Politics over people: SC Republicans vote against Hurricane Sandy relief, fiscal cliff deal - South Carolina Republicans Joe Wilson, Mick Mulvaney and Jeff Duncan are three of the 67 GOP congressmen who voted against a $9.7 billion disaster relief bill for victims of Hurricane Sandy, Palmetto Public Record reported over the weekend. This is despite the fact that South Carolina is often affected by natural disasters itself, though lawmakers are perfectly happy to accept disaster funding in those cases.
SC spent $3.5 million defending a law that doesn’t actually do anything - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson’s office spent $3.5 million defending the state’s voter ID law in federal court, according to Palmetto Public Record. That’s half a million dollars more than Wilson’s estimate two months ago, and more than three times what the state’s lawsuit was originally estimated to cost last year.
Sen. Tim Scott rejects negative remarks from NAACP president - Newly sworn-in U.S. Sen. Tim Scott is dismissing charges leveled by the NAACP’s national president that Scott doesn’t believe in civil rights, according to the Charleston Post & Courier’s Schuyler Kropf. NAACP President Benjamin Jealous said Scott regularly receives an “F” grade on the NAACP’s annual legislative report card of Washington.
SC Senate to discuss school safety with law enforcement, education officials - The state Senate Education Committee will hear this week from state law enforcement and education officials on what South Carolina can do to ensure its classrooms are safe in the wake of last month’s massacre of children and educators in Newtown, Connecticut, according to The State’s Jamie Self. Meanwhile, educators across the state are taking steps to improve school safety and assessing whether additional changes may be necessary.
Trey Gowdy sets sights on immigration reforms - The conservative South Carolina Republican who just took over a key immigration panel has been labeled an anti-immigration hardliner but said he empathizes with people who come to the U.S. seeking a better life, according to Gannett’s Mary Troyan. Rep. Trey Gowdy said he expects to conduct his first few hearings as fact-finding missions to inform what he hopes will be a Republican-backed immigration reform bill.
Elliott Summey won’t run for Congress, but Grooms will - State Sen. Larry Grooms said Friday he is entering the race for the 1st Congressional District seat being vacated by Tim Scott, according to the Post & Courier’s Robert Behre. Grooms said he will make an official announcement next week.
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