South Carolina’s seasonally adjusted July unemployment rate increased to 3.9%, up from 3.6% in June and a revised rate of 2.8% in July 2023.
State officials say the state has “record-breaking numbers” for people in jobs. Additionally, they pointed out the rate remains lower than the national norm of 4.3%.
Read More
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has signed legislation that expands the state’s sex trafficking law to create a new felony “child luring” charge and gives trafficking victims recourse to clear their records.
S. 142, which McMaster, a Republican, “ceremonially” signed on Thursday, creates an address confidentiality program that authorizes using “designated addresses” to protect victims.
Read More
The Federal Aviation Administration has awarded South Carolina airports more than $5.7 million in Airport Improvement Program grants.
The money is part of $636 million for 320 grants in 46 states and American Samoa to improve airport infrastructure. The feds awarded the money as part of the 2024 Airport Improvement Program’s fourth round of grants.
Read More
South Carolina ranked seventh in a report assessing 2024’s States with the Best and Worst Early Education Systems.
In developing its ranking, personal finance site WalletHub looked at 12 key metrics across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Read More
Vice President Kamala Harris has tapped Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., to serve as her running mate, multiple news outlets have reported.
Read More
Officials in Georgia and South Carolina are taking action as Tropical Storm Debby is expected to dump rain on the states after making landfall on Monday morning along the Florida coast.
Read More
The South Carolina Supreme Court granted approval for the state Wednesday to conduct executions by firing squad and electrocution.
The state passed a law in 2021 allowing the use firing squads and electrocution as execution methods, according to The Hill. However, the approval was temporarily halted due to death row inmates suing the state, despite death by electrocution becoming a default method when the state could not provide lethal injection drugs.
Read More
The federal government is sending more than $6.1 million in taxpayer money to four South Carolina airports as part of grants for rehabilitation and construction projects.
The latest in federal tax money is from the 2024 Airport Improvement Program’s third round of grants. The latest tranche of funding includes more than $374 million the Federal Aviation Administration announced for airfield and safety projects at 299 airports in 46 states and American Samoa.
Read More
South Carolina transportation officials have approved updates to the state’s bridge program, deciding how to allocate $200 million in additional money state lawmakers approved.
The South Carolina Department of Transportation Commission directed half the $200 million in one-time funding to bridges on secondary roads. The remaining $100 million will go toward bridges on primary and interstate routes.
Read More
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster announced 21 budget vetoes totaling nearly $2.3 million from the Palmetto State’s fiscal 2024-25 budget.
The Republican governor announced his vetoes during a Wednesday media briefing, calling on state lawmakers to replace earmarks with merit-based and competitive grants. The budget includes more than 500 earmarks totaling $424.7 million.
Read More