The state loaned a historic landmark in Charleston, Patriots Point, $9 million to repair the warship Laffey. However, that destroyer has not been brought back to the museum yet. For reasons, such as this one, Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell of Charleston has written a letter to the Legislative Audit Council concerning the state-owned historic museum. "I wrote about a three page letter to the Legislative Audit Council and asked them to do a management performance audit at Patriots … [Read more...]

Senators Vow To Push Similar Bill On Illegal Immigration PICKENS COUNTY, S.C. – Sen. Larry Martin, a Republican who represents Pickens County in the state Senate, is home in Pickens after the 2009-10 legislative session ended in June. But Martin is already thinking about next session. "We've got a lot of work to do. We've got a big job ahead of us," said Martin. Some of that work is aimed at what Martin called a “top priority” early in the next session when it comes to South … [Read more...]

Barack Obama and the Democrats in Washington seem intent in having the federal government overstep its bounds. The most egregious example, not too long ago, was when Congress foisted a big-government health care bill on the American people. Across the country, people are tired of it. And now comes an activist federal judge stepping into Arizona’s state affairs and gutting its anti-illegal immigration law. Here in South Carolina, the Senate is committed to both fighting the overreaching from … [Read more...]

Wednesday, a U.S. district judge suspended a number of measures in Arizona’s new law to combat illegal immigration, which has thrown more gasoline on the fire, as if the issue needed it. We’ve never cared too much about the immigration issue — the people who care will fight it out and we’ll accept what comes down. But this ruling could have an impact on other states considering similar laws. In her temporary injunction, Bolton delayed the most contentious provisions of the law, … [Read more...]

COLUMBIA --- A federal judge has butchered Arizona's controversial illegal-immigration law, but South Carolina Republicans pushing a similar effort are vowing to press ahead. "We see today's decision as only the first step in an important legal struggle," said Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, in a news release Wednesday. "I am committed to continuing full steam to have a bill ready for the Senate and for us to pass a stronger Arizona-style immigration bill when we … [Read more...]

McConnell: Federal government must stop intruding on states' rights Charleston, SC - July 28, 2010 - Today South Carolina Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell vowed to push Arizona style immigration reform in the palmetto state, despite today's judicial action by a federal judge. "Like Arizona's legislators, we are tired of Washington's failure to act. We can't rely on the federal government anymore. That's why states are being forced to do whatever they can to fight illegal … [Read more...]

CHARLESTON -- Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell wants to play Twenty Questions with the cash-strapped, state-owned tourist attraction at Patriots Point, and not one of them is a softball. He's got 19 inquiries, to be exact, all spelled out in a letter to the director of the Legislative Audit Council, an organization that conducts oversight evaluations of state agencies and programs when requested by legislators. Five lawmakers must come together to get an audit, but McConnell and House … [Read more...]

Southern Republicans think it’s time to slow down the growth of locking up On the outskirts of Columbia, South Carolina’s capital, lies a rolling swathe of farmland where cattle graze, tomatoes sprout and razor wire glints in the afternoon sun. This well-tended campus is home to seven of the state’s 28 prisons, including both Broad River, where inmates sentenced to die are lethally injected or electrocuted, and Campbell, which houses prisoners on work-release, who spend their days at … [Read more...]