South Carolina legislative session

Coastal Carolina University’s Mandatory Furlough Plan Approved

Recently approved by the Division of State Human Resources, Coastal Carolina University is set to enforce a mandatory furlough plan. This comes as a response to COVID-19 affecting all businesses, including the education sphere.

What this means for the CCU is that staff and faculty members making over $35,751 or more a year are required to take 20 unpaid workdays off during the 2020-2021 fiscal year. Those making below are exempt from the furlough plan. The DSHR mandates that in this case, furlough days can be spread out over the year or taken consecutively for the month of July only.

As of May 2020, Gov. Henry McMaster signed a resolution that qualified state-institutions to seek furloughs but capped the number of maximum working days to 20. There won’t be any unexpected changes regarding this furlough plan in the near future.

CCU plans to continue finding ways to efficiently fulfill budget cuts while evaluating saving measures. This “includes the possibility of not hiring new positions and not retiring vacant positions.”

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Santee Cooper South Carolina Coronavirus Funding

Santee Cooper’s Actions Caused Certain Senators To Derail Emergency Coronavirus Funding Legislation

The South Carolina Legislature was called back earlier this week for what was supposed to be a quick one-day session to pass a piece of emergency legislation that would help prevent a government shutdown and provide emergency funding to address the coronavirus crisis. But a familiar roadblock caused that plan to crumble.

While this was expected to be a quick vote, a resolution in the legislation involving Santee Cooper prevented senators from coming to an agreement, while House members decried action taken by Santee Cooper in recent days to deceive the legislature into believing they had negotiated a deal with Central Electric cooperative.

The latest move by Santee Cooper has angered many including Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina CEO, Mike Couick and Speaker of the House Jay Lucas.

Couick was quoted as saying “I grew up watching ACC basketball and Dean Smith mastering the game of four corners. If Santee Cooper is an expert at nothing else, it is an expert at delay, and delay of reform and transformation…”

In a letter to Santee Cooper’s leadership, Speaker Lucas wrote, “If state law gave me or the House of Representatives the authority, I would seek the immediate unqualified removal of each member of the Santee Cooper Board and the dismissal, for cause, of the entire senior management. Unfortunately for the people of South Carolina, I do not have that authority. However, I do predict and will applaud your ultimate removal from your positions in the appropriate manner.”

You can read the full letter from Speaker Lucas here.

The proposed emergency legislation included plans for COVID-19 funding, education funding for teacher salaries, funding to ensure South Carolina primaries can still take place safely on June 9, and other necessary government-funded operations that would allow the state to continue to run in the case that a budget isn’t passed before the start of the next fiscal year.

It also included a provision to postpone the debate on Santee Cooper and prevent the utility from engaging in any long-term contracts of more than a year until the work on what should be done with the state-owned utility is fully explored.

As reported by the AP, Santee Cooper spokeswoman Mollie Gore apologized for their actions in an email calling the utility’s words ‘presumptive and premature’.

Moreover, Governor McMaster slammed Santee Cooper on Twitter, saying, “There appears to be no tactic or action too deceitful or reckless for the leaders of Santee Cooper to employ,” accusing the utility of exploiting the current pandemic to avoid a sale or any type of reform.

Senators, on the other hand, debated the resolution for over five hours only to come back with an amended resolution that sent it back to the House for review. Certain senators such as Senator Rankin and Senator Grooms refused to approve the emergency legislation needed to keep the state running because of their support for Santee Cooper and did not want to put any limitations on the utility despite their history of mismanagement and lack of transparency.

Currently, there are plans for either the House or Senate to return to take further action.

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Discussions About Santee Cooper Continue

Featured Image: Charleston City Paper

We’re two weeks into South Carolina’s 2020 legislative session and the talk around what to do with state-owned Santee Cooper continues.

The latest to speak out on the issue is founder and CEO of the Gullah Geechee Chamber of Commerce, Marilyn Hemingway, who was reported saying “Santee Cooper has forgotten its mission of providing low-cost services”, by The Chronicle.

During her interview, Hemingway referenced both the $250 million loss in 2009 after the state-owned utility pulled the plug on the Pee-Dee coal plant before construction finished as well as the billions of dollars wasted during the 2017 abandonment of the V.C. Summer project.

Furthering her point, she alluded to the millions of dollars spent in legal fees after these projects and the newly appointed executives who are paid more than any other state agency, $2.4 million annually.

On top of the overwhelming amount of evidence that points to the wasteful spending, Governor McMaster’s office released a statement stating “Paying off Santee Cooper’s debt will cost direct-serve customers in Horry, Georgetown, and Berkeley counties about $6,200 per household. It will cost customers of the 20 electric cooperatives who distribute Santee Cooper’s power about $4,200 per household.”

The statement left many confused after hearing from Santee Cooper this summer that it would be freezing rates. However, the latest move from Santee Cooper points to this claim as ringing false. The state-owned utility recently filed a motion to stop any reference to future rate hikes during their current class-action lawsuit, hoping to keep jury members in the dark. Critics say the move is similar to Santee Cooper’s lack of transparency during the V.C. Summer fiasco, which also kept ratepayers in the dark.

As lawmakers look at the proposals put in front of them, South Carolina residents, like Hemingway, are recognizing the inevitability of rate hikes if no change is made.

The statement released by Governor McMaster’s office continues by stating the “Governor instructed each of the interested purchasers that they will not consider any proposal which saddles the ratepayers or taxpayers with any of Santee Cooper’s $4.3 billion nuclear construction debt” and that they must provide the state with the best solution possible, one which protects ratepayers while recognizing the valuable contributions of current and former employees of Santee Cooper.”

It is unclear what lawmakers will decide to do with the state-owned utility; however, it is clear that millions of South Carolinians are at risk of increased utility rates and may not even know not it.

Hemingway concluded: “From our point of view, we should start over. Now is the time for South Carolina to show some leadership.”

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South Carolina Lawmakers Issues Santee Cooper and Education

South Carolina Lawmakers Return – Here Are Two Issues You Should Be Watching

Featured Image Source: Andrew Whitaker, Post & Courier

South Carolina lawmakers returned to the State House last week, kicking off the 2020 legislative session. All eyes are on two hot topics this year: education and Santee Cooper.

Last year, both were said to be a top priority of lawmakers but have found their way rolling into the new year with no clear future.

During the 2019 legislative session, the House passed a massive bill including a complete overhaul of our state’s education system, but the bill spent the remainder of the session being torn apart and dissected by state senators.

Meanwhile, Santee Cooper’s future has been up in the air for far too long while lawmakers go back and forth on what to do with the debt-riddled state-owned utility.

Lawmakers have once again named both issues a top priority this year, and it won’t take long to see if this holds true.

Sometime in the upcoming session, legislators will receive three bids for state-owned Santee Cooper – one a reform plan from Santee Cooper itself, one from a company that would manage the utility, and one from a privately-owned utility that would purchase Santee Cooper.

While supporters from all sides have come forward, lawmakers have a difficult decision to make. They must make sure they choose an option that will protect the millions of people who get their power and water from Santee Cooper and all South Carolina taxpayers.

Since the public was made aware of Santee Cooper’s billions of dollars of debt, many have expressed their concerns over rising electric rates, talk of a taxpayer bailout, and the responsibility of the debt falling on the shoulders of customers.

Palmetto Promise Institute, an organization dedicated to promoting a “free and flourishing South Carolina” and a strong supporter of selling Santee Cooper, stated the only way for South Carolina residents to avoid costs related to Santee Cooper’s debt is a sale.

Experts have found that a sale would allow a write-down of Santee Cooper’s $4 billion in nuclear debt. According to the report, “Over time, that $4 billion could double as interest is charged to customers.”

While lawmakers try to figure out the best way to deal with state-owned Santee Cooper’s debt, they’ll also have to keep in mind the tens of thousands of teachers who are looking for raises, resources and help, and the money it will take for education reform.

All eyes are on our lawmakers now as two major decisions need to be made, quickly.