SC Gov. McMaster targets $50K teacher pay, judicial transparency in 2nd inauguration speech

Gov. Henry McMaster marked his second inauguration address on Wednesday by calling for South Carolina teachers to earn at least $50,000 a year by 2026 and for more transparency in the selection of judges.

McMaster was sworn into office to begin his second full term Wednesday, after he won reelection in November with 58% of the vote, putting him on track to become the longest-serving governor in the state history. The 75-year-old Columbia Republican, who is South Carolina’s oldest-serving governor, first became governor in 2017 after then-Gov. Nikki Haley stepped down to join the Trump administration.

Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, who was sworn in also Wednesday and ran on a joint ticket with McMaster, swore in the other statewide elected officials, who included new state Superintendent of Education Ellen Weaver. Those watching underneath sunny skies — warmer than McMaster’s 2018 inauguration — included former Govs. Haley, Mark Sanford, Jim Hodges, David Beasley and Dick Riley, who turned 90 earlier this month.

“If we were at the famous Darlington raceway today, these early days of 2023 would be the moment we hold our breath just before the green flag is dropped,” McMaster said, opening his remarks after he was sworn in by state Supreme Court Justice John Kittredge. “Much history has been made here, and we are about to make some more.”

The governor’s push to increase starting pay for teachers to at least $50,000 in about three years comes as the state still reels from a growing teacher shortage and a few years after thousands of teachers and their supporters marched to the State House demanding better pay and working conditions.

In his executive budget rolled out last week, McMaster asked the General Assembly to spend enough money to give teachers a $2,500 raise, to bring the starting salary to $42,500 a year and to offer a $2,500 retention bonus for teachers. He’s also suggested lawmakers spend $20.3 million more for 4-year-old kindergarten and $25 million to let parents send their children to private school with public dollars.

“We must do whatever it takes to see that every child in our state has the opportunity to receive an excellent education,” McMaster said.

State Rep. Shannon Erickson, R-Beaufort, the new chairwoman of the House Education and Public Works Committee, said the governor should continue to be bold with his education initiatives in order to be transformative.

“He truly is looking at the life of the child, the education of the child and then the growth of the child into a productive citizen in the workforce,” Erickson said.

But it was McMaster’s request for more transparency in the judicial election process that drew the most applause, almost a week after the South Carolina Supreme Court last week unraveled the state’s six-week abortion ban, ruling 3-2 that it violated the state constitutional right to privacy.

On Wednesday, McMaster called for more transparency over the appointment of judges, who are vetted and elected by the General Assembly, not voters.

“We must also ensure that the public has confidence in whom and how all our judges are selected — by making the processes more transparent and accountable, so that every South Carolinian, born and unborn, may enjoy life, liberty and happiness,” McMaster said.

His comments were met with loud applause from many in the audience. Some Republican legislators, who control the Legislature, stood up.

“It was a very good line. I thought he handled it very well,” said Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, an attorney who at one point mulled challenging McMaster in 2022. “I think everybody understands what he was saying and he did it in a very professional way.”

Massey added, “Historically, our system has produced smart, capable, competent judges. But, historically, we have also not had the types of challenges that we’re seeing today. I do think the world is changing some and we need to adapt to that to ensure that the judiciary is reflective of where the people are.”

Another attorney, state Rep. Justin Bamberg, D-Bamberg, called McMaster’s speech non-polarizing — until the the line about judges. The judicial selection process, he said, is transparent.

“No system is perfect,” Bamberg said. “I think that the court did a very good job of handling what is a very contentious, a very emotional and a very personal issue for a lot of people in South Carolina. Would I have taken that jab at the court, with the only dissenting judge being the one who was sitting up there with me who swore me in? Absolutely not, but to each his own.”

A ‘booming economy’

McMaster’s 15-minute remarks resembled much of the priorities he called for in his first full term and on the campaign trail, repeating how the state never slowed down because of the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a “booming” economy.

Included in his more than 2,000-word speech, McMaster touted the state’s record economic investments and the tax cut he signed last year. The tax cut brought the top income tax rate from 7% to 6.5%, with a goal to further reduce it to 6% over the course of five years.

“For these reasons and more, our economy is flourishing and opportunities abound,” McMaster said.

The governor noted the state recently broke the record for largest economic deal twice in 2022 with the recent announcements of electric vehicle and battery makers.

“We’re on a roll, y’all,” McMaster said smiling.

McMaster on Wednesday spoke about the need for continued big investments in infrastructure to bolster the state’s economy.

In his budget proposal, McMaster has asked legislators to spend $500 million to fulfill financial commitments made by the state Department of Commerce that are part of large economic development deals, rather than the state having to borrow the money.

And he wants legislators to spend $200 million for roads, water and sewer at possible sites to spur company recruitment.

McMaster also wants $850 million for interstates, roads and bridges, including $300 million to build Interstate 73 to Myrtle Beach, and $380 million in rural water and sewer infrastructure work. To cover workforce shortages, he’s also asked the Legislature to spend $100 million more in financial aid for college students and $78 million in workforce development scholarships to train people for jobs in high-demand industries.

“We are setting our state on an accelerated path to compete globally for new jobs and future investment,” McMaster said.

The state, however, can’t have a thriving economy without protecting the environment, he said.

“They are complementary, intertwined, and inseparable, each dependent on the other,” he said. “Each can be accomplished to the fullest if we plan now and be bold.”

Protecting significant structures, monuments, islands and waterways from too much development, mismanagement, flooding, erosion and storm damage are imperative to the state, he said.

“This is our moment to act, while we still can,” McMaster said.

Next few years will be ‘crucial’ for SC, McMaster says

To accomplish his priorities, the governor will need buy in from the state Legislature, an easier feat for McMaster than his predecessors.

Top legislators on Wednesday indicated he may already have it.

“Governor, you are a source of stability and sound judgment in a rapidly changing world,” Senate President Thomas Alexander, R-Oconee, said. “Your door is always open, your leadership style of collaboration is a keystone of today’s success and tomorrow’s promise.”

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bruce Bannister, R-Greenville, told The State newspaper that McMaster needs to continue that collaboration with the General Assembly and listen to lawmakers’ concerns

“He’s been working with us so closely and so well, understanding our priorities, helping us understand his,” Bannister said. “When he says he’ll do something, he’ll do it, which gives us a comfort level to partner with him to get significant things done.”

State Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter said, however, said McMaster to ensure in his priorities that he’s thinking about all the areas of the state, not only the high population areas, saying millions of dollars more are needed for rural infrastructure.

The Orangeburg Democrat, who is the longest-serving House member, has been a proponent of the Biden administration’s Justice 40 initiative, which pushes certain federal agencies to direct 40% of their budgets to marginalized and disadvantaged communities to address long standing chronic illnesses. Cobb-Hunter said she wants South Carolina to do the same.

McMaster “needs to really forget the partisan rhetoric and look at ways that will transform all of South Carolina, especially rural South Carolina,” Cobb-Hunter said. “There’s nothing transformative about bringing more jobs to Greenville and Charleston. I’m not knocking it, but this trickle down theory doesn’t work.”

McMaster last week shared concern as he said South Carolina needs to take advantage of opportunities it has in front of it as more people move to the state and as more business comes in.

“These next few years, I think, will be crucial in determining the direction we go,” McMaster said. “There have been many great decisions made by various leaders and regular people in history that have brought us to this place. I want to be sure that, I think I speak for a whole lot of people when I say, ... we recognize opportunities that we have, we take the steps to ... live up to the potential that we have in this state.”