Not to sound alarmist, but the last time we saw Rep. Bill Sandifer – Chair of the Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee – jam a bill through LCI was in 2007, when the now-maligned Base Load Review Act went straight to the House floor with no public hearing, and cleared both the House and Senate in a record three days.

It is worth noting that Sandifer is also a Task Force Chair of the uber-business friendly American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

On Thursday, Sandifer introduced a bill (H-5045) to repeal the two sections of SC Code of Laws governing solar power. The bill is scheduled for a subcommittee hearing at 10am Tuesday, March 6. The bill – just one sentence long – would repeal Title 58 Chapter 39 and 40 of state laws passed in 2014.

Those utility-friendly laws allowed some solar power distribution by other than utilities and established a net metering system that gives utility credits to those who make more solar power than they can use. This was a small step forward, but South Carolina still has among the nation’s most restrictive solar laws.

No one knows what will take their place, but we are told an amended version of the laws will be introduced tomorrow morning. The new solar laws then go before the full LCI committee at 11:30 – before anyone has a chance to read them, much less study their implications.

When Circuit Court Judge Carmen Mullen hears arguments in the sentencing hearing of former Rep. Rick Quinn (R-Lexington) on Monday, she will also be considering who should pay to replace him in the legislature.

While Judge Mullen has the discretion to add the cost of the special election to Quinn’s sentence, a bill is pending in the legislature to require prosecutors to include the cost of special elections to their sentencing recommendations.

Quinn was indicted by the state grand jury last April for misappropriating $4 million over a number of years in office.

At a December hearing, Quinn pled guilty to one misdemeanor charge of failing to report a $28,000 payment from the University of South Carolina. Special Prosecutor David Pascoe told Judge Mullen “there has been no one more corrupt than Rick Quinn.”

Judge Mullen has been asked to apply the state law (17-25-322) that allows a judge to require restitution to victims for financial damage.

“Rick Quinn has pled guilty to abusing the trust of his constituents, as well as misappropriating money,” said Brett Bursey, a resident of Quinn’s Lexington County district and director of the SC Progressive Network. “As a voter in House District 69 and a Lexington County taxpayer, I will be paying a portion of the county’s and State Election Commission’s costs to hold an election for Quinn’s replacement.”

Chris Whitmire of the State Election Commission cited the county’s estimated cost at $17,000 for opening a limited number of precincts. The SEC’s cost is projected to be $36,000.

“It’s going to cost state taxpayers over $1 million to replace the legislators recently convicted of crimes,” said John Crangle, the Network’s government relations director. “It’s the worst I’ve ever seen it,” he said. “I haven’t had representation in the Senate since last April because John Courson was charged with embezzling campaign funds. If he’s found guilty, county and state taxpayers face a bill of over $100,000 for a special election.”

Sen. Mike Fanning (D-Fairfield) filed the Special Elections Restitution Act (S-533) in January 2017, before the recent indictments of Quinn and suspended Sen. Courson. The bill has been assigned to a Judiciary subcommittee chaired by Sen. Chip Campsen (R-Charleston), with Sen. Tom Young (R-Aiken) and Sen. Fanning.

Building on the work done since the SC Progressive Network‘s forum Corruption in the Palmetto State last May, we want to go beyond identifying the problems in our ailing democracy to focus on remedies, both legislative and cultural.

The Progressive Network’s Education Fund has written five bills that have been introduced by our partners in the Progressive Legislative Caucus that address campaign finance and corruption. Another bill is in the works that focuses on the fact that 77 percent of SC voters have only one name on their general election ballot for their House and/or Senate representative. Our politically gerrymandered districts facilitate corruption through lack of competition. Only 8.6% of the state’s registered voters elected the Republican majority in the 2016 primary election.

All the bills filed to date calling for an independent redistricting commission fail to make the commission truly independent as they are appointed by the Governor and the legislature and default to the legislature if the “independent” commission fails to reach a decision. We will be introducing a bill for a Citizens Redistricting Commission this session, along with a constitutional amendment to let the citizens draw the districts, not the incumbents.

We are working with Republican legislators on other bills they have introduced to make our campaign finance system more transparent and accountable.

•  •  •

S-533 (Sen. Mike Fanning, D-Fairfield and Rep. Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg) would make politicians removed from office due to a criminal conviction pay for the special elections to replace them. The millions in corporate campaign cash to legislators who face no opposition has contributed to corruption. Each special election to replace incumbent state legislators removed from office due to a conviction costs taxpayers between $35,000 to $125,000, depending on the district and whether it’s a senator of representative being replaced. A special election for a US congressman can run up to $500,000. Since these costs are split between state and county taxes, the constituents of the convicted politician pay the greatest share

H-4443 (Rep. Clary, R-Pickens) requires candidates to disclose if they, or an immediate family member is paid by a company that lobbies their office. A current campaign finance report must be filed 72 hours before and election, campaign expenditures are clearly enumerated and accounted for and independent expenditures are restricted.

H-4444 (Rep. Clary, R-Pickens) prohibits an elected official from appointing a campaign donor to a public office for four years after the donation.

H-4498 (Rep. Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg and Sen. Fanning, D-Fairfield) calls for giving qualified candidates for attorney general who refuse all private donations a publicly financed grant to run for office. In his last race, state Attorney General Alan Wilson took maximum campaign contributions from SCANA, and has taken more than $500,000 from lawyers and off-duty lobbyists in his last three campaigns. Public financing would allow candidates to run for attorney general without taking any campaign contributions from individuals or corporations that may later need to be investigated or indicted. In 2001, then Republican Party Chair Henry McMaster understood the problems inherent in allowing the state’s top law enforcement officer to rely on private cash to run for office. McMaster told Gov. Hodge’s Campaign Finance Reform Commission that the race for attorney general is the one elected office that should be publicly financed.

H-4499 (Rep. Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg and Sen. Fanning, D-Fairfield) places a constitutional amendment on the general election ballot that lets the people vote to allow public financing for Attorney General candidates.

H-4501 (Rep. Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg and Sen. Fanning, D-Fairfield) would prohibit regulated utilities from making campaign contributions to the candidates and politicians who regulate them. An example is the 2007 legislation that allowed SCE&G to charge ratepayers in advance for nuclear reactors that have since been abandoned.

H-4500 (Rep. Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg and Sen. Fanning, D-Fairfield) would place a small fee on all campaign contributions that would fund an automated public disclosure system and generate money for attorney general candidates who want to opt into a publicly financed campaign. The State Ethics Commission is woefully underfunded, short-staffed, and has a public disclosure web site that is opaque. Furthermore, candidates make unintentional mistakes – as well as intentional – in filing. This bill offers a low-cost, high-tech solution to multiple problems. S-766 requires all campaign contributions to be deposited in interest bearing accounts with the interest going to the benefit of the State Ethics Commission.

H-4456 (Rep. Clary, R-Pickens) is a bipartisan bill calling for a committee of non-elected citizens to draw district lines for the legislature and US congressional districts. Redistricting is a critical part of restoring democracy in SC, and the process is an earnest work in progress. Consider: 77% of SC lawmakers are elected with no opposition in the general election. Just 8.6% of the state’s registered voters chose the ruling majority of the General Assembly in the Republican primary.

S-764 (Sen. Timmons, R-Greenville) makes candidates tax returns available to the State Ethics Commission during an investigation or complaint.

S-765 (Sen. Timmons, R-Greenville) redefines lobbyist to include those work, without compensation, for another party to influence official actions.

Questions? Contact the Network at 803-808-3384, network@scpronet.com.

Money in SC Politics: a roundtable discussion

Feb. 6, 7-9pm

USC Law School Auditorium, 1525 Senate St., Columbia

As South Carolina reels from the growing corruption scandal in the State House, the public is invited to a timely round-table discussion about how we can reduce the influence of money in state politics and policy-making. Legislators and good-government advocates will debate ways to make state government more representative, competitive, and responsive to South Carolina citizens.

At the table: Rep. Gilda Cobb Hunter (D-Orangeburg); Sen. Mike Fanning (D-Fairfield); Rep. Gary Clary (R-Oconee); Sen. William Timmons (R-Greenville); Lynn Teague, Vice President, League of Women Voters South Carolina; and John Crangle, Government Relations Director, SC Progressive Network.

The audience will be invited to ask questions and offer comment.

Reception to follow.

Click HERE to read about a package of anti-corruption bills the Network is backing and tracking.

The free event is sponsored by the nonpartisan Education Fund of the SC Progressive Network and the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy, USC School of Law. It is listed on the House and Senate’s legislative calendar.

RSVP/Share on Facebook.

The SC Progressive Network applauds our membership liaison Dr. Sarah Keeling for the much-deserved recognition of her social justice work by the University of South Carolina. She was among four honored with the 2018 MLK Social Justice Award.

Sarah is a graduate of the Modjeska Simkins School for Human Rights (a Network project), and was elected to the Network’s executive committee at our fall retreat. She helped lead the recent tour of the State House monuments, featured in this Columbia’s Free Times story, and is working on expanding that project.

Read more about Sarah and her fellow honorees here.

Sarah Keeling puts the African American monument into context on a recent tour reinterpreting some of the monuments on the State House grounds. See more photos of the tour in our photo album.