Back on June 20th, 2023, the day after the Governor signed the new FIRST STEPS “Fiscal Accountability” bill (H4023) into law we wrote about this bill. We noticed it because it was pushed through outside of session (during the summer) and was passed UNANIMOUSLY by both the SC Senate & the SC House.
Read the article HERE.
Read the H4023 Bill: HERE.
FIRST STEPS is also a darling program of the left. We knew this because it was a negotiating tool in our school choice fight over the past decade. In order to get any advancements for “school choice” … the left (in this case Democrat former Senator Vincent Sheheen) would ask for more “stuff” for FIRST STEPS. Guess what, he always got it, and we got nothing for school choice. This is why we are involved!!!
Those are all HUGE “red flags” when it comes to legislation as the SC State House … and that is before we even get into the details of the bill …
(#1) Allowable overhead expenses were increased from 8% to 13% … that is a massive increase for the leftist Pre-K reading program.
(#2) Public Library Employees are now required to be on each of the 46+ FIRST STEP partnership boards.
(#3) More child “data sharing” with the government.
Who would agree to any of that???
Freedom Caucus Sponsored?
Stewart Jones (R – Laurens) – Lead Sponsor of H4023
Grassroots Missed It!
We were further surprised when we discovered that the lead sponsor of this bill was no other than Rep. STEWART JONES of the SC House Freedom Caucus … and now a candidate for US Congress to replace the retiring U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan (HERE).
Why would a member of the SC Freedom Caucus sponsor a leftist bill? Then we noticed a whole lot of the SC Freedom Caucus members sponsored the bill.
Strange right???
Not really. There is A LOT of money in education … and it is good to have the leftist (which you just gave a 62.5% raise to) on your side when you are running for higher office … like Congress.
THE GRASSROOTS MISSED IT!: Where was the “CALL TO ACTION” from the SC Freedom Caucus to help get this bill passed? There was none because if we had been asked to call in support of this bill, someone would have read the bill … and asked the question … WHY???
This needs to be fixed … by the SC Freedom Caucus.
Who is FIXING This Mess?
We have reached out to the SC FREEDOM CAUCUS several times to ask about this mess … with no response. We have searched the newly filed bills since passage … and there is nothing that we can find that will fix this mess.
So we are asking publicly … what is the status??? Who is going to fix the obvious errors of H4023 as championed by the SC Freedom Caucus???
WHO???
It is a REAL PROBLEM!
Send us your opinion on this great debate … and how you would like to see it solved … by hitting REPLY or emailing us at team@mySCGOP.com.
HAVE AN OPINION?
Have an opinion? Different or in agreement? About the above or something else? If so, speak up as we want to hear from you! Send your letters to team@mySCGOP.com and we will be happy to share it with our readers. #SaveSouthCarolina!
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