Provided by Copper Dome Strategies, LLC
State economists met to review tax revenue and discuss the state of our economy. A Senate committee met to discuss the state’s growing energy needs. A state agency announced a new director.
Agency Head
South Carolina First Steps, the state’s public-private partnership for early childhood education, announced that Ann Vandervliet has been named as its new executive director. Vandervliet brings over 20 years of executive leadership experience in the nonprofit and public sectors, with a strong focus on early childhood education and service delivery.
A graduate of the University of South Carolina, Vandervliet holds a bachelor’s degree in international studies. She officially began her role as executive director of South Carolina First Steps yesterday. In this capacity, she will oversee 46 county-level nonprofit affiliates and lead partnerships with over 300 providers of state-funded four-year-old kindergarten programs. She replaces the previous director, Georgia Mjartan, who left in July after being named president and CEO of the Central Carolina Community Foundation (CCCF).
Board of Economic Advisors
The State Board of Economic Advisors (BEA) met on Monday for a quarterly review of July to September FY 2024-25 collections and for the Annual Economic Advisory Meeting, a discussion of the state’s economy with guest economists.
Total General Fund revenue for FY 2024-25 is $321 million ahead of expectations through the first quarter. Both Corporate and Individual Income taxes are running well ahead of estimates. September was the highest month on record for Corporate Income tax. Growth in wages and salaries rebounded strongly at the beginning of 2024 and accelerated to approximately 9% in Q2 2024, significantly above the 4%–6% pre-pandemic range. But there remain concerns moving forward.
The Regional Advisory Committee Members who presented included economists from the Federal Reserve Bank, Wells Fargo, the University of South Carolina, Clemson University, College of Charleston and The Citadel. All gave their assessment of the state of our economy, which will be considered by the BEA when making future revenue estimates.
In their presentations, most agreed that economic growth in South Carolina remains steady and unemployment is low, but consumers have lost significant purchasing power, and we seem to be losing momentum. While there is a lower risk of recession, there is still much uncertainty in the economy, and some sectors continue to be hit harder than others. There are many ‘risk’ factors to consider, including the upcoming election, supply chain effects, transportation and electric power issues and geo-political concerns.
The BEA will meet again on November 19 to issue its initial budget forecast to the General Assembly for the FY 2025-26 state budget. To view the presentation, click here.
Energy
The Senate Special Committee on South Carolina’s Energy Future, co-chaired by Senators Shane Massey (R-Edgefield) and Nikki Setzler (D-Lexington), met again on Wednesday to discuss potential legislation to address the state’s energy needs. Massey thanked those who had provided testimony in previous meetings and noted that the committee was glad to hear all perspectives.
There was no testimony, but the committee members discussed their views on moving forward. One topic discussed involved the need for legislation authorizing Santee Cooper and Dominion Energy to enter into a joint venture to build a new gas facility in Canadys, South Carolina. There was also discussion of additional gas pipelines and the permitting process, including reform to expedite permitting to keep projects from lingering in courts for years. Also discussed was the possibility of including avenues to give large industrial energy users some level of flexibility and control over their power needs.
After discussing the need to prioritize what is most immediate and then look to long-term solutions, the committee agreed to have staff draft legislation on the items discussed at the meeting. They will also consider a study of the viability and cost to finish at least the VC #2 nuclear plant.
The committee tentatively plans to meet again over the next two weeks to hear additional testimony from the Office of Regulatory Staff (ORS), possibly the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), customers and additional testimony from the utilities.
Hurricane Helene Recovery
For the latest on recovery efforts in South Carolina, visit https://www.scemd.org/.
To donate to the recovery effort:
Voter Information
The early voting period for the November 5 General Election starts on Monday, October 21, and ends on Saturday, November 2. (Closed Sunday, October 27.) Voters can visit any early voting center in their county during the early voting period, present their Photo ID, and vote using the voting system like they would at their polling place on election day.
Educate yourself on the candidates and issues by seeing who will be on your ballot by viewing your sample ballot here.
For additional voter information, visit https://scvotes.gov/
We will keep you apprised of any General Assembly activities that may occur in the coming weeks.
