The Bobby Buzz

Sources at the S.C. State House tell FITS a furious campaign is underway for the most powerful position in state government – Speaker of the S.C. House of Representatives.
Wait a minute … isn’t that office presently occupied?
Indeed it is .. so why are several lawmakers openly campaigning for the seat? According to our sources, it’s because [...]

SC House Bans Gubernatorial Lobbying

The S.C. House of Representatives voted on Tuesday to ban taxpayer-funded lobbying in the governor’s office – putting S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley in the awkward position of having to lobby the legislature to overturn the amendment.
First, here’s the text of the amendment (sponsored by S.C. Rep. Boyd Brown) that passed the House:
SECTION 1B, Amendment 95
Rep. [...]

SCDOT “Reform” Must Actually Reform SCDOT

For the second time in five years, South Carolina’s “Republican-controlled” state government is proposing to “reform” the S.C. Department of Transportation (SCDOT).
But is that really what’s going to happen?
Not if things stay as they are …
While we credit GOP lawmakers – and S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley – for supporting needed structural changes at this agency, [...]

SCGOP Flees “Exchange” Bill

“Run away! Run away!”
No, this isn’t a scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, it’s the scene that’s unfolding at the S.C. State House after several “Republican” lawmakers got their hands caught in Barack Obama’s cookie jar.
Several SCGOP lawmakers are now fleeing a bill they previously sponsored that would have established a government-run, Massachusetts-style [...]

The Pointless Pledge

What’s the point of having a “taxpayer protection pledge” if it’s rarely followed and never enforced?
That’s the question our founding editor asked Grover Norquist, whose Washington D.C.-based Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) organization administers the nation’s most widely-regarded taxpayer protection pledge.
Norquist’s answer? We’re not sure we ever got a good one …
Sure, Norquist made plenty [...]

Sheheen Rolls Out Reforms

S.C. Senator Vincent Sheheen may have lost the Palmetto state’s governor’s race last month – but he’s still pushing ideas that he believes will make South Carolina’s state government more efficient and accountable to the taxpayers it’s supposed to serve.
Some of them actually will …
On Thursday, Sheheen rolled out a six-piece reform agenda that includes [...]

Bingham Withdraws From SC Pro Tempore Race

By FITSNews || S.C. House Majority Leader Kenny Bingham (RINO – Lexington) has withdrawn from the race to replace ousted S.C. Speaker Pro Tempore Harry Cato – a move that signals the increasing vulnerability of House Speaker Bobby Harrell.
Bingham – whose candidacy Harrell was supporting – withdrew from the race Tuesday evening citing “major undercurrents.”
Hmmmm [...]

Effort To Ban Taxpayer-Funded Educrat Lobbying Fails

By FITSNews || So much for South Carolina lawmakers working to “put more money into the classroom …”
Last Thursday – by a one-vote margin – the “GOP-controlled” S.C. House of Representatives rejected a proposal that would have prohibited school districts from routing taxpayer money to fund bureaucratic advocacy groups, which use the money to lobby [...]