COLUMBIA--It was a tough week for Gov. Mark Sanford. Government restructuring, one of his key legislative initiatives, was taken out Tuesday and used for target practice by certain members of the Senate.
That came just hours after the governor made a rare appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee to reiterate the state's need for the measure.
The senators listened, asked questions, and once the governor was gone, began hacking up his proposal. The bill, which dealt with eliminating many of the state's constitutional officers, is still in committee. The senators who opposed the proposal say it likely will die outright in the next committee meeting.
Though disappointed with what happened, and a little hurt by some of the senators who jumped ship at the last minute, the governor proceeded once more into the breach Friday.
Sanford and Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, held a press conference at Parks Auto Parts on Rivers Avenue to drum up public support for the plan. McConnell has said that is all that will save it now.
Sanford named Charleston-area Sens. Robert Ford, Bill Mescher and John Kuhn, asking them to revisit their positions on the matter. He said residents should have the right to vote on the structure of their government.
"The last time we took a vote on this was 1895," Sanford said. "At that point, women weren't allowed to vote, and blacks effectively couldn't vote."
Kuhn, in a written statement afterward, changed his tune, applauding Sanford and saying, "I wholeheartedly agree with virtually all his proposals."
(TAP TAP) IS THIS ON?
Is it legal to have a two-drink minimum at a committee meeting? If it were, Tuesday's aforementioned Senate Judiciary Committee meeting would have warranted it, thanks to the comedic stylings of Sen. Robert Ford, D-Charleston.
After the governor's speech to the committee, he took questions from the senators. Ford took the mic, asked some guy in the front row where he was from, then turned it loose.
Here's a taste of what you missed:
-- "Governor, when you gave the State of the State -- I don't know why I wasn't there, but I saw it on television -- you greeted everyone but the lieutenant governor. He was the one who introduced you, but you went straight to the speaker (of the House). Left Andre standing there looking face dry and cold. And he was hurtin', man. Called me that night."
-- "Governor, you could be the greatest governor in the state, but someone's going to replace you. What if we get some hateful Greenville-type Republican?"
Ford can next be seen at Chuckles in Greenwood, followed by a two-night performance at the Laff Factory in Goose Creek.
WHEN LAWMAKERS ATTACK
After trying for two weeks to get a bill through the House Judiciary's Constitutional Laws subcommittee, state Rep. Jerry Govan, D-Orangeburg, took matters into his own hands Thursday.
Or rather, he reportedly took committee chairman state Rep. Jim Harrison, R-Columbia, into his own hands.
Govan, chairman of the Black Legislative Caucus, had been trying to get a bill aimed at electing more black judges onto the floor of the House, but the committee ran out of time. He charged into Harrison's office and, according to witnesses, grabbed the representative. The two say no blows were landed in the exchange, and they later hugged and made up.
Said state Rep. Jim Merrill, R-Daniel Island, "We usually have at least one fight a session. At least Altman wasn't involved this time." Last year, state Rep. Leon Howard, D-Columbia, charged state Rep. John Graham Altman III, R-Charleston, after the older representative killed one of his bills.
AMERICAN LEGION TRIBUTE
State Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Bonneau, has been named the American Legion's outstanding legislator of the year. He shares the honor with state Rep. Alex Harvin, D-Summerton. Each year the American Legion honors one senator and one representative.
Grooms won this year because of his seven-year struggle to secure funding and approval for the new 280-bed veterans nursing home to be built near Walterboro.
Ground will be broken for the facility, funded by local, state and federal money, this spring.
"It is a tremendous feeling of accomplishment," Grooms said. "This is an economic boon for people in the area and it will fill a much-needed place in terms of care for our veterans. We have a lot of veterans in need out there."
BITS AND PIECES
-- The Ways and Means Committee will meet Tuesday to consider the governor's income tax reduction plan. The plan calls for reducing the state's highest income tax bracket by .225 percent annually for the next 10 years, dropping the rate from the current 7 percent to 4.75 percent.
-- The General Assembly will hold elections Wednesday for the Public Service Commission. Two years ago, legislators questioned the qualifications of certain candidates for the agency. The ensuing investigation led to charges of nepotism and other inappropriate activities. Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, led the Senate push to hold up agency elections until changes were made.
