Pension plan shortfall demands attention

It definitely doesn’t get the attention it deserves, but it’s among the most severe financial problems facing South Carolina today: The state retiree pension plan is underfunded by a whopping $25 billion.
It definitely doesn’t get the attention it deserves, but it’s among the most severe financial problems facing South Carolina today: The state retiree pension plan is underfunded by a whopping $25 billion.
To hear White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki tell it, the United States can reduce the world’s energy dependence on Russia by installing solar panels and perhaps re-insulating homes.
The start of the new year is an ideal time to rethink what it means to live a healthy life, as many embark on their resolutions for the year, like quitting tobacco.
Having left inflation unchecked for so long, the challenge now for the White House and the Federal Reserve Board is keeping soaring prices from overwhelming family budgets without triggering a recession. It’s a delicate balance. Are they up to the challenge?
So far, the president’s actions don’t inspire much confidence.
Last Friday, President Joe Biden visited Pittsburgh to tout his $1 trillion infrastructure law – just hours after a 50-year-old bridge there collapsed while a municipal bus and several cars were on it, resulting in injuries though no deaths.
The S.C. Legislature convened for session this week, renewing calls to fix South Carolina’s dated and uncompetitive tax structure. This focus comes as our northern neighbor passed a significant tax cut last year, with Georgia making a smaller cut, making the Palmetto State’s years of inaction even more baffling.
In unveiling his fiscal 2022-23 state budget this week, Gov. Henry McMaster proposed using $660 million in federal coronavirus-relief money to begin construction of Interstate 73 toward Myrtle Beach and widening I-26 between Columbia and Charleston.
One Saturday a month, hundreds of folks from across the state come together at sites in Charleston, Columbia and Greenville for a day of military-style training drills.
The pandemic has changed America in many ways, and one major change is the migration from states that locked down their economies and schools the most to those that kept them largely open.
We all have room to improve, and there’s something about a new, blank calendar that motivates us to do so. That’s why many of us recently made resolutions to better ourselves in some way -- perhaps to exercise more or kick a bad habit.
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