executive order, saying it will not prompt them to change their current practices.

“I have always been a great supporter and have had a great working relationship with the South Carolina Chamber,” Peeler said. “That is why I took on the responsibility of uniting forces for comprehensive workers’ compensation in South Carolina. I hear around my district and also from big business about the need for meaningful workers compensation reform, and I agree. I supported workers comp not just because it was my philosophy but also because my constituents wanted it.

“No one wants to hurt the injured worker. We wanted to protect the worker, and that was foremost in the Chamber’s mind and the minds of employers, large and small. But the cost of workers’ compensation insurance was absolutely out of hand. There was a great deal of debate. It is a very emotional issue for a lot of people.”

In addition to more sparring over workers compensation policy, Peeler predicts highway funding will continue to perplex lawmakers. He does not anticipate a gas tax increase, however, in order to fund roadway and bridge maintenance. That will require a more innovative funding approach. He also anticipates long-awaited passage of the cigarette tax.

“I think the cigarette tax will pass,” he said. “The great debate will be how much and what to do with the money. Common sense says it should go to health care, but I don’t think it will withstand the governor’s veto pen. For many of us, it must be revenue neutral.”

Because immigration reform received so much attention this year and failed to pass in Congress, there is strong political pressure to pass legislation at the state level.

“There is no doubt that immigration is a federal issue,” Peeler said. “There is a great deal of pressure to do something. Polling shows it is the No. 1 issue in South Carolina, above health care and education. It is unbelievable how prevalent it is. They want us to do something; they just don’t know what.”

Peeler said he and his colleagues in the General Assembly are looking at what other states are doing, particularly controversial legislation passed by the state of Georgia last year. Under Georgia’s law, residents seeking state social welfare benefits must prove their legal status, and police must check the legal status of anyone they arrest and alert federal authorities of any violations found. Opponents say it is too harsh.

For better or worse, Palmetto State lawmakers will take action on immigration in 2008.

“It is political physics,” he explained. “If you have action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. The feds will put the onus on the state, and the state will put the onus on business and industry. … I think something will pass in 2008, but there is just no magic wand. Immigration will take a long time to fully resolve.”

Peeler winces when he reads mean-spirited blog entries suggesting that state lawmakers are not honorable.

“There is still honor in what we are doing. Just because I don’t agree with the way you go about something doesn’t mean that you or I are not honorable people,” he said. “I want to reassure the people of South Carolina that there is still honor in the Legislature.”

When asked about whether he might be thinking about retirement after nearly three decades of service, Peeler is reticent.

“When I first walked into the Senate chamber, it took my breath away. It still does,” he said. “When that sense of wonder goes away, then I will stop.”

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