The Friday 5

Before you head into your weekend, check out five articles you may have missed this week:

(As more and more legitimate news sites charge for their content, we apologize if many of these articles are behind paywalls. You have to pay for good journalism.)

1. Lawmakers continue to uncover missteps by SCANA and Westinghouse in a failed nuclear reactor project. The Post & Courier uncovered documents that Westinghouse hired unlicensed workers to work on parts of the reactors. Two Statehouse committees are continuing to investigate the failed project, and the issue is likely to suck up much of the General Assembly’s focus when they return to Columbia in January.
2. #keepyomoney. South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, who sits on the Senate Finance Committee, says the tax reform plan currently in the works by Congress will help South Carolinians keep more of their money . The plan will likely double the standard deduction and lower the corporate tax rate. Scott has also advocated that the bill help poorer communities by delaying capital gains taxes for investors willing to make investments in distressed communities.
3. The Feds aren’t the only ones focusing on tax reform. A bipartisan committee in the S.C. House met this week to consider proposals to overhaul the state’s tax code. The proposal introduced on Wednesday included cutting the state sales tax from 6% to 3%, lowering the top income tax rate from 7% to 5%, and getting rid of nearly $70 billion in sales tax exemptions. The plan would raise an additional $133 million in tax revenue.
4. What now on healthcare? This week a plan proposed by S.C. Senator Lindsey Graham to give states block grants to spend federal dollars how they see fit failed to get a vote in the Senate. While the GOP has had no success in coming together on a plan to repeal/replace the Affordable Care Act, Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) plan to introduce a bipartisan bill to stabilize the ACA’s marketplace as an interim measure.
5. Political underdogs. Check out this new vlog by the Washington Post that highlights Washington, D.C.’s underdogs that keep the trains running on time for Washington’s big-wigs.  The first episode features one of President Obama’s speechwriters.

Have a great weekend!