One Step Closer to Education Transparency

Education
Blog · May 7, 2024

After a year of silence on the issue, the South Carolina General Assembly is finally taking steps to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the South Carolina Transparency and Integrity in Education Act (H.3728) and send it to the Governor to be signed into law. Palmetto Promise has advocated for this important legislation that

Recruiting & Retaining South Carolina’s Teachers

Education
Blog · May 6, 2024

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, we’d like to draw attention to important legislation aimed at addressing South Carolina’s teacher shortage. South Carolina’s teacher shortage is one of the major problems facing education in our state. At the beginning of the 2023-24 school year, there were roughly 1,600 teacher vacancies statewide, a 9% increase from the previous

More Jobs, More Freedom, Better Health

Healthcare
Blog · May 1, 2024

This spring, there have been several bills moving through the General Assembly that would streamline licensing for healthcare professionals and ensure South Carolinians have more choices in healthcare.   These healthcare freedom reforms are much needed here in South Carolina. Following last year’s repeal of the burdensome Certificate of Need (CON) statute that prevented healthcare from

What Tax to Cut? Property or Income?

Tax & Budget
Blog · April 30, 2024

At Palmetto Promise, we are always reluctant to question any move by the South Carolina General Assembly to cut taxes or flatten tax rates. So, we greet with joy the fact that in the wake of an estimated $500-$600 million state revenue surplus that has built up since 2020, the Senate and the House are

Judicial Reform Lives, with House now Considering Senate Bill

Quality of Life
Blog · April 29, 2024

UPDATE: The SC House overwhelmingly passed S.1046, amended as outlined below. The Senate did not concur in those amendments, and the bill now heads to a Conference Committee, made up of Senators Rankin, Massey, and Malloy and Representatives W. Newton, Caskey, and Stavrinakis.  At the end of March 2024, following two weeks of debate and

Honoring a Champion of Free Enterprise

Blog · April 25, 2024

Palmetto Promise has been a stalwart defender of free enterprise here in South Carolina, and this week, we had the privilege of recognizing a dedicated public servant and Champion of Free Enterprise at the South Carolina Governor’s Mansion. The Honorable Terry Branstad served as Ambassador to China in the Trump Administration from 2017-2020. Before that,

New Book Regulation Aims for Age-Appropriateness, not Book Banning

Education
Blog · April 15, 2024
Library with many shelves and books, diminishing perspective and shallow dof

The State Department of Education (SCDE) has threaded the needle amazingly well in their recently passed new regulations for school textbooks and other curriculum materials. This is the regulation that would govern which books and other curriculum materials could be in school libraries and classrooms. Because all regulations must receive the approval of the South