Wednesday, May 22, 2013
But Democrats say she's not sincere.
In a Statehouse press conference on Tuesday, Gov. Nikki Haley called on the Senate to pass ethics legislation approved in the House earlier this month. Haley was joined at the press conference by the co-chairs of the Ethics Reform Commission, Travis Medlock and Henry McMaster as well as Attorney General Alan Wilson. “We have the blueprint. We need the eagerness and the will,” Haley said. The governor said that after the budget is approved she is hoping that ethics can be passed. She also is optimistic the Department of Administration legislation she’s been pushing for three years will finally become law. Haley rejected the notion that legislature can’t do more than one big thing per session. “At what point can we do multiple things in a …
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
The youngster was on a field trip from New Providence Elementary School.
After being peppered with questions about ethics legislation and the budget, Gov. Nikki Haley fielded a question from a visiting member of the press corps... The question came from a student from New Providence Elementary School in Lexington visiting the Statehouse on a class trip (she got an assist from Andrew Shain of The State). Keep up with all of Patch's coverage of South Carolina politics by following us on Facebook HERE and Twitter HERE.
Monday, May 20, 2013
Gov. Haley's husband Michael was deployed in January.
Governor Nikki Haley's husband Michael has returned home for two weeks of leave from his deployment in Afghanistan, the governor's office said on Monday. The First Gentleman was deployed on January 10 for a tour of 11 months and his leave was granted by his commanding officers. Two weeks is a customary amount of time for leave for a soldier in Haley's position. As a result of her husband's return, the governor cleared her public schedule for the week, including a scheduled speech in Mount Pleasant on Monday morning.
Latest controversy has legislators split.
Last week the state airplane became a source of controversy yet again. Democrats accused Gov. Nikki Haley of misusing the state plane and the governor's staff provided documentation that she had not. The Democrats countered by saying that even if the governor had not violated the letter of the law, she had violated it in spirit. The state senate then spent much of an afternoon debating whether or not the Budget Control Board should look into simply selling the planes. As has been noted before, just about any part of the state can be reached in a few hours by car and the state could always charter a plane when it was absolutely necessary. Selling the two planes the state owns would probably net the state a significant windfall. The two …
Friday, May 17, 2013
Biggest month-to-month drop in 25 years.
The unemployment rate in South Carolina fell from 8.4 percent in March to 8.0 in April, according to the latest report from the Department of Employment and Workforce. The month-to-month decrease is the largest since May of 1987 and the overall unemployment rate is now the lowest it's been since October 2008. Since April 2012 more than 26,000 jobs have been added to South Carolina's economy. All 46 counties added jobs in the last month and three counties--Charleston, Greenville and Lexington--now have unemployment rates below 6 percent. Four counties saw their rates drop a full point since March--Marion, Horry, Barnwell and York. "This drop in unemployment is yet another piece of great news for South Carolina," said Governor Nikki Haley…
Thursday, May 16, 2013
But Haley said the charges are baseless and use of plane was approved by State Ethics Commission.
UPDATED: 4:45 p.m. The state planes are once again a source of controversy. After Democrats accused Gov. Nikki Haley of using a state plane to transport a videographer for political purposes, the spokesman for the governor said she violated no ethics laws. Rob Godfrey, citing Cathy Hazlewood of the State Ethics Commission in a February email, said, “A videographer is a legitimate expense for the Governor’s office, so it is also a legitimate expense to be paid from her campaign funds pursuant to 8-13-1348(A).” Sen. Joel Lourie (D-Richland) who was one of four Democrats at a Statehouse press conference on Thursday morning, said that though Haley may not be in violation of the letter of the law, she was breaking the spirit of it. Lourie …
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Measure had bi-partisan support.
Rob Godfrey, the spokesman for Gov. Nikki Haley, told Patch on Thursday that she will sign the so-called "Boland Bill" that came out of the legislature. The bill was borne out of an incident at Charleston's Ashley Hall School in February when Alice Boland pointed a gun a school officials. The gun did not go off. It was later learned that Boland had been adjudicated as mentally ill and had threatened to kill George W. Bush. The legislation received bi-partisan support in both chambers. It passed the House 87-0 (with 34 members not voting) and the Senate 35-6. The only six votes against the bill were by Republicans: Lee Bright, Kevin Bryant, Tom Corbin, Larry Grooms, Shane Martin and Danny Verdin. Attorney General Alan Wilson was an early …
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Movement Fund makes first ad buy.
UPDATED: The comments of Tim Pearson were added after initial publication. Even though a potential rematch against Democrat Vincent Sheheen is 18 months away, the first campaign ad of Gov. Nikki Haley's re-election bid is set to hit South Carolina airwaves net week, according to an article in Politico. The ad is paid for by The Movement Fund, a PAC that supports the governor and has raised over $500,000. The ads will appear in Charleston, Greenville and Myrtle Beach television markets at a cost estimated to be $130,000. They arrive before Haley has confirmed she'll seek a second term, although she has set up fundraising teams across the state. Tim Pearson, Haley's Senior Advisor told Patch, "The Movement Fund ads will be asking the public…
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Numerous years in the making, residents will ultimately decide the matter.
The long-running question over whether to allow non-profits to sell raffle tickets for fundraising purposes will be decided by voters in November 2014. A resolution will be put before the electorate as a result of a measure passed last week it. Gov. Nikki Haley has until today to veto, sign or pass on the bill. Based on her comments on Tuesday a veto seems unlikely. “You can’t go wrong when you let the people decide,” Haley said. “This is letting the people decide whether they want to let churches to do it. It closes a loophole that’s been there for a long time.” Only a veto by Haley would prevent the matter from going before voters. If voters approved the measure, churches and schools could conduct a limited number of raffles. According …
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
With 2014 elections looming, and both facing challengers, the two SC political leaders are heading in opposite directions.
The Winthrop Poll released its April figures on Wednesday morning, showing how South Carolina residents feel about their political leaders, national leaders and the country in general. Two candidates who face 2014 election opposition find themselves going in opposite directions. Gov. Nikki Haley saw her overall approval rise 1 percentage point to 43.5 percent from the February poll. Among Republicans and those who lean GOP, it rose to 69 percent from 66.8. Haley's spokesman Rob Godfrey told Patch: “While the ups and downs of poll numbers are interesting to many political observers, Gov. Haley pays much more attention to South Carolina's jobs numbers, and she is thrilled that they are growing by the thousands.” U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, …
Galen Manapat
8:15 pm on Wednesday, May 22, 2013
South Carolina desparately needs ethics reform. more ›