- BIG STORY: GOP budget to hurt hundreds of thousands in S.C., experts say
- MORE NEWS: Teachers, taxpayers, legislators win in state budget
- LOWCOUNTRY, Ariail: You can’t go home again
- BRACK: National carnage, chaos need to stop
- MYSTERY PHOTO: Historic storefronts
- FEEDBACK: Send us your thoughts
GOP budget would hurt hundreds of thousands in S.C., experts warn
By Jack O’Toole, Capital Bureau | A Republican budget bill that would slash more than $1 trillion from federal health care and food-assistance programs, cut taxes primarily for wealthy Americans and add almost $4 trillion to the national debt is raising alarms among experts and advocates across South Carolina.
The legislation, officially dubbed the “Big Beautiful Bill Act,” passed the Republican-controlled House on May 22 in a 215-214 vote, overwhelmingly along party lines. Under the bill, about 14 million Americans would lose health care coverage and at least 5 million would lose food aid, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and independent estimates.
Sixth District Democratic U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, the only South Carolina member who voted no, highlighted the potential impact of the cuts at a May 29 town hall in North Charleston.
“They call it the Big Beautiful Bill,” he said in remarks prepared for the event. “I call it the Huge Ugly Bill. Republicans are taking food and
health care from the poorest to pay for a massive tax cut for the richest.”
Clyburn went on to note that five out of eight nursing home patients in the state are covered by Medicaid, and that another 600,000 residents — mostly families with children — rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for food aid.
“The Huge Ugly [Bill] is so big and so bad that it can be hard to keep it all straight,” Clyburn said. “[But] here’s the bottom line: it would take food and health care away from working people to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy.”
South Carolina GOP U.S. Reps. Nancy Mace, and Ralph Norman — who both voted for the bill and have said they’re considering gubernatorial runs next year — did not respond to requests for comment.
But the White House and many GOP members argue that official estimates of the bill’s effects fail to account for positive impacts from economic growth they say it would create.
‘Cruel’ Medicaid and food cuts
S.C. Appleseed Center Director of Policy Sue Berkowitz called the cuts “cruel” in a May 29 interview.
“These Medicaid and nutrition cuts would devastate low-income people,” she told Statehouse Report. “Hundreds of thousands of South Carolinians would lose health care, and the SNAP cuts would take food out of the mouths of hungry people who need it.”
What’s worse, she argues, are the larger impacts that cuts of that magnitude would have on systems that all South Carolinians rely on.
“What we’re going to see, particularly in the rural areas, are hospitals and medical providers that rely on Medicaid closing down,” she said. “And that becomes a health crisis for all of us.”
Similarly, she warns that new unfunded SNAP mandates could force state lawmakers to consider deep cuts to beneficiaries or even eliminate the program entirely.
“This turned out to be an easy budget year, but we’re going to see huge cuts and a lot of pain if this bill passes,” she said. “And our [state] legislators should be really angry that this shift has been pushed onto the states to cut income taxes for the wealthiest Americans.”
More health care cuts under the ACA
Long a lightning rod among politicians, the Affordable Care Act — or Obamacare as it was first known — has proven increasingly popular with South Carolinians, with about 600,000 now purchasing subsidized health insurance through the program.
And while Medicaid cuts are getting most of the attention, Palmetto Project President and CEO Aaron Polkey says tens of thousands more South Carolinians stand to lose coverage under the ACA if the Big Beautiful Bill becomes law. The Palmetto Project operates the state’s only nonprofit insurance agency, specializing in subsidized ACA plans.
Of particular concern, Polkey says, are provisions that would lower current income eligibility thresholds and raise premiums for those who still qualify.
“It would just make health insurance much more expensive for folks who don’t qualify for Medicaid but are working people who need coverage,” he told Statehouse Report on May 29. “And that’s the whole point of the Affordable Care Act.”
The budget bill, which President Donald Trump has called “arguably the most significant piece of legislation that will ever be signed in the history of our country,” is now in the U.S. Senate, where at least three Republican members have publicly expressed concerns about the cuts.
- Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
State budget has more money for teachers, taxpayers, legislators
By Jack O’Toole, Capitol bureau | A $14.7 billion state budget that includes an income tax cut, higher teacher pay, more money for ailing roads and bridges, and a raise for legislators is headed for the governor’s desk after it won final passage in the General Assembly on May 28.
In addition, the spending plan maintained existing freezes on state employee health insurance premiums and in-state tuition at colleges and universities.
But it was the pay raise for legislators — actually, an $18,000 increase in the stipend they’re given for “in-district expenses” — that got all the attention.
Currently, legislators are paid $10,400 in salary, $12,000 for in-district expenses, and are eligible for food and lodging reimbursements of up to $230 a day when the legislature is in session. Unlike the daily reimbursements, in-district expenses are paid out to members automatically, without receipts.
But before the final vote, House Ways and Means Chairman Bruce Bannister admonished his colleagues to use the expenses for their intended purpose.
“It’s not a pay raise, it’s an expense reimbursement,” Bannister said. “If you do not spend the money on your constituents, then that is on you.”
Gov. Henry McMaster hasn’t said whether he’ll use his veto pen to strike any line items in the budget, though he’s suggested the pay increase — lawmakers first since 1995 — is likely safe.
Federal judge blasts Trump administration in local grants case
A Lowcountry nonprofit won its David-versus-Goliath fight against the Trump administration last week when U.S. District Court Judge Richard Gergel ruled federal officials illegally canceled a $11.4 million Biden-era local grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) .
North Charleston’s Sustainability Institute was the lead plaintiff in a national case involving 12 nonprofits, six cities and a total of 38 grants. The ruling immediately restored funding for the nonprofit plaintiffs and set aside the city grants for later consideration.
At a charged May 19 courthouse hearing in Charleston, Gergel was withering in his assessment of the government’s case. In particular, he noted that Deputy EPA Administrator Travis Voyles had been unable to produce a single document to back up his sworn claim that he’d reviewed each of the grants individually before canceling them, as required by law.
“I was, frankly, embarrassed for the government to read Mr. Voyles’ affidavit,” Gergel said from the bench. “I’ve just never seen anything submitted to me like that. It was, frankly, sort of an insult to the Court.”
What’s more, he seemed to directly question the government’s overall candor.
“You know, y’all can do what you wish,” Gergel said. “I’m used to the government speaking to me straight, to answer my questions honestly. Fifteen years on the bench, I’ve never had an experience where I thought the government did not do that.”
In a May 20 order, Gergel found that Trump administration officials violated the federal Administrative Procedure Act when they canceled the grants without review. He also found that the unilateral cancellations were an unconstitutional usurpation of Congress’s power of the purse.
Southern Environmental Law Center attorney Kym Meyer, who represented the plaintiffs in the case, said her clients were “excited” to be able to get back to work in their communities.
“We’re delighted with the result,” she told Statehouse Report on May 21. “And we’re looking forward to our plaintiffs getting back access to their funds.”
As Statehouse Report reported in March, the Sustainability Institute will use the grant to build and rehabilitate energy-efficient affordable homes in North Charleston’s Union Heights neighborhood, which was once divided by a now-abandoned 1-26 exit ramp — a project city Mayor Reggie Burgess has called “transformative.” – Jack O’Toole
In other recent news
McMaster signs liquor liability reform bill. McMaster on Wednesday signed a tort reform bill that supporters claim will lower the sky-high liquor liability premiums facing S.C. bars and restaurants. “Today is about protecting businesses to make sure that they can be successful,” Senate President Thomas Alexander said at the signing ceremony.
- Publishing ‘revenge porn’ now a crime in S.C.
- New law requires seatbelts for children riding in golf carts.
- Holding your phone while driving in S.C. could cost up to $200.
Andrews launches U.S. Senate campaign against Graham. Dr. Annie Andrews, who lost a high-profile campaign against First District Rep. Nancy Mace in 2022, will seek the Democratic nomination to run against longtime Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham. In a social media video released this week, Andrews said Graham was “completely and unequivocally full of [expletive].”
Coming comic books tell the story of Robert Smalls. Rob Edwards’ upcoming graphic novel “Defiant,” is part of a broader effort to educate the public about a story that had been largely forgotten, including Smalls’ escape from slavery on a commandeered Confederate ship and his time as a state legislator and five-term congressman.
- Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
You can’t go home again
Award-winning cartoonist Robert Ariail has a special knack for poking a little fun in just the right way. This week, he takes on what’s going on at state beaches.
- Love this week’s cartoon or hate it? Did he go too far, or not far enough? Send your thoughts to feedback@statehousereport.com.
National carnage, chaos need to stop
By Andy Brack | The national chaos and carnage caused by the last four months of the Trump administration is almost beyond belief.
Mainstay American values – truth, justice, exceptionalism and fairness – are shivering as greed, retribution, cheating, lying and corruption gnaw at the foundations of two of our branches of government – the legislative and judicial.
Republican members of Congress excel at being sideline lemmings – do-nothings who seem to thrive on rubber-stamping whatever the executive branch wants. Pitiful Democrats can’t seem to get any act together to cobble together moderate coalitions to stop the madness.
Across America, anxiety grows for many, worried they may lose Medicaid and Medicare or see Social Security benefits wither. And as tens of thousands lose federal jobs, important research stalls to thwart diseases, protect special places, educate, innovate and help the country grow.
Look at the see-saw financial markets. Analysts can’t get a clear read on what’s going to happen next. One day, President Donald Trump threatens more tariffs, sending the market down and gutting retirement savings of millions. The next, there’s a rally after a policy pull-back, which has led to a new term – TACO ( Trump-Always-Chickens-Out) tariffs. It seems the perma-angry administration sometimes wakes to intentionally say something outrageous – just to manipulate the market.
Look at the courts, where hundreds of lawsuits have been filed to thwart the president’s assault on the rule of law. By one count, the administration saw more than 325 lawsuits filed against it in its first 100 days. Across the country, federal judges have been in overdrive, often pausing lawsuits related to questionable immigration practices, unlawful restrictions on monies approved by Congress, gutting of agencies and more.
One particular suit filed on behalf of the Sustainability Institute in North Charleston is worth noting. In it, the nonprofit complained it was unlawful for the administration to cut off an $11 million affordable housing grant that Congress funded. In a ruling against Trump’s Justice Department, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Gergel of Charleston appeared flummoxed at the audacity of the administration, finding that it did not follow the law in freezing a bunch of grants.
He noted Deputy EPA Administrator Travis Voyles was unable to produce a single document to back up his sworn claim that he’d reviewed each of the grants individually before canceling them, as required by law.
“‘I was, frankly, embarrassed for the government to read Mr. Voyles’ affidavit,” Gergel said from the bench. “I’ve just never seen anything submitted to me like that. It was, frankly, sort of an insult to the Court.’”
Gergel also said that during his 15 years on the bench, the case surprised him: ““I’m used to the government speaking to me straight, to answer my questions honestly. Fifteen years on the bench, I’ve never had an experience where I thought the government did not do that.”
David Brooks, the conservative-turned-moderate columnist for The New York Times, this week wrote about his outrage over what he called the moral rot at the center of Trumpism, with its transactional, retributive zeal chewing at the values that millions died for.
“Trumpism can be seen as a giant attempt to amputate the highest aspirations of the human spirit and to reduce us to our most primitive, atavistic tendencies,” he wrote, outraged that Trump would send a Monday message on social media that said, “Happy Memorial Day to all, including the scum that spent the last four years trying to destroy our country.”
First of all, you don’t wish anyone a “happy” memorial holiday as it is a day to respect the sacrifices of members of the armed forces who died for the country.
Second, as Brooks explained, “The use of the word ‘scum’ in that context is called dehumanization. It is a short step from dehumanization to all sorts of horrors. Somebody should remind Trump that you don’t love your country if you hate half its members.”
Indeed.
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of the Charleston City Paper and Statehouse Report. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
Historic storefronts
This picture is more than a decade old and we’ve removed the names of the stores to make it more challenging. But where is it? Make sure to add your name and hometown to your guess and send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
Our most recent mystery, “White man,” shows a utility box at South Windermere shopping center in Charleston. It was a tough mystery, but there was just enough of a clue “Nail Pala” for Nail Palace, to help the few sleuths who identified the box, including Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas; Bill Segars of Hartsville; Curtis Joyner of Charleston; George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; David Lupo of Mount Pleasant; and Frank Bouknight of Summerville. Good sleuthing, guys!
- Send us a mystery picture. If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!) Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com and mark it as a photo submission. Thanks.
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Please send us your thoughts about politics and policy in South Carolina, but make sure to leave phone numbers and hometowns to help us verify them for publication. We publish non-defamatory comments, but unless you provide your contact information – name and hometown, plus a phone number used only by us for verification – we can’t publish your views.
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Statehouse Report, founded in 2001 as a weekly legislative forecast that informs readers about what is going to happen in South Carolina politics and policy, is provided by email to you at no charge every Friday.
- Editor and publisher: Andy Brack, 843.670.3996
- Statehouse bureau chief: Jack O’Toole
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