Private Donors Help Low-Income Kids Stay In Schools Of Their Choice

Education
Blog · March 13, 2025

This article by Patrick Gleason originally appeared in Forbes. The South Carolina Supreme Court issued a decision last September to strike down the state’s Education Scholarship Trust Fund (ESTF), upending a new education savings account (ESA)-style program enacted by South Carolina lawmakers the prior year. The ESTF program struck down by the South Carolina Supreme

RELEASE: DeVos Foundation Donates $250,000 to Palmetto Promise Institute’s ESTF Families Rescue Fund

Education
Blog · March 13, 2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DeVos Foundation Donates $250,000 to Palmetto Promise Institute’s ESTF Families Rescue Fund COLUMBIA, SC — The Dick and Betsy DeVos Foundation has made a generous $250,000 donation to the ESTF Families Fund, an initiative launched by Palmetto Promise Institute to assist low-income families impacted by the South Carolina Supreme Court’s decision to

Historical Record Proves ESAs are Constitutional: The Story of Governor John West and His Rosetta Stone

Education
Blog · March 12, 2025

To justify its decision striking down Education Scholarship Trust Fund (ESTF) grants for low- and moderate-income K-12 students in September of last year (2024), the South Carolina Supreme Court presented a Palmetto State history lesson, but it was a perverse one. In the majority’s peculiar characterizations of South Carolina’s past, the words of arch-racist Ben

Restoring Hope for Low-Income Students — A Conversation about the Fight for School Choice in South Carolina with Wendy Damron

Education
Blog · March 12, 2025

Palmetto Promise President and CEO Wendy Damron is honored to have been featured on the State Policy Network’s Neighbors in the Network podcast this week. Read about her interview and check out the whole episode below! When the South Carolina Supreme Court unexpectedly ruled mid-school year against the state’s Education Scholarship Trust Fund, thousands of low-income students suddenly faced

SC’s Liability Laws are Judicial Socialism, Plain and Simple

Quality of Life
Blog · March 4, 2025

Our state’s civil justice statutes are in dire need of reform—on many levels.    But specifically, it is our system of modified comparative negligence that is often so scandalously unjust. “Nuclear” outcomes have become common, especially in venues like Richland County, where eight-figure verdicts have become routine in recent years. In 2024, a jury awarded a

Let’s Unshackle South Carolina’s Physicians by Eliminating Non-Competes

Healthcare
Blog · March 3, 2025

In the 126th General Assembly, key South Carolina legislators are working to pass S.46, a bill that signals that physician non-compete agreements both interfere with physician-patient relationships and corporatize the practice of medicine. The bill is designed to put an end to medical non-competes.  What is a noncompete agreement?  A noncompete agreement is a legal

A Free Market Solution for South Carolina’s Energy Future

Energy
Blog · March 3, 2025

South Carolina is at a turning point. With one of the fastest-growing populations in the country and a booming economy, the demand for reliable, affordable energy has never been higher. Yet, our outdated energy system—dominated by utility monopolies—is struggling to keep up. Without modernization, we risk not only higher costs but also potential energy shortages

Learn More about the ESTF Families Rescue Fund

Education
Blog · March 1, 2025

Below, you can find press releases and media coverage of Palmetto Promise Institute’s ESTF Families Rescue Fund, which helps pay the tuition of families in South Carolina’s Education Scholarship Trust Fund program whose scholarships were ripped away by the SC Supreme Court. To learn more or contribute, contact Wendy Damron at wendy@palmettopromise.org or donate here

South Carolina’s Telehealth Laws Receive an F Grade

Healthcare
Blog · February 27, 2025

Our friends at the Cicero Institute annually publish an analysis of telehealth laws across the 50 states. Earlier this year, Palmetto Promise released an analysis of improvements needed in South Carolina’s telehealth laws, relying on previous editions of Cicero’s grading system that did not account for the Telehealth and Telemedicine Modernization Act, which was signed