Your Voice In Columbia

As many are saying the political “noise” is at a high pitch with political attack ads filling our television screens and our radio airwaves. Hopefully, each of us is paying close attention to the real issues and has the perseverance to sort through the accusations and determine which candidates deserve your support.

School has begun, football cheers take wing in the air, a little crispness in the breeze can be felt now and energy soars toward what the future holds for all of us.
I pray for our peace and civility in these days of unrest all over the world. Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world.”

South Carolina lawmakers were busy during this past legislative session. Listed are the issues that were undertaken:

Reading is one of the most wonderful gifts we have been given, and it will help you in all other things you learn in life. If you cannot read well and comprehend the content, truly it is hard to learn anything else in life.

With the summer in full swing, the State House Committee (on which I serve) has voted to offer Saturday tours beginning July 12. I want to encourage each of you to take advantage of “the people’s house.” With the newly offered Saturday tours, the tour office will be able to better accommodate the schedules of all visitors.

Now that the 120th legislative session has come to a close, the following are some of the highlights of the session. Some of these issues made it to the finish line, while some died. This means that in January 2015, we will file again many of these items and file new legislation for the two-year session.

The final week of the legislative session–since die week or “without days”–always provides a flurry of activity as legislators and senators scramble to get important legislation complete.

This week the 120th regular legislative session comes to an end. We’ll return June 17th to finalize the state budget, if it goes to conference. Otherwise, we will address any vetoes that the Governor might render. With adjournment looming, the race is on to beat the end-of-session deadline.