I have joined with South Carolina House Ways and Means Chairman, Bobby Harrell and others to support a public school transferability plan that will give parents the option to move their children out of schools we know are not educating them. This legislative initiative passed the State House of Representatives in 2000, but was tied up in the South Carolina State Senate.

In 1998, an accountability program was established in our State that is putting public schools on track toward permanent improvement. And in 2001, parents will begin to receive detailed report cards illustrating their children’s school’s performance.

Under this accountability law, good schools will be rewarded and challenged to get even better and schools that fail to meet expectations will be given assistance for quick improvement.

These failing schools deserve our immediate attention, but I believe the children that attend these schools need a life boat while their schools are being improved.

All of South Carolina’s children deserve a high quality education and our proposal will free parents to make sure it can happen.

Cutting Car Taxes

Along with many lawmakers in the General Assembly, I have made car tax relief a top priority. I have supported many plans that would dramatically cut this tax. In the 1999 and 2000 legislative sessions, we were able to send back over $40 million in car tax relief.

And this past November, South Carolina voters overwhelmingly supported cutting the nation’s second highest car taxes. Two statewide referenda were approved. The first will lower the statewide vehicle assessment ratio from 10.5% to 6% over the next six years. The second referendum will allow each county the opportunity to raise their sales tax to further cut or eliminate car taxes.

The first car tax referendum alone, lowering the state vehicle assessment ratio, will cut car taxes by over 40% over six years across South Carolina. However, I encourage everyone to monitor this process closely in their local communities, because some folks may take this opportunity to try and raise other taxes or fees.

Pro-Family Legislation

I have joined with several pro-life members of the General Assembly who have introduced legislation that would enable South Carolinians to "Choose Life" when they choose license plates for their cars and trucks.  Revenue generated from these license plates will go to crisis pregnancy centers throughout the state.  

To date, the House bill (H. 3714) has 79 sponsors and the Senate version (S. 462) has 19 sponsors.  This "Choose Life" legislation has enjoyed wide bi-partisan support.  

Better and Safer School Buses

I recently unveiled "Operation Child-Safe", a new legislative initiative to replace South Carolina's aging school bus fleet now and being implementing a long-term school bus replacement cycle.

My plan would use 100% of the first six months of lottery revenues, estimated at $67 million, to purchase 1,409 new school buses.  Since the lottery is beginning in the middle of the fiscal year, this one-time money is yet to be budgeted.

Go to the Lt. Governor's Operation Child-Safe Page

During the 1996 legislative session, I led the fight to pass the first of its kind independent performance audit of state government. I currently serve as Chairman of the South Carolina Performance Audit Steering Committee.

The committee takes a results oriented, outside look at the inside workings of government and makes recommendations to the General Assembly for the reduction, consolidation, and elimination of state programs.

Since its inception, the committee has employed innovative means to move the measure forward and make the statewide audit a reality. For example, state agencies have been asked by the committee to provide half of the funding necessary to audit their agency.

Also, as part of the original mission, the committee audited two public school districts in South Carolina in 1999 and 2000.

This process has led to millions of dollars in recommended savings and has opened the door to more efficient ways of doing the state’s business.

The South Carolina Export Consortium was created to help South Carolina’s businesses and industries to expand through export opportunities. In previous years the export industry has accounted for one third of all economic growth in the country. Recognizing this, I joined with the State Chamber of Commerce in a full scale effort to leverage existing export services so that companies can create more growth and jobs by tapping into the immense potential of the export market.

The Consortium is a public, private and academic partnership with the resources to provide businesses with export assessment, consulting, education, and training.

Since 1979, the Office of the Lieutenant Governor has conducted a statewide writing contest for all fifth and eighth graders from public and private schools statewide.

More than 100,000 students participate annually and, of those, approximately 9000 students receive awards for excellence in composition and expository writing.

Beginning in 1997, with the help of Columbia College and private donations, we were able to offer district recipients the opportunity to attend a cost free two day, one night writing workshop. Participants receive expert instruction from area poets, journalists, script writers, novelists, television broadcasters and others.

Click here to visit the Lt. Governor's 2001 Writing Awards page

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