Thank you, legislators, for providing education freedom!
With the passage of the Education Scholarship Trust Fund program, also known as Education Scholarship Accounts, there are so many thank yous to offer. So many years of work! it is dangerous to single out individuals, but here are some of our ESA champions:
South Carolina Senate
Senators Larry Grooms, Greg Hembree, and Rex Rice
Majority Leader and Subcommittee Chair Senator Shane Massey
Senate Sponsors of Recent Bills (S.935 and S.39) in order of sponsorship: Larry Grooms, Dwight Loftis, Stephen Goldfinch, Danny Verdin, Rex Rice, Richard Cash, Brian Adams, Wes Climer, Harvey Peeler, Billy Garrett, Josh Kimbrell, Tom Davis, Chip Campsen, Greg Hembree, Ross Turner, Tom Corbin, Sean Bennett, Shane Massey, Mike Gambrell, Luke Rankin, Sandy Senn and Penry Gustafson.
South Carolina House of Representatives
Representatives Shannon Erickson and Jason Elliott
Speaker Murrell Smith and Former Speaker Jay Lucas
Former Representative (now Congressman) Russell Fry
House Sponsors of Recent Bills (H.3976 or H.4879) in order of sponsorship: Shannon Erickson, Jason Elliott, Tommy Pope, Jay West, Brandon Newton, Murrell Smith, William Bailey, Nathan Ballentine, Bruce Bannister, Jeff Bradley, Case Brittain, Mike Burns, Joe Bustos, Micah Caskey, Bobby Cox, Heather Crawford, Sylleste Davis, Cally Forrest, Patrick Haddon, Kevin Hardee, Bill Herbkersman, Lee Hewitt, Davey Hiott, Bill Hixon, Max Hyde, Jeff Johnson, Stewart Jones, Jay Jordan, Randy Ligon, Steven Long, Phillip Lowe, R.J. May, Tim McGinnis, Adam Morgan, Dennis Moss, Chris Murphy, Weston Newton, Melissa Lackey Oremus, Bill Sandifer, Mark Smith, Bill Taylor, Anne Thayer, Ashley Trantham, Mark Willis, Chris Wooten, Richie Yow, Roger Nutt, John McCravy, Josiah Magnuson, Bart Blackwell, Paula Rawl Calhoon.
Former Representatives:
Russell Fry, Jay Lucas, Gary Simrill, Lin Bennett, Bruce Bryant, West Cox, Joe Daning, Chip Huggins, Mandy Kimmons, Rick Martin, Sandy McGarry, Steve Moss, Garry Smith, Tommy Stringer, and Brian White.
We were also honored to receive a thank you of our own:
“We would like to take a moment to note the hard work of the team at Palmetto Promise. Passage of this bill is due in large measure to their passion and persistence over multiple years.”
—American Federation for Children
