Charleston Currents – legislature

BRACK: Preserve, conserve S.C.’s beauty by getting involved

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | The beauty and majesty of South Carolina’s natural assets from the mountains to the sea are a part of what makes the state great. But unless people, including state legislators, take ongoing steps to keep what makes South Carolina special, then we risk losing what we’ve got.

To ensure the state’s natural attractions remain viable, you should get involved at local and state levels to conserve and preserve what’s makes South Carolina great.

Locally, you can pay attention to what’s happening in city and county council proceedings to check development and to make sure local governments abide by smart growth strategies. You can write letters to the editor, attend meetings, run for office when you see a wrong or just speak up when talking with friends and neighbors.

by Andy Brack · 01/01/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views

The S.C. Supreme Court building in Columbia, S.C.

BRACK: High court lets legislature off the education hook

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Shame on a majority of the legislatively-elected S.C. Supreme Court for letting the General Assembly off the hook on funding poor, rural schools. State leaders haven’t yet spent enough money or done enough work to upgrade these neglected schools so that they’re on par with urban and suburban public schools.

On Nov. 17, the court ruled 3-2 to dismiss the 24-year-old Abbeville v. State of South Carolina school equity funding lawsuit. The order, however, is premature because state legislators only started moving these schools toward parity after a 2014 order by the court. Now without the court’s oversight, there’s no pressure on the General Assembly to make good on its promises.

With gazillions of dollars of state funding needs, do you really trust legislators not to continue a legacy of inattention in the so-called “Corridor of Shame” area where a multitude of challenges persist?

by Andy Brack · 11/27/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views

BRACK: Legislative turtles enough to make some run for office

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | There’s so much frustration with politics as usual that maybe this is the year for grassroots candidates who are trying to win without big piles of money.

Anybody with a lick of common sense has got to be more than a little annoyed by what’s been going on in the Statehouse. Just look at the recent week as GOP lawmakers, knowing a primary is just three weeks away, trotted out the always divisive abortion issue to throw a little red meat to voters and prove their “conservative credentials.” At issue is a ban on abortions after 19 weeks, a measure that opponents are shouting is unconstitutional and scary because it will harm women (not to mention that men again are making decisions about women’s bodies).

by Andy Brack · 05/23/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views

BRACK: Legislature needs more strategic, long-term thinking

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Parents routinely tell their children to be smart about how they act. The state needs to take the same advice.

Case in point: South Carolina’s energy policy. Since the early 1990s, the state of South Carolina has actually had a policy to set a comprehensive state energy plan. But it’s been pretty toothless — a plan in name only, with all sorts of nice-sounding 00_icon_brackgoals that don’t hold policymakers or anybody accountable.

by Andy Brack · 12/07/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views