What did I miss last week? What did you miss?
March 30, 2009 | 2 Comments
Last week was pretty much a blur…between learning the new systems at my paying job while also being sick (and my family being sick), I’m not really sure what I missed in Columbia.
I’ll find out in the morning (and I hear we’re in for a busy week on the floor this week) but from what I can tell, my colleagues told me last week was a whole lotta:
House/Senate Leadership v. Sanford (again)
Sanford v. Obama
Educators v. School Choice (again)
Republicans v. Democrats (again)
Wow. The only “change” there from my previous four years is Obama being in the mix.
Let’s see if we try to get a little less finger-pointing and more “statesmanship” (if that’s such a word in SC) going on this week. After all, we’ll have a two-week furlough after Thursday and word is we’re shutting down early May due to more budget cuts.
Oh, apparently my Campaign Finance Bill was heard (and adjourned) in subcommittee without so much as me (or the State Ethics Commission) getting advance notice….interesting.
“W”
March 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment
No, I'm not writing about former President Bush tonight. Instead, I'm talking about how after 16 years my business cards will finally have a name change - but still keep a good ol' "W" on it.
On June 8, 1993, I started my first (and only) job since college: Wachovia . Almost sixteen years later, the name on my business card will finally change. This week (March 23), I’ll be in Greenville for merger-related training all-day, every day as my mortgage team will learn the new Wells Fargo system.
This week also costs me “perfect attendance” at the State House; but I hope you’ll forgive me for these three days. (You know me, I’ll be checking in on SCTWEETS.COM as well as speaking with my colleagues on breaks. Might even do a blog post or two at night from the hotel in Greenville).
Interesting to note some important “June 8s” in my life: 1993 – Started Wachovia; 2004 – won my first primary election; 2005 – Emma was born.
NOTE: I was reminded I actually started with South Carolina National in June 1993 and then few months later, the sign on the top of the building was actually changed to Wachovia. I am a packrat so, yes, I actually do have my first business card which, for a few months, had South Carolina National on it.
CALL TO ACTION: Richland County Republicans
March 19, 2009 | 2 Comments
Richland County Republican Party Precinct Reorganization
Monday, March 23, 2009 at 6:00PM
You are invited to become an active member of the Richland County Republican Party by participating in the regional multi-precinct reorganization meeting. We will elect Precinct Officers and Delegates to the Richland County GOP convention on April 18, 2009.
**Important: You must bring current and valid Voter Registration card to the meeting.
To find the location for your precinct’s meeting, please visit the Richland County GOP web site www.richlandgop.com Regional multi group precincts will gather together.
A make-up meeting will be held on Monday, March 30 at 6 PM at the Suggs & Kelly Community Room at the corner of Huger St & Taylor St.
Thank you for considering this request for your personal involvement in organizing the Republican effort in South Carolina. Call Chairperson Lou Nolan for further information at (803)254-9543 or email her at Marcum@scgovdirect.com
Richland County Republican Party, P. O. Box 6754, Columbia, SC 29260
Richland County’s future growth?
March 18, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Interested in reviewing Richland County’s growth plan ? Be sure to drop by Thursday evening (March 19) at the Ballentine Community Center (1009 Bickley Road) between 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Richland County will be hosting a Second Round of public workshops concerning the Comprehensive Plan and would like your feedback. The First Round of meetings (Jan 28 – Feb 25) was to introduce the drafted plan to the public and receive input. Great feedback and comments were received from citizens at those meetings, many of which were incorporated into the new draft of the Plan. This Second Round of workshops will provide citizens the opportunity to review those changes and revisions made to the Plan before the final draft is presented to Richland County Council in April.
Sunday’s in Irmo: Milk, Eggs, Beer, no smoking?
March 18, 2009 | 2 Comments
In addition to Town Council races this fall, a chance to buy beer and wine on Sunday may be on the ballot this fall for voters in the town of Irmo.
Also, a possible smoking-ban on bars and restaurants too.
How do you plan to vote?
Whether you plan to vote for or against those issues, you gotta at least appreciate the humor in these commercials .
COMMUNITY UPDATE: March 2009
March 15, 2009 | 2 Comments
My apologies for it being mid-month before the March Update was ready!
If you have events you’d like me to share on the website, please contact me directly through NathansNews and I’ll be happy to see how I can help pass along the news. Hopefully, you’re a frequent NathansNews reader or either following me on Twitter or Facebook . I try to stay in touch as much as possible and these mediums help me hear from you and learn more about you – the people I represent in Columbia.
STATE HOUSE
Last week was “Budget Week” on the House Floor and (if you were interested), you could have (for the first time ever) followed both Republican and Democrat House Members’ live updates during the debate at SCTWEETS.COM . ( WLTX did a story about Twitter/SCTweets a few weeks ago but most NathansNews readers are already up-to-speed about Twitter and several in our community are using the medium as well!)
In case you missed it last week: we took the $350 million “Budget Stabilization Money” from the feds , we restored several agencies (many to 2006 levels some to 2008 levels), we stayed until 11 p.m. one night and 2:30 a.m the next, and several of worked to gain support of amendments to help protect you and our state when these “stimulus funds” aren’t there in 2 years.
Last week was a busy week and my office visits were limited but I would like to thank the following constituents who took time from their busy schedule to come to the State House last month: Traci Richard, Ben Thompson, LaWandra Kelly, Ballentine Elementary School classes, Dick Hohn, Padgett Lewis, Chase Tolbert (8th grader from Dutch Fork Middle School), Janet Sternernberg, Bonnie King, Patricia Cummings-Lecque, Irmo Town Councilmember Hardy King, Oak Pointe Elementary School Classes, Stan O’Brien, Mike Lowman, Thom Chumney, Ralph Bell, Matthew Deans (8th grader, Irmo Middle), Jerome Singleton, Jr and his parents, Abner Montessori School (Chapin), Donna Quirk, Gabrielle Barnes, Kathleen Mercer and Kathy Cannon.
YOUR MONEY
The Budget passed by the House now heads to the Senate and from there to a Conference Committee to hash out the differences between the two plans. After that is finished, the budget will go to the Governor’s Office and then back to both chambers for consideration of any vetoes. It’s a long way from over so if you aren’t happy with it, it still has several changes before being finalized for our state! Let your Senators know over the next few weeks as they work to craft their version to be debated on the Senate floor.
Closer to home (money/transparency), I am excited to see IRMO become the first town in our state to hop on the “transparency express” and allow our community to “see the books!” (I’m equally excited that Lexington/School District Five appears to be leaning that direction as well!).
“By being the first local government to sign on to our local-government transparency initiative , Mayor John Gibbons, Irmo Town Council and town administrator John Hanson should be commended,“ said state Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom. “The town of Irmo is a pioneer, helping usher in a new era of transparency in South Carolina. They believe, as I do, that citizens deserve to know how public money is being spent. And taxpayers deserve easy, no-cost access to that information.”
I remember this summer fighting for more transparency in state government (and the price we paid) and I’m glad to see the movement is growing. I applaud Comptroller Eckstrom for his continued support and his push on this front to provide more transparency with state agencies and local governments. Read more
The Weekly Rewind
March 15, 2009 | Leave a Comment
As you can see from the delay in this post, I’m still trying to catch up from “Budget Week”.
By now, this rewind is as outdated as an old “8 track” so instead of writing, I’ll just link recaps from my blog instead:
Proviso 90.15 “The Intent of the General Assembly…”
It’s 2 a.m. Do you know where your tax dollars are?
The Rewind will be broken next week too because the House is on another furlough week March 16, 17, 18.
Happy 40th Anniversary to both sets of parents!
March 14, 2009 | 7 Comments
Yes, both of our parents got married on the same day, March 15, 1969! Mitsy and Dennis Ballentine (left) and Harry and Susan Nanney (right)
Dennis and Mitsy Ballentine will celebrate 40 years of marriage on March 15, 2009.
Having met in at A.C. Flora High School (Columbia, SC), Dennis and Mitsy were later married in Columbia and moved to Taylors in 1972 with their son, Nathan. They currently reside in the same house in Brook Glenn Gardens where their love has deepened over the past several decades.
Mitsy retired from Greenville Technical College in 2006 after more than 30 years of service. She continues to be actively involved with her church Taylors First Baptist and devotes her spare time to her beloved grandchildren, Sarah, J.C. and Emma.
After years in the public accounting field with large businesses, Dennis went out on his own several years ago and presently continues his practice (Clark, Ballentine & Co.) on South Pleasantburg Drive. When time permits, Dennis loves to follow his Gamecocks and enjoys being “Big D” to Nathan and Karen’s children.
Their marriage is a testament to the Christian values they have instilled in their family over the decades.
Harry and Susan Nanney of Black Mountain will celebrate 40 years of wedded bliss on March 15, 2009. They met and dated while attending what was then Montreat Anderson College. They later married in Indianapolis at Northminster Presbyterian Church.
Harry served in the United States Marine Corps and retired in 2002 from Caterpillar Equipment after 30 plus years of employment. He enjoys keeping honeybees and serves on the Black Mountain Parks and Recreation Commission.
Susan is a homemaker and enjoys volunteering at the Black Mountain Chamber and Museum. She also serves as a Deacon at First Baptist Church of Black Mountain, where she and Harry are members.
They have 2 daughters, Karen Ballentine (and her husband Nathan); and Lisa Holcombe (and her husband Chris). They also have 5 grandchildren that they enjoy. All live in Irmo, South Carolina.
We, their children, wish them many more years of marriage and blessings, and to continue to live by the engravings in their wedding rings – Semper Fi.
It’s 2 a.m. Do you know where your tax dollars are?
March 11, 2009 | 3 Comments
I’ve blogged from the House Floor before…. and, by now, you already know about live updates from “the Twitter Caucus” on SCTWEETS.COM .
As I type tonight this post it is 2:05 a.m. Wednesday morning and we are still on the House floor debating our budget. I hope we’ll be finished within the hour.
As someone who would rather not have spent this $350 million from the federal government, here are some amendments that passed yesterday and today that several of us feel will put some safeguards in place for our taxpayers. If we’re gonna spend the money, at least we’ve tried to protect the taxpayers.
* All stimulus money spent by the State Department of Education must be put on their website homepage to show the programs that were funded.
* No stimulus money may be spent on administrative purposes for the State Department of Education (must go to our schools).
* We have protections in place so that schools using stimulus money cannot restrict religious activities.
* Removed a $500,000 earmark in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism.
* Approved a Consolidation of State Agencies Study Committee
* All stimulus money spent by state agencies must be put online.
* Removed the Competitive Grants language
* All state agencies must list the total of their fees and fines on their agency website.
I appreciate all the feedback and advice shared with me leading up to this difficult week. I plan to write more later and, of course, share the final vote.
Proviso 90.15 “The intent of the General Assembly…”
March 8, 2009 | 3 Comments
90.15 (SR: State Budget Stabilization Fund) It is the intent of the General Assembly to accept all available funds from the State Budget Stabilization Fund contained within the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and to authorize expenditure of such funds as delineated in this act.
There it is. One of hundreds of items we’ll debate this week in the House.
Do we in the General Assembly take the $350 million this year (and next year) to plug holes in our budget or do we say “no thanks”? Remember, our state still has access to over $7 BILLION in funds whether we accept these for our budget or not.
Discuss…
UPDATE: By a vote of 108-8 the House voted to take the stimulus money. During the day there have been a few amendments to help protect the taxpayers and prepare our state for when this money is no longer handed to us (stops in two years). If/when the state economy can’t support these spending levels that are propped up by the stabilization fund, we will face even more severe cuts or decisions to make than we were looking at this year.