Your SC politics briefing
Welcome to your weekly South Carolina politics briefing, a newsletter curated by The State’s politics and government team.
Happy Friday. We’re almost in August, and to remind you that means we’re three months from the November elections.
Tonight, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy is in town to speak at the SC Republican Party’s annual fundraiser. Saturday, Republicans will gather again in Columbia for convention weekend — allowed under their rules since they took a recess because of COVID-19.
McMaster says current abortion exceptions are reasonable
When the draft Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade leaked, Gov. Henry McMaster said he didn’t want any exceptions in an abortion ban. But in recent weeks his stance has developed more nuance.
As lawmakers debate whether put further restrictions on abortion in the state, McMaster said he wants a reasonable bill even saying the four exceptions in the heartbeat bill, protecting the life of the mother, rape, incest and fetal anomaly, were good reasonable exceptions.
But McMaster said he wants to reach a day when abortion isn’t even needed.
“What I’m hoping (is) one day ... nobody in our state will feel the need or want an abortion,” McMaster told reporters outside of the State Election Commission office on Wednesday. “I think we need to emphasize the things that we need to do for women and for families before, during and after pregnancy.”
▪ Read more: South Carolina’s six-week abortion law will stay in effect for now after a judge denied a request to temporarily block the ban, punting the ultimate decision to the state’s highest court.
McMaster, Cunningham spar over gay marriage
McMaster on Wednesday also called efforts in Washington to codify same-sex marriage a distraction by Democrats.
“I think the Democratic side, led by President Biden, are going off the cliff. I think they’re desperate for some issues,” McMaster said. “I think the Democrats, the left are just trying to dream up things to distract from the failures of the Biden administration.”
Democratic nominee for governor Joe Cunningham has been critical of McMaster’s stances on gay marriage and critical of opponents of the Respect for Marriage Act, which the U.S. House passed last week.
“Radical South Carolina politicians are hellbent on taking away as many freedoms as possible,” Cunningham said in a statement. “While they claim they want to ‘leave decisions to the states,’ they know full well that a repeal of Obergefell would reinstate our constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and invalidate thousands of existing marriages in South Carolina.”
▪ Read more: U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham says states, not Congress, should make the decision on whether same-sex marriage should be legal within their borders.
Columbia business fears
It’s no secret Columbia Mayor Daniel Rickenmann wants to spur economic development in the city and his efforts include removing barriers for businesses to open up. He and councilmember Joe Taylor are looking to remove parking requirements for small buildings and some landscaping requirements for building renovations.
But neighborhood groups worry less off-street parking will make streets look like parking lots and conservationists worry fewer landscaping requirements will increase urban flooding and worsen heat islands.
That worry comes as neighborhoods near downtown already are seeing increased traffic from new housing.
Taylor dismisses those concerns.
“I don’t think the amount of what we’re talking about here is relative to any issue that exists,” he said. “If you want buildings renovated, if you want property improved, you make it easier for people to do it, not more difficult and not more expensive.”
South Carolina man dies in Ukraine
The war in Ukraine hit home for the Myrtle Beach community.
Luke “Skywalker” Lucyszyn, 31, died in Ukraine after he went to his grandmother’s homeland to serve as a medic for the Ukrainian military. He went overseas to help people, his mother said, after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Lucyszyn, 31, was shot by a Russian tank following an artillery strike that left him unconscious.
“He was pretty confident he wouldn’t be coming back,” Lucyszyn’s friend Trey Kober said in an interview with The Sun News. “He sent us a serious message that said he was being sent to the front lines to relieve a platoon that had been there for a long time, and he basically just told us, ‘I’m not coming back from this. This is it.’”
Buzz Bites
▪ A federal magistrate judge set a $500,000 bond for former top Hampton banker Russell Laffitte, who is alleged to have helped disbarred attorney Alex Murdaugh steal millions of dollars using Laffitte’s bank. Laffitte has pleaded not guilty.
▪ Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette will again be Gov. Henry McMaster’s running mate after she filed to run on the joint ticket.
▪ Joe Cunningham says he wants to see a large Democratic field of presidential candidates in 2024.
▪ The South Carolina Education Association endorsed Democrat Lisa Ellis for state superintendent of education.
▪ Former House Majority Leader Gary Simrill is joining Winthrop University to work in the president’s office.
▪ A South Carolina man charged in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot is back in the hot seat after federal prosecutors say the man’s cellphone included 80 Nazi and white supremacist images, according to a government sentencing memorandum in the case.
▪ Are you looking forward to the income tax rebate later this year? Here’s how the Department of Revenue plans to distribute that money.
▪ Rena Haley, the daughter of Nikki Haley, is engaged, the former South Carolina governor announced.
▪ A condemned killer on South Carolina’s death row deserves a new sentencing trial after a judge failed to “consider” all favorable evidence for him in the case, a majority of the federal 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled.
▪ Lawyers of homeowners who wanted to keep sandbags outside of their coast line properties helped write a research proposal used to keep the sandbags in place.
▪ A stench that has fouled the air in the Carolinas near Charlotte has sparked a lawsuit that accuses a paper mill of not getting a pollution permit and of shutting down a key piece of equipment that was vital to controlling odors.
▪ Adair Ford Boroughs was officially sworn in this week to become South Carolina’s new U.S. attorney. The Midlands-area attorney was nominated by President Joe Biden to succeed former Rep. Peter McCoy, who stepped down after the Trump administration.
Mark your calendar
July 29
House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy will headline the SC GOP’s Silver Elephant dinner
July 30
South Carolina Republican Party Convention in Columbia
Aug. 1
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Joe Cunningham to announce lieutenant governor running mate in Greenville
Aug. 15-19
SC House Judiciary Committee expected to meet to debate anti-abortion bill
Nov. 8
Election Day
Before we adjourn
It’s not uncommon that legislators miss days of session, or even skip votes.
Sometimes they’re out sick, at work or want to avoid difficult votes.
Other times they’re apparently hungover.
This month, Live 5 News sought to find how many days of work at the State House legislators miss and which lawmaker misses work the most, finding lawmakers face little to no consequences for missing days.
Several of the lawmakers they spoke to missed sessions days due to health reasons. Others didn’t respond.
One lawmaker decided to take the blunt road: state Rep. Justin Bamberg was simply recovering from a night of drinking, telling the news station that one day he “woke up with a 1999-style hangover.”
Coincidentally, state Rep. Joe Bustos (no relation to this week’s newsletter curator) had perfect attendance. He’s usually in the chamber early.
Who pulled together this week’s newsletter?
This week it was reporter Joseph Bustos, a member of The State’s government and politics team. Keep up with him on Twitter @JoeBReporteror send him story tips at jbustos@thestate.com. To stay on top of South Carolina politics and election news, you can chat with us on Facebook, email us tips and follow our stories at scpolitics.com.
