Policy Bracketology: Help us Pick our Final Four!
It’s time for the next round of voting in our Palmetto Freedom Agenda Faceoff! The NCAA Final Four have been selected this weekend – now we need you to vote on ours!
After a tight competition in round one, we have two Freedom Agenda items in each region vying for a spot in the Final Four. Which items do you think are most important for South Carolina to consider this legislative session?
Learn more about the contenders and cast your votes below, with a deadline of April 4.
(click to enlarge the graphic and click through links to learn more about each policy topic!)
EDUCATION REGION
Matchup 1
Universal Education Scholarship Accounts (ESAs)
After the SC Supreme Court ruled the state’s initial school choice program unconstitutional, we are on a mission to restore school choice in our state and ensure every child has access to the education option of their choice.
Public School Choice – Open Enrollment
Your zipcode should not determine your destiny. Students should be able to move between public schools outside their residential zone to find the best fit for them.
HEALTHCARE REGION
MATCHUP 2
Streamline Bureaucratic Health Agencies
South Carolina’s fractured healthcare system is in desperate need of coordination and streamlining among its agencies dealing with health. This saves money and delivers services more effectively and efficiently for citizens.
Price Transparency in Medical Billing
You should know what you are going to pay for a medical procedure, BEFORE you get it done, not when you get the bill in the mail. This lets patients “shop” between different healthcare providers to find the best cost and service.
FREE MARKET & ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY REGION
MATCHUP 3
Comprehensive Tax Reform
South Carolina’s income tax is the highest in the Southeast. We have lots of work to do cutting our high individual income tax, our elevated corporate property tax, and our “innovation tax” that drives economic development from the Palmetto State. Tax reform takes addressing all of these areas!
Lower Electricity Bills, More Capacity
South Carolina’s energy market is uncompetitive, expensive, and full of monopoly utilities. We need to encourage innovation and energy production, all while ensuring costs are not passed on to ratepayers, who already have some of the highest energy bills in the nation.
FREE & FAIR LEGAL SYSTEM REGION
MATCHUP 4
Repeal the Lawsuit Tax
South Carolina households pay $3,181 annually in a lawsuit tax brought on by the state’s lawsuit industry that incentivizes billboard lawyers to chase “cash cow” defendants. This drives businesses away from our state, and it’s causing liability insurance rates to skyrocket. We have got to make our laws more fair.
Magistrate Judge Reform
Last year’s judicial reforms were good, but they left out a major part of South Carolina’s judicial system: magistrate judges. These courts are the busiest in the state, but judges aren’t required to have a law degree and are appointed in a sketchy process rife with conflicts of interest. Magistrates should go through a rigorous screening before they are appointed to rule on cases.
