SC GOP in crisis mode over flubbed filing of economic interest forms – South Carolina Republicans and Democrats alike are scrambling after several State House candidates failed to submit a statement of economic interest, a transparency measure which lists a candidate’s job, salary, property and other financial information, before the March 30 filing deadline, Palmetto Public Record reported yesterday. State law requires that candidates who don’t submit their statement when they file be left off the ballot.
Democratic leader: No state-provided security on private trips – House Minority Leader Harry Ott, D-Calhoun, plans to file a bill prohibiting Gov. Nikki Haley and all other appointed and elected state officials from using taxpayer-funded travel and security detail for out-of-state trips that are not strictly for state business, according to The State’s Gina Smith. Haley has been in the spotlight because her state-provided security detail has accompanied her on trips that included private fundraising events for Haley’s reelection campaign. State law forbids the use of state resources to benefit political campaigns.
Lowcountry Republicans to file school-funding bills – A pair of Lowcountry lawmakers are among a group of elected officials who say they will introduce bills this week aimed at restarting the debate on fixing public school funding, according to the Charleston Post & Courier’s Stephen Largen. The measures stand little chance of passing this late in the legislative session, but introducing them now will help officials begin to discuss the proposals and give them a better chance of passage next year, the lawmakers said.
DOA: Department of Administrative Drama? – When Nikki Haley was running for governor, she campaigned on vaporizing the sprawling bureaucratic Budget and Control Board, but she has taken a tamer approach to it since being elected —something more like smashing it into pieces and scattering them about, according to the Free Times’ Corey Hutchins. It’s a move that has been a lightning rod for drama from its start.
Sarah Palin’s ghost stalks women on Mitt Romney’s vice president list - Among the women most likely on Mitt Romney’s list of possible running mates, New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, have bubbled into VP speculation because of their potential appeal to female voters, according to ABC News’ Matt Negrin. The two are among a handful of Republican women who might be perfectly qualified or suited to be on the bottom of the ticket this year, but the ghost of Sarah Palin and her turbulent bid to be vice president stand in their way of being evaluated on their own terms.
