Friday 5: 1-6-2023
January 6, 2023GOP Extends Control of the General Assembly
January 11, 2023UCC Releases 2023 State Legislative Agenda
South Carolina enters 2023 with historic economic development wins. Unemployment is back to near historic lows, even though our workforce participation rate continues to lag. We remain one of the fastest-growing states in the country. The Upstate is still seeing more than 30 people a day moving to the area.
Investors in our 14 chambers of commerce remain cautiously optimistic. We met with or surveyed more than 700 business leaders from all industries and business sizes to work on public policy to continue our strong growth and pro-business climate. The result is our 2023 Upstate Chamber Coalition policy agenda that seeks to continue our economic growth, meet the needs of our growing population, and ensure we plug in neighbors who haven’t shared in our region’s prosperity.
The 125th General Assembly convenes tomorrow in Columbia, and we’re asking our elected officials to work on these items. Not everything on an agenda will become law in one year, but we will work with our Upstate elected officials to move these items forward:
Increase Educational Attainment and Talent Attraction
- Implement teacher pay bands to allow districts to better attract high preforming teachers.
- Make it easier for mid-career professionals to switch to teaching, specifically in STEM fields.
- Seek solutions to expand the accessibility and the affordability of childcare to ensure working parents may fully participate in the workforce.
- Support continued investment in state colleges and universities, including critical infrastructure needs, to mitigate the tuition burden for South Carolina Students.
- Expand funding the free tuition programs for technical college students.
- Support policies that will increase educational attainment of our students and workforce.
Boost Economic Development & Infrastructure
- Reform our recruiting incentives to make it easier to attract significant investments in knowledge-based and corporate headquarters jobs.
- Ensure the remaining ARPA funds are used on transformative infrastructure
- As we advertise and promote our state’s natural areas, we must increase state investment in our parks and recreation areas to ensure they can meet visitor demands and remain preserved for future generations.
- Increase state funding for transit operations to enhance mobility for education, healthcare, and jobs.
- Remove barriers and provide new incentives in partnership with local governments to develop workforce and affordable housing projects.
- Improve access to capital for small businesses and entrepreneurs in our state.
Improve Our Business Climate
- Re-institute joint and several protections for businesses to reasonably reflect fault in tort actions.
- Continue work on tax reform to ensure our income tax rates are in-line with our neighbors in the Southeast and ensure it is more fair, equitable, and competitive for the business community.
- Support policies to make our state a more welcoming state for business growth and talent attraction and retention.
Reform our Criminal Justice System
- Continue to review state laws to expand the expungement opportunities for non-violent offenses, prepare returning citizens for high-demand job opportunities, and reform occupational licensing for citizens with non-violent criminal records.
Improve Our State’s Fiscal Health
- The General Assembly must close the South Carolina Retirement System to new employees and move to a defined contribution plan to better serve new employees, preserve the system for current retirees, and protect taxpayers from the deepening fiscal hole.
This is not an exhaustive list of what we’ll tackle this year during this two-year session in Columbia. If an item isn’t on this list that you care deeply about, please feel free to email me.
We appreciate your interest in policy and your engagement with the Upstate Chamber Coalition. The voice of business leaders from across the state is vital to getting these priorities enacted into law. Thank you for your input, and we look forward to working with you again in 2023.