Oconee and Pickens Counties Subscribed Articles

Oconee and Pickens Counties Subscribed Articles

District Court Allows South Carolina’s Racially Gerrymandered Congressional Map to Remain in Place for the 2024 Election Cycle
News

A three-judge district court issued an order allowing South Carolina’s racially gerrymandered congressional map to remain in place for 2024 elections. "Today's ruling deprives voters of another fair election. By defending this map, SC legislators prioritize power over people. The League of Women Voters is disappointed that South Carolinians will face another election without justice, but we will continue to seek fair maps."

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The Statehouse Report

A controversial bill that promises to meet South Carolina’s growing energy needs by ramping up in-state power production is headed to the S.C. House floor next week with bipartisan support, despite fierce opposition from many of the state’s leading consumer and environmental groups. “We absolutely understand there’s a need for more energy generation,” S.C. League of Women Voters President Lynn Teague told Statehouse Report. “But the General Assembly should not be intruding on the decisions that are supposed to be made by state regulatory agencies.” Of particular concern, she said, were a provision allowing utilities to meet with regulators behind closed doors, and the decision to put economic interests, rather than the concerns of ratepayers, at the heart of the regulatory process. “When government grants a monopoly to utilities, it’s giving them a very big asset,” Teague said. “And it’s the state’s absolute responsibility to protect the public from abuse of that asset.”

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The State newspaper

Sen. Luke Rankin has business ties to a board member at the state-owned Santee Cooper utility. He also is a key player in the debate over whether Santee Cooper should be allowed to build a huge power plant.

Lynn Teague, vice president of the League of Women Voters of South Carolina, said she believes Rankin should disclose the relationship when the legislation comes up for debate. “I think he should recuse‘’ himself from voting, said Teague, a critic of the sweeping energy legislation that allows for the large natural gas plant. “At the very least, there certainly should be public knowledge about this.’’

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South Carolina Daily Gazette

A controversial energy bill is heading to the House floor over the continued opposition of consumer and environmental advocates, who say changes fell far short of addressing concerns over fast-tracking a new power plant in South Carolina. Lynn Teague, a lobbyist for the League of Women Voters, said the new language is better in that it does not so flagrantly overstep regulators. “However, the message is still there that the General Assembly has already made its decision and wants it to be rubber-stamped,” Teague said.

Lynn Teague, LWVSC VP for State Issues & Advocacy, at the SC Statehouse steps
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South Carolina Daily Gazette

The League of Women Voters recognizes that South Carolina badly needs expanded sources of energy. This is extremely important. We just don’t want to get there by going down a path similar to past mistakes.

H. 5118 parallels that past because in many ways it depends on utilities to speak and act in the public interest without adequate guardrails. Utility regulation exists because acting in self-interest is an unavoidable temptation of monopolies. It takes a fair but strong regulatory system to ensure that the interests of both the public and utility shareholders and executives are protected. Let South Carolina’s very competent regulatory agencies do their work, informed by diverse sources of input and by the expertise for which they were appointed.

Repeal the Ban SC on State House steps
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South Carolina Daily Gazette

Advocates for abortion rights are launching a petition in hopes of showing the Legislature’s ruling Republicans that South Carolinians support repealing the six-week abortion ban signed into law last year. Groups backing the effort, announced Tuesday outside the Statehouse, include the League of Women Voters, the American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina, the Palmetto State Abortion Fund, Columbia NOW and Planned Parenthood.

The LWVSC 2023-2025 Constitutional Officers Study
Research & Studies

This study is to determine whether LWVSC should take a position on the selection process for each of the seven state constitutional officers, and if so, what method of selection would be preferable for a given office (e.g. election vs. appointment. )

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Blog Post

AI (Artificial Intelligence) is rapidly making inroads into all aspects of science and technology. A critical issue for American society is the impact that these developments are having and will have on elections. The League of Women Voters of South Carolina is teaming up with researchers at the University of South Carolina's Artificial Intelligence Institute. Matt Saltzman, LWVSC Director of Election Systems and Technology, recently participated in the annual conference of the Association for the Advancement of AI in Vancouver.

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Public Statement

SC is one of only 10 states that has refused to expand health insurance coverage for working-age adults although Federal funds would cover more than 90% of the cost.

Testimony

The League of Women Voters of South Carolina (LWVSC) supports equal rights for all persons regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, or disability. We also support access to quality medical care for all persons.

This bill would prevent persons with gender dysphoria from exercising their right to access appropriate medical treatments as defined by respected medical associations.

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