1. What is actually in H.4216, the Republican Tax Cut Plan? H.4216 is a conservative-sponsored plan to cut the top current South Carolina individual income tax rate from 6.2% to 3.99%, then on down to 2.49% if the economy stays healthy.   2. Who will benefit from the Tax Cut Plan? Everyone will benefit from the

Over ten years ago, Travis Brown wrote How Money Walks: How $2 trillion Moved Between States, and Why it Matters. In the foreword, legendary economist Dr. Art Laffer summarized it as a study of “the migration of working wealth as a direct result of personal income tax rates…”  Based on IRS tax return data, Brown

For South Carolina schools and school districts, one of the most important goals is to do well on the SC School Report Card. This state school report card is built to evaluate schools based on their standardized test performance, teacher qualifications, safety, awards, parent involvement, and other factors. The Report Card aims to inspire schools

At Palmetto Promise, we believe in the power of ideas backed by strong policy research. That belief was put to the test and proven true when our July 2024 report, Small Modular Reactors: An Answer to South Carolina’s Energy Crisis, helped lay the groundwork for a major bipartisan breakthrough in Columbia.  In recent months, both

One of the scariest financial burdens on the average American citizen is their trip to a hospital. Without protections for health care billing transparency, individuals often walk into a hospital to receive help, unaware of the hefty bill that will inevitably hit their mailbox weeks later.   Take, for example, the case of Amanda Partee-Manders, a

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner!  You, our readers, have spent the last few weeks participating in a Palmetto Promise March Madness of sorts, choosing each week the policies you believe are most important for the state of South Carolina. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, given its victory in our bracket last year, Education Scholarship Accounts

Today, April 16, is a momentous day for the school choice movement in South Carolina. After weeks of negotiations between leaders in the House and Senate, we have now finally seen the resulting amendment on S.62, the bill to restore South Carolina’s ESA program—the Education Scholarship Trust Fund. The “magic amendment” was presented today in

“Parents want and deserve the best education for their children.  But too many children do not thrive in their assigned, government-run K-12 school…  It is the policy of my Administration to support parents in choosing and directing the upbringing and education of their children.”  – President Donald Trump, January 29, 2025  The Educational Choice for

After four weeks of heated debate, in the late hours of the night on March 26, the South Carolina Senate reached an agreement on S.244, the tort reform legislation that aims to make South Carolina’s civil liability system fairer, particularly in complex cases that involve multiple parties.  Senate passage of the bill was a tremendous