NEWS BRIEFS: On Medicaid expansion, federal funds and port traffic

There is strong support to expand the federal Medicaid program in the Palmetto State across party lines with nearly eight in 10 South Carolina voters ages 50 and older registering their support, according to a new study by AARP. 

A report on the study will soon be sent to lawmakers, according to a story in Statehousse Report.  Poll findings could spark state leaders to reconsider a long-held stance against Medicaid expansion, which  could bring millions to the state to provide health care to more than 200,000 uninsured state resident. Nearly two -thirds  of those surveyed say they would be extremely or very favorable toward state lawmakers who voted to expand Medicaid health care to South Carolina residents who earn less than $18,000 a year.

In other news:

House committee to discuss use of $3B in federal funds. South Carolina legislators will meet starting this week to begin talks on how more than $3 billion in federal funds will be spent. On a Tuesday agenda for the House SRS and ARPA Appropriations Ad Hoc Committee is how nearly $2.5 billion from the American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) passed by Congress will be spent in the Palmetto State, as well as $525 million from a U.S. Department of Energy settlement over radioactive waste stashed at the federal Savannah River Site.

New leader.  Hats off to Lowcountry attorney Bert “Skip” Utsey, who recently was elected to be president of the South Carolina Association for Justice, the state’s largest association of lawyers.  Utsey is a partner with Clawson Fargnoli Utsey LLC, with offices in Charleston and Walterboro.  He is a Walterboro native who graduated from the USC School of Law in 1987. “There is an organized and well-funded movement by big business to help protect their bottom line at the expense of average citizens taking place right here in South Carolina.  My main goals are to help the Association raise awareness to special interest groups’ attempts to limit access to our legal system and to fight for pro-justice policy,” Utsey said in a statement.  

Big grant.  The Patrick Family Foundation has awarded a $10,000 grant to support the Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired South Carolina’s new Low Vision Occupational Therapy program, according to a press release.  The program provides comprehensive rehabilitation and educational training to adults with visual disabilities to help them develop skills and techniques to capitalize on their remaining vision, maximize their independence and reduce the impact of their disability.

Big traffic.  South Carolina Ports had a strong start to fiscal year 2022 with its highest July on record for containers moving through the Port of Charleston.  The agency handled a record-setting 244,821 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in July at Wando Welch Terminal, North Charleston Terminal and Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal. This is up 38 percent from a year ago.  July’s volume marks the second highest all-time monthly record for containers handled at the Port of Charleston, according to a statement.