Tag: S.C. Senate

Ethics Reform – Not So Fast

Watered Down Ethics Reform Bill Nears Approval

A very watered down ethics reform bill was reported out of conference committee Wednesday and received an overwhelming vote of yeas in the S.C. House yesterday.

The bill must be approved by the Senate before going to Gov. Nikki Haley’s desk for signature.

But, the key measure needed for real ethics reform in South Carolina was left behind by the conference committee.

South Carolina’s legislators just can’t allow themselves to be at the mercy of an independent ethics commission, so the House and Senate Ethics Committees remain as the investigatory bodies for the state’s legislators.

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Robert Ford Threatens Ethics Violations Exposure

Former Sen. Robert Ford has said he will start calling names if S. C. lawmakers don’t stop the practice of using their public positions to grab millions of taxpayer dollars for personal gain.

In an article by Corey Hutchins of the Charleston City Paper, Ford is quoted as saying this will ‘make the tea party movement look like a beer drinking contest.
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Ford resigned his longtime senate seat during S.C. Senate Ethics Committee hearings into alleged misuse by Ford of his campaign funds.

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Ethics Reform – Not So Fast

Another Ethics Reform Failure

There is no ethics reform this year for South Carolina politicians because the S.C. Senate wasn’t interested in changing the way the ethics of its members is monitored.

Last summer, Gov. Nikki Haley ran around the state, accompanied by Attorney General Alan Wilson, trumpeting the need to tighten ethics laws in the state and overhaul the way in which ethics oversight is accomplished.

That no bill was passed in the General Assembly this year says everything that needs to be said about the way in which the state is governed.

The 1895 Constitution, which governs the state, places all real power in the General Assembly. If it doesn’t want to act, no force on earth can make it.

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Bill Fixes Election Filing Requirements

The South Carolina Senate moved quickly in this new session to clear up candidate election filing requirements so that, hopefully, another filing disaster, like the one that occurred for the 2012 general elections, will be avoided.

Under the new rules, incumbents and challengers both must file a Statement of Economic Interests electronically with the S.C. Ethics Commission prior to filing a Statement of Intention of Candidacy or Nomination for Petition.

A party executive committee may not accept a SIC unless the committee has verified that the candidate has electronically filed a SEI.

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