(Columbia, SC) Senator McConnell provided the following statement concerning the lawsuit filed to prevent the State Election Commission from conducting the 2012 Presidential Primary. “I continue to believe that the express language contained in South Carolina Code Section 7-11-20 is unambiguous and that it only gives the State Election Commission the power to conduct the 2008 Presidential Primary. Absent further legislative action regarding Presidential Primaries and that code section, I … [Read more...]

Columbia – Senator Glenn McConnell, President Pro Tempore of the SC Senate, has named the members of the subcommittee tasked to consider his “Fiscal Fitness” agenda that consists of legislative initiatives to place a Constitutional cap on state spending, conduct a streamlining review of state government, enact a taxpayer fairness act, a deficit prevention act, and a trust fund protection act. Senator McConnell will chair the subcommittee whose members include: Senator Tom Davis, … [Read more...]

Source COLUMBIA -- Where the new 7th Congressional District will be drawn is still up in the air. The state picked up the extra seat in Congress because of the growing population, but South Carolina lawmakers cannot decide where it should go. One plan puts the new seat in Horry County, along the North Carolina border and swinging into the heart of the Pee Dee, leaving the 1st District mostly as is. The competing plan keeps Charleston County in the 1st District, but draws Berkeley and … [Read more...]

(COLUMBIA, SC) - Following the decision by the S.C. Supreme Court to void Governor Haley’s recent executive order, Senator Glenn McConnell sent a letter to the members of the South Carolina Senate informing them that the Senate would be returning on June 14, 2011 as scheduled, pursuant to the provisions of the unanimously adopted Sine Die Resolution. He also informed the members that he would offer an amendment to the Sine Die Resolution to add the Department of Administration bill to the … [Read more...]

Mark Keel lost out three years ago on the job he worked a career to achieve, but got a welcome back to SLED on Wednesday from Gov. Nikki Haley. And Haley said she’ll likely select Highway Patrol Col. Kenny Lancaster as interim director of the Department of Public Safety, which Keel is credited with reforming during his time away from the State Law Enforcement Division. The patrol is the largest division of the public safety agency. Keel, 53, is widely viewed as having resurrected the … [Read more...]

Columbia, SC (WLTX, AP) - State senators made short work of their debate on new district lines Wednesday at the State House. The new lines will be for the 46 senate seats and is required every ten years to adjust to the census population shifts. The ACLU wanted 11 black majority districts; the Senate has only created 9. The house gave final approval for the redistricting plans for their 124 seats. In a unanimous vote of 33 to 0 senators approved their new district maps. Senate … [Read more...]

Columbia, SC - June 6, 2011 - South Carolina Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell released the following statement tonight following the ruling by the state Supreme Court: "There are two important points to be made about today's ruling by the South Carolina Supreme Court: First, this is a victory for a limited and constitutional government. What we saw today is an example of the system of separation of powers operating the way the founder's designed it. An equally important … [Read more...]

Columbia, SC - June 6, 2011 – Senator McConnell responded to Governor Haley’s response to the lawsuit pending in the South Carolina Supreme Court and to the small percentage of legislators who moved to intervene in the case on her behalf. Senator McConnell said, “I want to make sure the people of South Carolina understand that this petition with the Court is not about finishing our work or about restructuring. It is about doing it in a way that does not violate the Constitution. In … [Read more...]

COLUMBIA -- The appointed time is 10 a.m. Tuesday. By then Gov. Nikki Haley's power play to order legislators back in session will pay off for her or lead to a showdown with the man considered the state's most powerful legislator, Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell. McConnell, a Charleston Republican, said the executive order Haley issued Thursday in an effort to force legislators to finish work on her agenda tramples on the state constitution. He said he will fight her in … [Read more...]

Columbia, SC - June 2, 2011 - A compromise was reached Thursday to repeal the point-of-sale tax provision of Act 388. For months, business groups — led by state Realtors — have been trying to end a tax that has unreasonably burdened both businesses and individuals. Counties and municipalities fought the effort, but in the end consented to language that resulted in the bill being passed out of the Senate on the last day of session. “I had every confidence that an agreement could be made, … [Read more...]