Palmetto Promise Institute released a report on Tuesday outlining 12 steps to jumpstart South Carolina’s economy.    “These 12 common sense ideas are the spark our state’s economic engine needs,” Palmetto Promise CEO Ellen Weaver said in releasing the list. “Each one has been tried on a temporary basis here in South Carolina or is

Palmetto Promise Institute joined the Mackinac Center along with several other State Policy Network partners calling on Congress to not bailout state or local governments for budget issues not associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. You can read the letter below.  May 8, 2020 Dear Leader McConnell, Speaker Pelosi, and Minority leaders Schumer and McCarthy: The

Governor McMaster clearly wants the state back open for business. He also clearly wants no sudden spike in coronavirus that could overwhelm our hospitals and cost lives. While we can’t entirely eliminate this risk, we can work together to smartly manage it. This means moving quickly away from an ambiguous “essential v. non-essential” approach and

In a matter of days, broadband connectivity went from being a luxury to a virtual necessity. Millions of adults suddenly found themselves working from home and students moved to learning online practically overnight. For many individuals, the only way to see their doctor is through telemedicine. While some communities across America have the internet infrastructure

While there are many suffering significant loss in the COVID fall-out, one of the most apparent personal inconveniences during business closures has been the lack of available barbers and hair dressers. Protests across the United States last week, while aimed at concerns about the need for a larger economic restart, revealed that Americans were also

An old fight, in a new arena…? Turf battles between the Governor and General Assembly are nothing new in the Palmetto State. Due to a relatively weak executive branch established by our state’s Ben Tillman-era constitution, more often than not, the Governor ends up with the short end of that stick. The specter of The

Palmetto Promise Institute President & CEO Ellen Weaver was quoted in this Post & Courier article about a South Carolina bill to remove barriers to work for military spouses. S.455 will recognize licenses from military spouses moving into South Carolina without them having to go through the expensive and time-consuming license process.  By Thomas Novelly 

A Palmetto Promise Institute blog post is featured in this Post & Courier story regarding reciprocating occupational and professional licenses across state lines for military spouses.  By Thomas Novelly It’s been a tough year for the S.C. Military Base Task Force. More than a dozen bills proposed in 2019 made little traction in the Statehouse. And

On Thursday, H.3263\S.455 passed through conference committee and now awaits ratification and a signature by the Governor. Once signed into law, the new statue will allow the state to issue a temporary professional or occupational license to spouses of military service members who move to South Carolina with an existing license from another state. This

Last week was “sine die,” the official end of the legislative session. During the legislative term, we updated you frequently on the issues that compose our Freedom Agenda: education, energy, tax reform and healthcare. But those were not the only important issues we tracked in defense of liberty in the 2019 legislative session.