legislation Archives - Myrtle Beach FYI

Featured Image: Santee Cooper’s Cross Plant, Post, and Courier.

Today, South Carolina Senators began to debate on legislation authorizing Governor McMaster’s administration to oversee the sale of state-owned utility Santee Cooper and begin the competitive bidding process.

Many hope the legislation will pass and relieve Santee Cooper direct-serve and coop customers from paying off the state-owned utilities’ $7.2 billion debt.

In a recent survey, 71% of participants said they favored selling Santee Cooper to a private utility who can pay off the debt and get the government out of the utility business.

Over the last few weeks, the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce has been holding town hall meetings across the state to discuss the sale. SCSBCC president and CEO Frank Knapp Jr. favors the sale of Santee Cooper and doesn’t feel the debt should be left in the hands of the customers.

After a lengthy testimony, Santee Cooper executives were unable to answer many questions about their future, including how the debt would be paid off without raising rates and rate projections. With the number of unanswered questions continuing to increase, many South Carolina taxpayers and Santee Cooper customers are becoming increasingly worried.

Knapp explained that with rates already increased by 5% due to the V.C. Summer project debt and more rate hikes to come, legislators need to make the right decision for South Carolina residents.

Also in attendance at the town hall meetings is Santee Cooper spokesperson Tracy Vreeland who stated that while rates may not remain the same, they will still remain competitive even though executives are unsure of how they plan to do this and are unsure of future rate projections.

Read more about the recent town hall meetings here.

Expanding access to medical marijuana is supported by a majority of South Carolinians according to a statewide poll that was recently released from the South Carolina Cannabis Association.

The poll conducted by Washington, DC-based WPA Intelligence in partnership with Charleston’s Push Digital shows 58% of South Carolinians support expanding access to medical marijuana in the state while only 13% oppose.

The South Carolina Cannabis Association also announced their advocacy efforts to support changing the state’s cannabis laws.

According to their press release, South Carolina political consultant and entrepreneur Wesley Donehue played a key role in organizing the critical mass of support that led to the formation of the South Carolina Cannabis Association.

“The compassionate care benefits of cannabis are well documented and the public support for access to medical cannabis in our state is strong. These are facts our elected officials must come to recognize and respond accordingly, as there is no longer any excuse for them to be this out-of-touch with the will of their constituents,” said Donehue.

The independent survey of 600 registered voters in South Carolina from January 22-24 found that:

Most South Carolina voters are in favor of medical cannabis

Six out of ten South Carolina voters (58%) support legislation that expands access to medical cannabis
This includes a majority or plurality support across all partisan breaks – Majority of Independents (72%), Democrats (65%) and a plurality of Republicans (45%)
In contrast, just thirteen percent (13%) are opposed while three out of ten (29%) are unsure

South Carolinians are more likely to vote for Elected Officials who support medical cannabis legislation

A majority of South Carolinians (57%) are more likely to vote for an elected official who supports legislation for medical cannabis
This too includes a majority or plurality support across all partisan breaks – majority of Independents (70%), Democrats (62%) and a plurality of Republicans (42%) are more likely to vote for an elected official who supports medical cannabis
Just thirteen percent (13%) are less likely to vote for elected officials who support legislation that expands access for medical cannabis