State House District 124: Health care, public education among Barb Nash’s top issues

“We must focus on access to health care and expand Medicaid,” says Barb Nash.

Nash, an advanced practice registered nurse and adjunct faculty at USC Beaufort is running as a Democrat for the S.C. House of Representatives in District 124 in the Nov 8 election.

She has her RN degree from Christ Hospital School of Nursing, and a master’s degree and bachelors of science in nursing from Ohio State University.

She has never held public office but ran for District 124 in 2020.

The Island Packet sent questionnaires to all candidates in contested races. Candidates were asked to hold their responses to 150 words per question.

Here are Nash’s answers:

What are your top issues this campaign?

1. Improving access to health care in South Carolina through the expansion of Medicaid, increasing primary care providers by removing barriers to advanced practice nurses, and improving women’s health care, including women having access to legal and safe abortions without restrictions.

2. Safer communities by providing law enforcement with the support they need and augmenting them with the resources required to deal with the problems they face in today’s world. Implementing gun sense safety laws and closing the Charleston loophole.

3. Fully funding public education and providing a robust public education to all children so they are prepared to live their best lives, and improving working conditions and pay for teachers.

4. Combating climate change threats to the Lowcountr.

5. Protecting our voting rights by removing arbitrary barriers.

6. Passing a hate crime bill.

What issues affecting the district will be addressed in the next legislative session?

The 2023 legislative session in South Carolina needs to complete unfinished business from 2022 and address new initiatives. Budget and spending are a concern as the new tax cut goes into effect, and the legislators must determine the revenue available to fund needed social programs, infrastructure, and education.

Hopefully, we will realize full funding of public education and reform that allows teachers to do their job without wasting time on bureaucratic functions. South Carolina is one of two states without a hate crime bill and I anticipate that this legislation will be reintroduced and finally enacted.

We must focus on access to health care and expand Medicaid so people who currently risk financial ruin will be assured a safety net.

Should the state use public money to create educational scholarship accounts to allow parents to send their children to private schools?

All children deserve access to a robust, quality public education. Private schools have a place in our state, but public money (taxpayer dollars) should not be used to fund them in any manner. If private schools have an endowment, they are free to offer scholarships from their own funds. Instead, we need to fully fund public education from universal pre-K through 12, which we have never done. We have teacher flight in South Carolina as between 5,000 and 7,000 teachers leave each year.

We need to recruit the best teachers we can find, pay them well, improve the facilities they work in, reduce class size and provide broadband access throughout the state. Siphoning public money for private schools contributes to the continued decline in the public education system and keeps South Carolina ranked 46th in education in the nation. Our children deserve better!

Should SC ban abortion? What exceptions, if any, should there be for an abortion ban?

Abortion is a health-care procedure that is performed for a variety of reasons and should never be banned or restricted in any way. Criminalization and restrictive laws on abortion prevents health-care providers from doing their job properly and from providing the best care options for their patients, in line with good medical practice and their professional ethical responsibilities. Pregnancy is complicated and fetal development is not always a smooth and perfect process. Abortion bans actually endanger health care for those not seeking abortions, such as women experiencing an ectopic pregnancy or a miscarriage and bans are a slippery slope to banning some forms of birth control.

For women denied an abortion household poverty increases and often struggles for housing, food and escape from abuse follows. Bans do not stop abortions. They just make them less safe and more women die. Women deserve the right to body autonomy without government interference.

Also on the ballot for voters in Beaufort County is the green space sales tax referendum. Do you support the statewide effort to fund conservation efforts with sales taxes?

Yes, I support funding the conservation of green spaces as long as the money goes for its intended purpose. We need to preserve areas that will remain undisturbed and contribute to the quality of life in the county. This proposal is an example of a true bi-partisan initiative that benefits not only our county but also our state.

Is there anything that can be done at the state level to address the affordable housing shortage in the Lowcountry?

The South Carolina Code of Laws Title 31- Housing and Redevelopment, Chapter 22, Section 31-22-10 (B) addresses affordable housing. However, the purpose of the chapter is to authorize a local government to individually or jointly create and operate a local housing trust fund or regional housing trust fund to promote the development of affordable housing. Recently eight cities and towns and counties ... have signed on to put in $10 million in the next 10 years toward finding and building affordable and workforce housing across the area. This example of cooperation and coordination is an excellent start, but it still requires land, money, and developers to come together to build truly affordable housing for our families and our workers.

On the state level, measures can be adopted through the tax system to provide incentives to developers, but also to provide tax credits to prospective homeowners. For example, in South Carolina, the allocation of state low-income housing tax credits is restricted below what we are allowed at the federal level. We could also initiate a state base renter’s assistance program to help young families with their housing needs. We need a willingness to work together — the state, counties and local municipalities — to solve this problem.