It seems that everywhere you go in South Carolina there’s a healthcare bill horror story.

“South Carolina’s educational funding scheme is a fractured formula denying students…constitutionally required opportunity.” – South Carolina Supreme Court PROBLEM 1: South Carolina’s overall academic performance is poor…and falling below Mississippi. South Carolina is at—or near—the bottom of every major national ranking of education outcomes. In 2017-18, 2/3rds of 3rd-8th graders did not meet grade level

Last month, Reason Foundation released its 24th Annual Highway Report on the condition of America’s roads and bridges. The annual study provides state-by-state comparative data, rating each state according to factors such as rural/urban interstate conditions and cost-effectiveness of spending per mile.

The manufacturing process for Century Aluminum is extremely electricity dependent, requiring at full capacity 400 megawatts of electricity per year. That level of use (400 megawatts would power 80,000 homes) means that electricity is about 40% of the cost of operating the plant, its single highest expense. Unfortunately, high energy costs risk putting it out of business.

Download this report. 

A recent poll conducted by the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce shows that 71% of registered voters support a simpler state tax code. Since 2017, Palmetto Promise has been doing the research to show how South Carolina’s unfair, unstable, and uncompetitive tax system is killing the little guy. The good news: states like North Carolina

Tax reform advocate Ellen Weaver of the Palmetto Promise Institute said the surplus shows the state can handle big changes — such as lowering rates and broadening the base — in revenue collections. Weaver added current budgeting practices need to be addressed.

Download this report.  Earlier this month, the online opinion journal EducationNext rolled out the results of its annual poll on issues in American education. We always anticipate this nonpartisan survey because it provides a window into the minds of the general public on issues we track here at Palmetto Promise, like education choice and school

Earlier this summer, Palmetto Promise Institute conducted an in-depth study of aspects of Santee Cooper’s finances. Due to the opaque nature of Santee Cooper’s finances, our research was based on Santee Cooper published sources, legal filings, correspondence to elected officials, legislative hearings, and the reporting of The State and The Post & Courier.

Test scores for South Carolina’s special needs students have worsened considerably over the past 20 years. It’s especially telling when you compare South Carolina’s trajectory to nearby states.