Lifelong Lancaster County resident Ryan Payne announced today that he will seek the Republican nomination for South Carolina House District 44. Payne, a Heath Springs resident, graduated in 2009 as class Valedictorian from Andrew Jackson High School. He attended the University of South Carolina at Lancaster where he graduated in 2011 with an Associate’s Degree in Science. Payne, a Political Science major, will graduate from Clemson University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts this spring. Payne has been active in state and local politics since 2008. In 2009, he served as the inaugural Chairman of the Lancaster County Young Republicans. He believes this firsthand experience will allow him to better serve the people of Lancaster County in the State House.
“After a person has been in politics for a few years, they can start to see how bad things are in Columbia and how we can go about changing the culture of Columbia,” Payne said. “We need to send someone to Columbia who will have the knowledge and experience that is required to be part of the Legislative process and who will be able to fight for the people of Lancaster County.”
Payne has presented a pro-Lancaster County agenda that includes comprehensive tax reform and spending cuts to free up money to go towards infrastructure. His economic plan revolves around a 2% cut in income taxes in order to give those residents in Lancaster County who have a job more money in their pockets each week. This cut will also free up capital for small business owners. He also wants to cut a variety of other taxes including South Carolina’s 10.5% manufacturing property tax. In order to offset these tax cuts, Payne has proposed ending the process of economic incentive packages at a state level.
“I believe it is completely unfair to take the tax dollars of Lancaster County small businesses and give them to big corporations that can afford to hire a good lobbyist to get themselves a good deal,” Payne said. “We need to treat every business in our state the same and if we can’t exempt every business from a tax, then we shouldn’t exempt any businesses. In 1998, our state gave away 34 million dollars in incentives to big corporations. Last year, we gave away over 1 billion dollars in incentives. Since then, per capita income has decreased and thousands of Lancaster County residents have lost their jobs. Clearly those in Columbia don’t know as much as they think that they do and they shouldn’t try to pick winners and losers in our economy with economic incentives.”
Payne has proposed the idea of banning any organization that receives taxpayer money from hiring a lobbyist in an effort to change the culture of Columbia. He said, “It makes no sense to give a state agency the taxpayer’s money so that they can hire a lobbyist to lobby for more of the taxpayer’s money.”
Payne will formally announce his intention to run at a press conference on March 29th at 2:00 P.M. in front of the Lancaster County Courthouse. For more information please visit payneforschouse.com, email payneforschouse@yahoo.com or call 803-320-7111.
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By Lucy January 30, 2012 at 8:43 pm
I think Ryan Payne will make a nice candidate in about 5-10 years.. It is my understanding he is young and has not really had a real job and is still supported by his parents. I believe he is also in school still, again I think he needs to run when has some more life under his belt. Best of luck but when I see 3 other candidates that are 40 and below and all professional self supporting individuals I do not see Ryan winning this at all.
By The Facts January 30, 2012 at 10:33 pm
David Beasley was 21 when he was elected. He was still in school and continued his education while he was majority whip in the state house. More recently, Boyd Brown won when he was in his early 20s as well as Kevin Ryan and Johnathan Putnam. Maybe you should spend more time getting to learn someone’s background before posting derogatory comments about their campaign based solely on their age.
By The Facts January 30, 2012 at 10:34 pm
By the way, David Beasley also ended up being Governor so I don’t think his age inhibited him that much.
By Lucy January 31, 2012 at 8:32 am
First and foremost,my comments were not derogatory, they are simply my opinion. As I stated, I think Ryan will be a good candidate once he has a few years of actually supporting himself and having a few more years life experience. Again, that is my stated opinion and was not meant in any other way. I am from district 44 and I have met all three candidate, my OPINION is that all three would be a better fit at the moment and as a voter I have the right to my opnion, that is what the comments section is for. My comment was not insulting in the least bit, so by the facts,I was not talking about other candidates in another election period, I was speaking of someone I have personally met and I think his maturity level and independence lacks. I also know the other three candiates and think they have more to offer at this present time. It is simply not the age I am looking at it is the total package and what each person has to offer. AGAIN this is my opinion which I have all rights to and this is what this section is for.
By Bob January 31, 2012 at 1:54 pm
It is interesting that we are stuck talking about age and life experience but not the actual issues of the race that is before us. We have a state that may have a little surplus this year but tends to be further headed down the road to massive debts and obligations. Life experiences are great but if you don’t learn from them then they are just that. We need to have someone who looks at the issues from their value today. Not from the perspective of: “We’ve always done things that way.” or “Wouldn’t it be nice if we could do all things for all people?” or “We’ll deal with those obligations later.” We need someone to look at the issues face on and I believe Ryan is the most qualified to do that, but of course, it is just my opinion.
By Lucy January 31, 2012 at 6:48 pm
Like I said everyone has their opinion and it is their right. I agree those are all important issues but I disagree that Ryan Payne can do any of those things. But we all have our own opinions and I believe the other three candidates before us have lots to bring to the table.