We are all conservatives and should be able to UNITE on core issues. UNITE on the SC Republican Platform’s core values … right???

That is what one nationally known politician advised us to do when he called us this past Saturday night to discuss this battle within the SC Republican Party.  Well … WE AGREE!!!

So this week we challenged this politician as well as others (including Drew McKissick & the SCGOP – see below) to do what is right by K-12 kids (low income, special needs & home school) and PASS “real” school choice … the PACE / ACE Scholarship Bill (S 285).  

This $55 MILLION bill (net cost to taxpayers is estimated to be much less, if not zero) is the “litmus test” issue we personally know in and out … and that we have been documenting for you all as the “case study” this entire legislative session.

NOTE:  School Choice is our personal issue … but the tricks and games politicians play are all the same be it school choice, judicial reform, pro-life, closed primaries, etc., etc.  Learn how the RINOs stop one issue, you will see how they stop the entire Platform and why SC is rated #33 (out of 50) as the most liberal red state in the nation. 

S 285 has already passed the SC Senate after 4 or 5 hearings … and substantial debate on the Senate Floor.  The bill has been vetted, and although we would like a few changes, everyone “supporting” the bill is in agreement that it needs to PASS the SC House of Representatives “as is” with no changes so that it can go straight to the Governor’s Desk to be signed into law.

Why No Changes?:  If the SC House changes anything in the bill, even a single word, the entire bill has to go back to the SC Senate … and the word on the street is that Senator Shane Massey (R – Edgefield & Senate Majority Leader) will KILL IT!!!

So … no changes at all.  If anyone wants to tweak anything in the bill language, they can file a separate bill that can be debated next session (January 2024).  We need this bill to go straight to the Governor’s Desk!!! 

YES, WE TRIED!!!   As advised, we asked Drew McKissick, better yet we gave him a chance to UNITE on an issue … on “real” school choice … the PACE / ACE Scholarship Bill (S 285) … and do the right thing by the SC Republican Platform. 

It is $55 MILLION for K-12 kids … free-market school choice … they should support that right?

Did Drew Agree to Unite???  No, just the opposite!!!  His “operatives” came to the SC House Ways & Means Sub-Committee meeting yesterday, Thursday (5/4/2023), and tried to KILL the bill!!! 

How?  By suggesting minor / meaningless changes to S 285 – mainly they suggested changing the dates between which applications would be taken.  Instead of 1/15 – 3/15 each year, they suggested moving those application dates back to November or December.  

SAY WHAT?!?!?  If we make that minor change, the bill has no time to pass this session (which ends Thursday May 11th, Sine Die) and will go back to the SC Senate where it may be killed!!! 

And it gets worse!!!  Those application dates (1/15 – 3/15) are the EXACT SAME DATES as the dates in the ESA Bill (100% government run school choice) that was signed into law by the Governor just YESTERDAY!!! 

The SCGOP and the “pro-government run” school choice crowd suggested application date changes … when the dates are the exact same as in their “monied” special interest bill.  Why would they do that?  To kill the bill!!!

#FollowTheMoney!!!

As we teach … “Watch what they DO, not what they SAY.”

CALL your SC House Rep (the one in Columbia, not in Washington DC) and tell them you want them to do what is right and PASS “real” school choice … the PACE / ACE Scholarship Bill (S 285).  

WHO CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN?:  Advise your personal SC House Rep. to speak with SC House Ways & Means Chairman Bruce Bannister (R – Greenville) & Speaker of the House Murrell Smith (R – Sumter).  

We along with school leaders spoke with Chairman Bannister yesterday after the hearing and corrected some of the misinformation … and emphasized how this bill must be passed by next Thursday, Sine Die.  We can not wait until January 2024 … it must be passed NOW!!!

This is going to be a great test … and remember … “Watch what they DO, not what they SAY.”

https://www.scstatehouse.gov/legislatorssearch.php