Author: South Carolina Policy Council

In 2008, the South Carolina Policy Council wanted to know why state spending was so high, so we started to look at how lawmakers were voting. We found there was…

In 2008 the South Carolina Policy Council wanted to know why state spending was so high, so we started to look at how lawmakers were voting. We found there was…

The House budget, as passed by the full Ways & Means Committee, was finally posted yesterday. The budget (H 3700) is expected to go to the floor for a vote…

The budget is expected to hit the House floor on March 15. According to various media outlets, that budget is $5.2 billion. But as the Policy Council has written before,…

For the past few decades, states have experimented with various forms of zero- and performance-based budgeting practices as a means of making state agencies more efficient and accountable. Many states,…

The concentration of power in South Carolina’s legislature is such that the executive branch is generally unable to institute major reforms without the cooperation of the Legislature, whether stemming from…

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), more popularly known as “Obamacare,” is expected to cost trillions and increase the national debt by hundreds of billions of dollars. All…

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is expected to cost trillions and increase the national debt by hundreds of billions of dollars. All in all, taxpayers are looking…

Every lawmaker in South Carolina seems to support roll call voting. And for good reason. Citizens have a fundamental right to know how their representatives are voting. Still, legislators continue…

As the 119th session of the General Assembly begins, roll call voting remains a hot button issue. Of the 11 bills currently before the General Assembly, we’ve identified five of…

In 2009 and 2010, the House and Senate combined only recorded 25 percent of their votes. Significant laws that didn’t receive a recorded vote in the Senate range from multimillion…

Each year we review the best and worst ideas taken up during the legislative session, focusing on those bills that will either make South Carolina more free and more prosperous…

As South Carolina Senators are deliberating a Senate Resolution (cf. S 9) to require roll call voting in the S.C. General Assembly, we have analyzed more roll call voting bills…

With a new session comes more opportunities for the General Assembly to pass legislation impacting the lives of South Carolinians. As the stimulus money comes off the books this year,…

We have concluded that a formula based on supply (available revenue as measured by economic productivity) rather than demand (the perceived need for governmental services) provides the best measure for…

Want to know 25 ways we can unleash opportunity, freedom and hope in South Carolina? Here are 25 ideas taken from the pages of the Policy Council’s new blueprint for…

According to a recent actuarial valuation analysis performed for the state Budget & Control Board, South Carolina’s retirement system is carrying a$12 billion unfunded liability. These conclusions are similar to…

In preparation for the release of our annual Best & Worst legislative review next week, here is a preview of the best of the best and the worst of the…

The S.C. Budget and Control Board recently announced a moratorium halting construction at four-year public institutions that raised tuition by 7 percent or more for the 2010-2011 school year.

While South Carolinians can take pride in our state’s higher educational system, costs and tuition have skyrocketed in recent years, even as graduation rates remain below 40 percent. At the…

In case you weren’t able to attend the governor’s summit on higher education (held September 28, 2010), we are posting Dr. Michael Poliakoff’s PowerPoint presentation. Dr. Poliakoff is director of…

This is the final report in our ongoing analysis of the state’s 2010 SAT scores.

Last week, the S.C. Department of Education almost suggested the state’s second-lowest-in-the-nation SAT score was excused by increased participation rates. At the very least, let’s say they focused on increased…

Fewer South Carolina students took the SAT in 2010 than in 2009, as participation rates for African-American and white students fell. This finding raises questions about the S.C. Department of…

    As reported earlier, the statewide results of the 2010 SAT have been released by the College Board. Districtwide results are also out now. These are the results:  …

South Carolina student performance on the 2010 SAT declined by 5 points to a lowest-in-the-South average composite score of 1447. Students from private schools and religiously affiliated schools again scored…

SC state government has no balance of power. The legislature MAKES laws, EXECUTES laws and elects the judges who INTERPRET laws. Want proof? The SC Legislature controls more than 420 appointments…

As education policy makers across the state await the release of the 2010 SAT scores, it's worth reviewing how South Carolina fared on the 2009 SAT. In Part I of…

Any way you measure it, South Carolina has one of the longest legislative sessions in the country. Such a lengthy session is not only unnecessary, it bars most citizens from…

The first step toward holding the legislative leadership accountable for their actions is to hold legislators accountable for their votes.  The people of South Carolina have a fundamental right to…