The Lieutenant Governor in South Carolina serves three major functions. As your next Lt. Gov, here is what I promise to do in those roles.
1. Preside over the State Senate
In my role as President of the Senate, I will have to make significant decisions and rulings that affect the votes and outcomes of Senate Legislation. I promise that I will continue the work of my predecessor, who ruled numerous tax increases out of order, saving South Carolina taxpayers over $2 billion. In addition, I will work with Senate leaders to focus government spending on core functions of government, cutting government waste and pork, and saving additional millions of dollars for South Carolina taxpayers.
2. Act as an Economic Development Ambassador for South Carolina
The Lt. Gov. has a unique role assisting the Governor and the Administration in promoting South Carolina as a place to which businesses should locate. In this role, I will work to increase economic development in our state, from the growth of local businesses, to businesses who locate from around the country, to businesses that relocate from around the world. I believe South Carolina can be a new center for energy production and export, and will work to ensure that those businesses create tens of thousands of new jobs for South Carolinians. I will also work to promote South Carolina agricultural products, tourist destinations, and manufacturing capabilities to the world, opening our products to new markets and bringing in the cutting edge jobs of the 21st Century. Currently this is not one of the prescribed duties of the Lt. Governor, but I’d like to work with the Governor and Legislature to add this role, as Lt. Governor Bauer did with the Office on Aging. Until it is added, I will offer my services as economic Ambassador to the next Governor.
3. Head the Office on Aging
The Lt. Gov. now has the role of leading the state Office on Aging. We owe the Greatest Generation a debt we can never fully repay. I promise to work closely with state agencies to ensure that senior citizens in our state get all of the care and services to which they are entitled, and to bring fresh ideas and free market concepts to the Agency. The Office on Aging has a role to play in economic development as well – for every new retiree couple who calls South Carolina home, we create an average of 3.7 new jobs. I will work to make South Carolina a senior friendly place to attract thousands of new retirees and create new jobs at the same time. I want to find ways to help the Governor’s overall economic plan by finding ways to bring the right kind of retirees to SC.
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Of course, those aren’t all the issues that we face in South Carolina. Here are some of the other things I stand for that I’d like to work for in South Carolina:
• Protect Life. Our state currently has a one-hour waiting limit for abortion. Most states have a 24-hour waiting period, while ours is at one hour. Saving lives is worth taking the time make sure the right decisions are made. Of course, my preference would be to do away with abortion altogether – and we are seeing movement in our culture in that direction, with the development of ultrasound technologies that allow us to see the development of life in the womb. I pray that continues.
• End the tax on military and law enforcement retirement. We have 56,000 military retirees bringing over $1.14 Billion a year in retiree income. Almost all these retirees get second jobs and have Federal health care. Despite all the good they bring the state, we tax their military retirement. This pushes thousands to retire elsewhere, which means money and jobs going to other states. I want to work with the senate to end the tax on military retirement and on law enforcement retirement. I also want to increase the “homestead exemption” to bring in more non-military retirees.
• End income tax in SC. I want to work with the Governor and Senate to end the state corporate and income tax. Ending these taxes is the simple, but proven, way to bring business to SC. Texas has shown the way in this regard. Government doesn’t create jobs, private enterprise creates jobs. Private enterprise will go the most financially advantageous locations. Additionally, insteady of spending massive state benefits to catch one “big fish” (in which much of the money will actually go out the state), ending these taxes helps SC small business. We would go to a state consumption tax to make up the revenues and everyone would have to pay taxes. not just those who work hard. I recently signed the South Carolina Association of Taxpayers’ “Taxpayer Protection Pledge,” so you know I do not support tax increases in our state.
• Energy Independence. Our state has the opportunity to jump start economic development by doing two things: building new nuclear reactors to generate electricity and drilling offshore for natural gas. Nuclear is proven and its clean. It produces far less pollution that many other options at a cost that is reasonable. The production of nuclear power could actually make us an exporter of energy rather than an importer, which would be a tremendous step for our state’s business community. It’s also important to note that natural gas exploration can (and must) be undertaken in a way that presents no threat to our tourism industry.
• State Sovereignty. There has been a movement of late to pass resolutions that declare the sovereignty of our state under the 10th Amendment of the Constitution (which reserves rights to the states that have not been granted to the federal government.) This needs to deepen. When we see crazy legislation coming out of Washington that threatens freedom, we need to take a stand and say “not here.” This means state legislation that says no to “public option” health care plans, “cap-and-trade”, or any of the other myriad ways the federal government has intervened in areas reserved for states. When I talk about making South Carolina a “Shining City on a Hill,” this is what I mean – making our state a place that holds to our values of life, liberty and limited government in a way that empowers other states to follow our example and return to our foundational Constitutional principles.
• Constitutional Mindset. We want a Constitutionally minded conservative person who knows the Laws of this state as Lt. Governor. All legislation goes through the Lt. Governor, and as a conservative Law School graduate I will know what to look for in saving our state money and ensuring we pass laws that will work.
• School Choice. The education debacle can be ended with one word: Competition. We need more charter schools, tax credits for private and home schooling. This will allow parents the method to “vote with their feet”, therefore ending failing schools and rewarding ones that work. We spend almost $12,000 per student for a system that produces the lowest SAT scores and graduation rates in the nation. We need to improve that return on investment by mandating that more money reach the classroom instead of the bureaucracy.
• Ready to Lead. The prime reason to pick a Lt. Gov. is that person is ready to be Governor. We discovered in recent months how important the Lieutenant Governor can be. The Lt. Gov’s leadership experience, maturity, and decisiveness are critical. I have the leadership experience through nearly 20 years in the military, and have proven my leadership in combat, the toughest crucible of leadership. I’m tested and ready. If we were to be hit with another 9-11 in SC, we don’t want a rookie learning about life and death decision-making. The Governor commands the National Guard, and state law enforcement and must know the laws of the state. I have the right breadth of experience and education to take that step if required.
