COLOMBIA, SC (AP) – South Carolina Republican Governor Henry McMaster praised South Carolina for its efforts to combat COVID-19 and defended his decisions to close as little as possible during the pandemic in his State of the State address on Wednesday.
The governor’s annual speech to publicize his successes and outline his priorities for the following year took a slightly different turn, with the pandemic still raging. South Carolina broke records for new cases this month and an average of around 50 deaths per day – higher than at any other time.
“In 2020, the pandemic may have delayed us, but not by much,” said McMaster,
Democrats responded that McMaster was very concerned with saving corporate profits and allowed a second wave of COVID-19 to bring death and misery to the state.
“Governor, no matter how much it gets worse, you said you wouldn’t do anything different. We need a plan that includes a statewide masking mandate, a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures, and clear safety guidelines for schools, businesses and employees, ”said State Senator Mia McLeod of Columbia in her party’s response.
At the beginning of his address to the House and Senate, McMaster asked for prayer for the “Southern Carolinians who will no longer enlighten our hearts with their smiles, their love and their friendship”, without specifying the death toll, which has now surpassed 5,400 – more than 1 in 1,000 of the state’s 5.1 million inhabitants.
He then praised his committee’s work to reopen South Carolina and said the state avoided budget cuts that affected other places because companies were able to reopen quickly. Economists expect next year’s budget surpluses and McMaster wants to set aside $ 500 million for the next economic downturn.
“We took a road less traveled – a better road. We slowed down, but we remained open safely. We never close. Our reasonable steps of limited, measured and temporary actions have allowed us to fight the virus without harming our economy, ”said McMaster.
In the Democrats’ response, McLeod said COVID-19 only emphasized the broken parts in a state government run by Republicans for 20 years. She questioned why the state continued to refuse money to expand Medicaid and why McMaster never authorized a statewide mask rule amid evidence from its own health officials that mask rules reduce infections.
“When Hurricane Hugo devastated South Carolina’s economy, our elected leaders used all available government resources to rebuild our state. Shouldn’t we be doing this now during a global pandemic? Asked the Democrat of Columbia.
The governor also asked lawmakers to make it one of their first priorities to pass a bill requiring school districts to offer students the option to return to school five days a week, regardless of the state of the COVID-19 pandemic, trying to resolve one of his biggest frustrations of the outbreak.
Teachers said the governor is risking their lives because the spread of the virus remains far above the guidelines established in the summer by a state education committee for reopening schools. They also warned that many schools are not large enough to maintain adequate social distance.
Almost all the guests were kept off the porch because of the pandemic. Several Democrats skipped the speech over the virus, leaving the House of Representatives strangely empty.
COVID-19 covered only about the first third of McMaster’s speech. He spent the rest outlining his priorities for 2021. There were some new ones, such as expanding broadband internet to rural areas – a necessity revealed because the pandemic required students and others to learn and work from home.
McMaster wants an income tax cut as soon as economists are sure the state is growing again and promised teachers an overall increase of $ 3,000 he proposed before the pandemic is back in its plans when the money goes back to the budget.
He asked lawmakers to allow the state to keep the names from companies that sell lethal injectable drugs in South Carolina. The state has none and pharmaceutical companies do not sell them if their names are public. April will mark 10 years since the state’s last execution.
McMaster wants to demand that state lower level magistrates be lawyers in good standing.
McMaster also repeated his wishes for the General Assembly to pass a law that would prohibit almost all abortions in the state. A Senate subcommittee is considering the bill on Thursday and several new conservatives in the chamber may tip the balance to approve the proposal in 2021. McMaster said he would sign it immediately.
McLeod’s Democratic response said that the South Carolina leadership has failed to make life better for people who are already here.
“You and other Republican leaders have made an unconstitutional bill your number one priority again in this session, instead of focusing on protecting the 5 million living humans who are already here,” said McLeod.
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