Friday, July 4, 2025
We finally know the secret plan of Gov. Nikki Haley to fix the state’s roads.
Haley announced her three-part plan to fix state roads during her State of the State address two nights ago.
The three-part plan is – increase the state gas tax by 10 cents over three years, decrease state income tax rates by 2 percent over 10 years and restructure the Department of Transportation from a legislative appointed agency to a governor appointed agency.
Sun Air Scandinavia is considering purchasing AvCraft Technical Services in Myrtle Beach, according to an email received by GSD from an aircraft industry source.
Several Horry County sources confirmed Sun Air and AvCraft officials have met with Horry County Department of Airports staff to discuss the sale.
AvCraft has a long term lease with Horry County for three hangars at Myrtle Beach International Airport. Any sale of the company would require approval by Horry County Council for assumption of the current lease or negotiation of a new lease by the new owner.
A citizens’ alliance is pushing S.C. General Assembly members to fix S.C. roads before the infrastructure collapses completely.
The S.C. Alliance to Fix Our Roads (SCFOR) is increasing online efforts to make the peoples’ voices heard in Columbia.
With the new legislative session just underway, SCFOR hopes to increase grassroots efforts contact state and local leaders to demand a plan to fix our roads.
I remember when presidential politics started at the beginning of the year of the presidential election.
Those were the good old days.
Now, of course, the next election cycle begins the day after votes are counted for the last election.
As a result, we are already looking at a Republican field of possible candidates that includes the names Rand Paul, Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, Ted Cruz, Chris Christie and Lindsey Graham.
The east/west divide in Horry County is evidently creeping into discussions about project priorities by the Ride III Committee.
This was as inevitable as it is unhelpful.
Western area representatives on the committee appear to be looking for another fixed percentage of Ride III funds to be allotted to paving dirt roads.
It looks like the S.C. General Assembly may actually be serious about passing legislation to rein in at least the worst excesses of HOAs across the state.
For a number of years, Sen. Darrell Jackson (D-Richland) has been a voice in the wilderness calling for stricter rules governing the actions of HOAs.
However, rising complaints from citizens along the coast and in the upstate have finally made lawmakers sit up and take notice.
Gov. Nikki Haley told listeners of her dreams in her second inaugural speech yesterday with no idea of how to make them reality.
Haley quoted Henry David Thoreau – “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.”
Haley’s enunciated dreams are certainly in the air. Unfortunately, her performance as governor, to date, lacks any attempt at foundations.
Last October, during her reelection campaign, Gov. Nikki Haley told South Carolinians that she had a secret plan to fix the state’s roads she would announce after the election.
When the election was won, Haley said she couldn’t divulge the road maintenance plan until the New Year, but it would be obvious in her budget.
When Haley’s budget was made public last week, there was no money or plans to fix the state’s roads.
The legislative session that opens today in Columbia has every opportunity of demonstrating just how weak and ineffective S.C. Government really is.
Several months ago, the S.C. Supreme Court ruled that S.C. government isn’t doing enough to ensure students in poor, rural school districts receive even the “minimally adequate” education required by the state constitution.
South Carolina has reached a critical juncture where a maintenance plan must be developed to fix its crumbling roads and bridges.
A plan being discussed in the S.C. House to transfer state roads to counties will accomplish nothing in the way of improved maintenance.
Put forward by Rep. Gary Simrill who is chairing the House Transportation, Infrastructure, and Management Ad Hoc Committee, the plan would transfer approximately 50 percent of currently state maintained (or unmaintained as the case may be) roads to county responsibility.
Simrill’s proposal has some talk about fully funding the local government fund and increasing “C” funds, which are a small percentage of state gas tax revenues given back to the counties through County Transportation Committees.
Speak Up…