All South Carolina Articles

Lynn Teague, LWVSC VP for State Issues & Advocacy, at the SC Statehouse steps
Blog Post

The last day of the regular session of the General Assembly is by law the second Thursday in May, and so this year it was May 9. Some bills of interest to the League have either passed or died at this point.

However, it isn’t all over for some of the bills that we’ve been following and working on. Some bills were passed by both houses but in different versions. In those cases, a conference committee will attempt to agree on a common version

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The Statehouse Report

A controversial, 70-page energy bill designed to increase Palmetto State power production effectively died on the floor of the S.C.Senate this week. Bill critics like S.C. League of Women Voters Vice President Teague warned that the process next year will have to be more inclusive and sensitive to public concerns to win their support. “The best thing about this Senate bill is that it doesn’t actually do any of the inadequately vetted things it talks about,” she said. “Going forward, we hope that legislators will understand that stakeholders participating in these discussions must include those of us concerned about protecting ratepayers and the public.”

VOTE411: Reliable, Non-Partisan Election Resource
Blog Post

LWVSC digital campaign $3400 more neededWe are planning a $15,000 digital marketing campaign to reach 500,000 families with unregistered female residents aged 18-35 before the November general election. A million digital ads will direct these women to VOTE411 to register to vote, to learn about candidates, and to prepare to vote.

Thanks to those who’ve already responded to our appeal, we have raised $11,600 toward our goal. But we need to raise an additional $3400 to launch this campaign in late summer.

 

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The Statehouse Report

With only three working days left in this year’s regular legislative session, a controversial energy bill that looked like an irresistible force coming out of the South Carolina House has met an immovable object. Its name? The South Carolina Senate. Proposed data centers are "energy hogs that only employ 20 workers per facility, "said Lynn Teague, VP, League of Women Voters of South Carolina. “Ideally, there would be a moratorium on building them,” Teague said. “Absent that, data centers should pay in full for the energy they use, not expect other ratepayers to subsidize them.”

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South Carolina Daily Gazette

Compared with other employers that states compete for, such as automotive plants, data centers hire relatively few workers. Still, states have offered massive subsidies to lure data centers. Lynn Teague, VP, SC League of Women Voters, said South Carolinians, including more than 700,000 people living in poverty, shouldn’t have to pick up the tab for tax or utility breaks for major data center firms. “We have companies like Google with over $300 billion in revenues a year wanting these folks to subsidize their profit margin at the same time that they’re putting intense pressure on not just our energy, but our water,” she said.

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The Post & Courier
A part-time legislator keeps his job and, in his role, occasionally votes on bills that benefit members of his advocacy organization. Unethical? Potentially disqualifying? "There are questions of legitimate interest for the public such as conflict of interest, like Bobby Cox sponsoring and lobbying for bills to benefit Sig Sauer,”wrote Lynn Teague, a lobbyist for the League of Women Voters who often works on ethics issues in the legislature. “That should be illegal but isn’t."

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South Carolina Daily Gazette

South Carolina has at least four large data center projects in the works, collectively needing an estimated 800 megawatts of power daily. But advocates for consumers also have questioned deals utilities and county governments have made with data center developers. “Data centers are doing nothing to deserve a special deal,” Lynn Teague, a lobbyist for the League of Women Voters, previously told the SC Daily Gazette. “They should at least make them pay their way.”

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The State newspaper

An unprecedented array of Democratic and Republican female candidates are challenging incumbents for seats in the General Assembly, Women makeup more than 50 percent of the state’s population. Currently, just over six percent of women serve in the House, and only seven percent in the Senate.

“If you’re not at the table then you’re on the menu,” said Lynn Teague, vice president of issues and actions for the League of Women Voters in South Carolina. “Women are underrepresented in South Carolina state government, virtually more than in any other state.”

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WACH Fox 57 News

Carolina For All held a press conference to emphasize the importance of fair and safe elections, along with State Representative Jermaine Johnson. Johnson has two proposed bills focusing on the protection of poll workers and elections.

Lynn Teague with the South Carolina League of Women Voters says they lost five county election directors last year due to lack of protection. "In many cases, all of the pressure and ugliness around elections these days is one of the reasons, we even had one county that had to shut down their election office for a week because they had nobody left," said Teague.

District Court allows SC gerrymandered congressional map to remain in place  for the 2024 election
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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