Harvey Peeler

A picture is worth a thousand words. This picture shows that I am backing our governor.

Last week, Governor Haley laid out for South Carolina the direction she intends to lead the state, and I’ll be right there to help out along the way. As I said after Gov. Haley’s State of the State speech, “I’m looking forward to being one of her legislative soldiers, and — you ask me why — because she asked us to, and that’s what that speech was tonight. She asked us to help her help South Carolina, and my answer’s going to be ‘yes.’”

Times are tough, and the decisions we have to make are hard. Gov. Haley is taking an aggressive stance in favor of cutting spending and improving efficiency. Our government can’t, and shouldn’t, be all things to all people, even in good times. The conservative agenda she rolled out is exactly what we need to be doing.

Restructuring government by consolidating agencies and eliminating redundant functions serves to both save taxpayer dollars and improve the function of state government. We need to simplify and make public school funding better, and get the state out of the school bus business. The state cannot keep looking to the federal government to fix our budget problems or provide incentive(s) for more spending. South Carolina has to depend on South Carolina, not Washington.

Standing up to Washington bureaucracy and union intimidation is part of making our state more business-friendly. Gov. Haley’s nominee, Catherine Templeton, to lead the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation is a good step. Now we’re having to fight the National Labor Relations Board to protect the constitutional amendment that our state approved by 86 percent last November. That amendment keeps the protection for our workers to vote by secret ballot in union representation elections.

In the Senate, we’ve been working hard to get things on the record. Since the session began, we approved a rules change to require roll call voting. We are currently working to pass a constitutional amendment to permanently implement on-the-record votes. We also approved a 72-hour waiting period before votes on any spending measure. That gives you, me and everybody enough time to read the proposal.

We’ve only just started. But I’ll be doing everything I can, and with Gov. Haley’s leadership, we can go forward with desperately needed conservative reforms.

To view my remarks after Gov. Haley’s speech, please click here.

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Governor Nikki Haley today released the following statement after the State Senate confirmed Tony Keck as Director of the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services:

“I’d like to thank the Senate, and its Medical Affairs Committee chaired by Senator Harvey Peeler, for moving swiftly to confirm Tony Keck,” said Gov. Haley. “Tony’s confirmation is a win for South Carolina. He is one of the brightest health care minds in the country, and we’re on the same page when it comes to fighting for health care reform that serves taxpayers without compromising quality of care.”

Mr. Keck served under Governor Bobby Jindal as Deputy Secretary of Louisiana’s Department of Health & Hospitals (DHH) and served as Interim Secretary of Louisiana’s DHH briefly. He is the third confirmed Cabinet appointee, following Bobby Hitt (Commerce) and Catherine Templeton (LLR).

Courtesy: Office of the Governor

My ETV response to Governor Haley’s State of the State address is right after the 3 minute mark.

The past year has been pretty eventful for South Carolina. We passed a number of conservative reforms in the Senate, and made the hard choices when it came budget time. The primary elections revealed some surprises and when Nov. 2 rolled around, conservatives took every statewide office. That means well for next year and the years to come. However, not everything was coming up roses. There are lessons to be learned from what wasn’t working, and what voters are telling elected officials.

Politically, you’d think a nasty virus swept through the electorate. People are sick, but the symptoms aren’t coughs and runny noses. It’s presenting through letters to the editor, phone calls to radio shows, demonstrations and voting out incumbents.

They’re sick of excuses. What we have to do is double down to find solutions to problems like the state budget woes, and not kick it down the road. People are sick of politicians putting faith in government. The way South Carolina moves forward is by empowering individuals to find their own way and allowing businesses to grow in a free market, not coming up with “fixes” from government.

People are sick of Republicans acting like Democrats. A voter goes to the polls to elect a Republican because they expect us to cut taxes, limit government and encourage economic growth. Any elected Republican who begins to stray from that may soon find themselves out of office. The people of South Carolina know that we will fix our economy and create jobs when we put our faith back in people and not in government.

As majority leader, I take my responsibility seriously to help craft the priorities Senate Republicans will champion, work hard for, and see passed into law. The legislative process can be frustrating at times. There are policies we’re fighting for that have stuck around for a while, whether it’s something that happens in committee, or disagreements with the House or with the governor. Next session, though, with a nearly new slate of state officials and large GOP majorities in the General Assembly, we have an unprecedented opportunity to move forward.

One of my top priorities for next year is driving our caucus more to the right and demanding common sense conservative reforms like spending caps and government restructuring, including needed changes to state health care agencies and the Budget and Control Board. The crisis with the funding of Medicaid and other programs through the Department of Health and Human Services, in particular, cries out for changes to make sure needed services are provided without requiring running deficits, higher taxes, more spending or more government.

Also at the top of the list is tort reform. The business community has been desperately asking for action on this for some time, but roadblocks pop up every session and a good, legitimate law never gets through. There’s no excuse. It’s past time for action.

We also need a good voter ID law. As much as our friends on the other side may act like it’s no big deal, voter fraud is not a laughing matter. The rest of the caucus and I are ready to head back to the floor in 2011 and push through the Democrats’ stalling tactics to make certain that our elections are safe, secure and beyond doubt. Considering the amount of things the average person does on a daily basis when they need to show a picture ID, doing it to vote is not that large an imposition.

And let’s not forget on-the-record voting. We’ve passed Senate rules to require on-the-record voting for a particular session, but that’s nothing permanent. At any given session, if enough senators agree, that session could be without what we’ve been doing recently and reassert the old order. We need to pass a law and make on-the-record voting real. Some people say that’s unconstitutional. If that’s proven, then we will put through a constitutional amendment to allow the voters to decide and correcting that issue.

The voters have told us in state government that they’re fed up. I’m listening and I’m going to demand that my colleagues get down to business.

Columbia, SC - South Carolina Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler released the following statement today following SCGOP Chairman Karen Floyd’s announcement that she will not seek re-election:

“On behalf of South Carolina’s Republican State Senators, I want to thank Karen Floyd for her service to our state and our party. She didn’t just win this cycle. She beat our friends across the aisle into submission. She pushed our party more to its conservative roots, built bridges with the Tea Party movement, made our party more diverse and technologically advanced and she helped keep our vital First in the South status. And she did it all during a tough time of change and controversy. The effects of Karen’s dedication and hard work will be felt for many years.”

You’ve seen the ads. You’ve received the mail. You’ve probably even been bothered during dinner with the phone calls. A big Election Day is right around the corner.

This is one of the most important elections in recent history. Conservatives have a chance to take back Congress and we have the opportunity to elect a true reformer as our next Governor. But those aren’t the only items on the November 2nd ballot. There are four very important statewide ballot referendums that you need to know about.

Amendment 1:

Must Article I of the Constitution of this State, relating to the declaration of rights under the state’s constitution, be amended by adding Section 25 so as to provide that hunting and fishing are valuable parts of the state’s heritage, important for conservation, and a protected means of managing non-threatened wildlife; to provide that the citizens of South Carolina shall have the right to hunt, fish, and harvest wildlife traditionally pursued, subject to laws and regulations promoting sound wildlife conservation and management as prescribed by the General Assembly; and to specify that this section must not be construed to abrogate any private property rights, existing state laws or regulations, or the state’s sovereignty over its natural resources?

That’s a lot of words to say something as simple as “we need to protect our hunting and fishing rights.” As DNR Director John Frampton recently said, there are “radical anti-hunting and animal-rights activists” with a “radical agenda under the guise of wider gun-control laws.” He’s right. There are plenty of out-of-touch liberals who continuously threatening our gun rights. This year the attack was on dove hunting, which spurred the passage of this law. We are holding strong and protecting your 2nd Amendment gun rights. I urge you to vote YES on Amendment #1.

Amendment 2:

Must Article II of the Constitution of this State, relating to the right of suffrage, be amended by adding Section 12 so as to provide that the fundamental right of an individual to vote by secret ballot is guaranteed for a designation, a selection, or an authorization for employee representation by a labor organization?

I’m proud to say that this is a bill I championed and pushed through the State Senate to guarantee the right to a secret ballot in union elections. Union bosses and their friends in Congress are trying to pass something called the Employee Free Choice Act. If the bill were to become law, unions could organize a workplace simply by persuading a majority of workers to sign authorizations, a very intimidating process commonly known as “card check.” Under card check, there would be no subsequent secret-ballot election – and no chance for management to present its case as to what unionizing might mean to the workplace and employees’ futures. After seeing what’s happened to Detroit and our nation’s automobile industry, I’m sure that you agree with me – the last thing we need are more unions in South Carolina. Even if you don’t agree that we need to fight union formation, I’m sure you agree that everyone is entitled to vote by secret ballot.

By voting YES to Amendment #2, you are creating a constitutional amendment that guarantees the right to a secret-ballot election, fighting back against union intimidation and protecting our state’s right-to-work status.

Amendment 3:

Must Section 36(A), Article III of the Constitution of this State be amended so as to increase from three to five percent in increments of one-half of one percent over four fiscal years the amount of state general fund revenue in the latest completed fiscal year required to be held in the General Reserve Fund?

Amendment 4:

Must Section 36(B), Article III of the Constitution of this State be amended so as to provide that monies from the Capital Reserve Fund first must be used, to the extent necessary, to fully replenish the applicable percentage amount in the General Reserve Fund?

As you can see, the last two amendments are very similar. I supported these two bills and I ask you to do the same because we have to fix the hire and fire, boom and bust, cycles that our state has suffered through recently. Right now the state spends freely when times are good and tax dollars are flowing into state coffers. When we hit tough economic times we are forced to cut all the way down into the bone, laying off teachers and police officers and slashing essential services. This trend must stop now.

Amendments 3 and 4 allow us to create a “rainy day fund.” In essence, its like the savings account most of us have. We all know better than to go out and spend every dime we make. That’s why we store money in some sort of savings account to help us make it through the tough times. The state of South Carolina needs to be doing the same exact thing because it’s the fiscally conservative way to act and it will stop liberals from trying to push tax hikes through the General Assembly.

I hope you will vote YES on all four constitutional amendments on the November 2nd ballot. If you have any more questions, feel free to email me at Harvey@harveypeeler.com.

The following letter was written from SC Republican Party Chairman Karen Floyd and read at today’s ceremony where Senator Peeler was honored for his work for foster care children:

I’m sorry that I could not be there today, but I wanted you all to know how much I, as a mother and as the Chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party, appreciate Senator Harvey Peeler’s hard work.

You’ve all heard the phrase “compassionate conservatism.” I’ve known Harvey Peeler for over two decades and I know that term describes him perfectly. He truly cares about people and he knows that we must help those that cannot help themselves, especially our children.

For those of you who do not know, Gordan and I are the parents of two adopted teenage boys. We’ve seen what kids go through as they transition from foster care to adoption. It’s one of the toughest situations a child can go through and the last thing these kids need is government getting in the way or making a tough situation even tougher.

Senator Peeler realizes that sometimes the best thing government can do to help those in need is to simply get out of the way.  It’s much easier to when you don’t have to maneuver through needless red tape or mundane rules. This bill shows exactly what compassionate conservatism means. We can help so many kids by removing restrictions and hard
rules that punish them for situations way beyond their control.

Senator Peeler has a big heart only matched by a can do common sense attitude. That’s why he’s my friend and one of South Carolina’s best State Senators.

Harvey, congratulations on a very well deserved honor.

Your Friend,

Karen Floyd
Chairman
South Carolina Republican Party

Contrary to what some liberals in Washington might think, you can’t spend your way out of a recession. Take, for example, your average family.  Mortgages, car payments and other bills put strains on the family budget. Now, suppose the family income drops. There are decisions to make – hard ones. But one decision that doesn’t make any financial sense is borrowing more and spending more, because while that may make the present seem fine, the long-term outlook goes from bad to worse. You have to pay back your debts.

But that’s what they’ve been doing in D.C. The debt climbs and climbs from more spending that we simply cannot afford. Fortunately, in the states, the “laboratories of democracy,” the situation is a little different. Here in South Carolina, we’re constitutionally-bound to pass a balanced budget. In the Senate, conservative leaders have been working hard to develop common-sense solutions without the borrow-and-spend, or tax-and-spend methodology that is so popular along the Potomac. During the 2009-2010 legislative session, Senate Republicans made significant accomplishments to move South Carolina forward.

Last year, Senate leaders teamed up with the State Ports Authority to keep international shipping company Maersk from leaving Charleston. The contract between Maersk and the SPA was set to end this year, and the conventional wisdom held that South Carolina’s standing as a cargo hub was going into decline. Thankfully it didn’t happen that way, and Maersk agreed to renew its contract and keep South Carolina ports bustling, which keeps commerce flowing to every region of our state.

Let’s not forget about bringing Boeing to South Carolina. Having the 787 Dreamliner assembly facility in North Charleston means 12,000 new jobs and $787 million in new investment in our state. This is the sort of benefit reaped when a positive business environment is created and government helps business, not over-regulating and over-taxing it.

One way of creating that environment is also having a flexible workforce. South Carolina doesn’t need labor union bosses coming in here and strong-arming state workers like they would be able to do under a card-check law that has been debated in Congress. Now, an amendment to the state constitution is on the November ballot to protect our workers from intimidation and coercion. One reason Boeing came here is that back in Washington State the machinists’ union was causing the company no end of problems with wage disputes and work stoppages.  By approving the constitutional amendment in November, South Carolina can send a strong message to Congress and the Boeings of the world that we are the most business-friendly state in the U.S.A.

It’s more than just new business coming here; we’re attracting new technologies, too. We were able to work with Clemson and its Restoration Institute to bring in a wind turbine energy project that also means millions of dollars in investment and tens of thousands of new jobs. While laying the foundation for new jobs – and new revenue, without raising taxes or borrowing – more work had to be done to assist the unemployed.

It took the entire session, but reform of the former Employment Security Commission was a top priority for the Senate GOP majority. The situation didn’t seem right with the agency, and after senators called for an audit, the Legislative Audit Council came back with a damaging report that showed all we had feared and more. Now, though, the ESC does not exist, replaced by the state Department of Employment and Workforce. Ineffective bureaucracy has been cut out, and changes made to make sure that people who receive unemployment benefits genuinely deserve them. Also, the new department is focused on placing people in jobs, not only cutting checks.

Another needed reform effort was to tackle the South Carolina tax code. For decade upon decade, a lobby or a legislator with a particular interest would pursue a sales tax exemption for this or that, along with other creative tax breaks. Nobody likes paying taxes, but our system has to be simplified. That was the impetus to create the Taxation Realignment Commission, which recently came out with its preliminary recommendations. Many of these suggestions involve the repealing of sales tax exemptions, but it balances out. The proposals are revenue-neutral and actually reduce the overall tax burden on South Carolinians.

It’s not all about dollars and cents. It’s also about standing up for family, for life. We’re extremely proud of being able to pass the 24-hour abortion waiting period bill, which gives a mother time to seriously think about what she’s considering to do, and hopefully make the right decision and change her mind.

Finally, Senate Republicans are proud of our state, and proud of our self-governance without the overreaching hand of those in Washington. Barack Obama and the Democratic Congress have taken unprecedented steps to unconstitutionally meddle in state affairs. We pushed through the stalling tactics of Senate Democrats and passed a resolution that lets Obama and our Congressional leaders know that the 10th Amendment isn’t something that can be ignored.

The past session was a good one, but the work never ends. Our state will have budget trouble again next year, and there are a lot of other reforms that weren’t accomplished. We’re going to get back to work and keep fighting for conservative values in the Senate.

Sincerely,

Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler

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 D.C. and standing up for the rule of law by passing our own illegal immigration bill. Just three years ago the SC General Assembly passed what newspapers called “the toughest immigration law in the nation.” Unfortunately that plan was founded on federal immigration programs that Nancy Pelosi and her liberal regime have consistently threatened. Like failing to secure our borders, the federal government has dropped the ball on promise after promise.

That’s why State Senator Larry Grooms filed an Arizona style immigration plan in the Senate last year and why, yesterday, Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell vowed to continue the push for an Arizona model in our state when the legislature returns in January.

On the day the court decision was handed down, McConnell said, “We see today’s decision as only the first step in an important legal struggle. This ruling will not deter me from continuing to work on this issue. 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 return in January.”

State Senator Larry Grooms weighed in on the subject as well: “The number one responsibility of government is to protect its citizens. Because the federal government has failed miserably, the states took action to protect our borders,” Grooms says. “With yesterday’s decision the feds have failed us twice.”

Many of the talking heads are saying that the ruling will place a chill on state efforts to properly enforce immigration policy. As of right now, there are 17 states pursuing legislation in the Arizona mold. One judge’s ruling in violation of states’ rights won’t deter state legislators from making the right move.

“We’re still early in the innings of a major legal contest,” Sen. Larry Martin said in The Washington Post this morning.

The judge’s decision isn’t the end for common sense immigration reform. It’s the beginning. Will you stand with the Senate in its fight against illegal immigration, even if it means taking on the federal government too?

Please click here now and give us your thoughts on how our state legislature should best deal with the illegal immigration problem plaguing our state.

- South Carolina Senate Republican Caucus
Majority Leader Harvey Peeler