South Carolina Governor Signs Bill to Help Preserve Working Agricultural Lands

South Carolina Farmland

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster signed a measure that aims to help landowners use voluntary conservation easements to preserve working agricultural lands.

H. 3951, the Working Agricultural Lands Preservation Act, creates the Working Farmland Protection Fund within the South Carolina Conservation Bank. The measure ostensibly complements the agricultural projects the bank funds by establishing a matching grant payment for qualified projects.

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Meadows, Giuliani and Other Former Trump Aides Indicted in Arizona 2020 Election Probe

An Arizona grand jury on Wednesday indicted former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Rudy Giuliani, and five other former aides to former President Donald Trump on felony charges related to alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

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South Carolina Officials Plotting Next Steps for $1.8 Billion Balance

South Carolina Politics

South Carolina state officials are determining how to proceed with a $1.8 billion balance discovered in a state account and Republican Gov. Henry McMaster has given leaders a July 1 deadline to chart a course forward.

On Oct. 31, 2023, South Carolina Comptroller General Brian Gaines sent a letter to South Carolina Treasurer Curtis Loftis, directing Loftis to research the account’s origins. It marked the start of a months-long Senate investigation that exposed what a Senate Finance Committee Constitutional Subcommittee report dubbed “financial irregularities” in the state treasurer’s office.

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California Judge Who Disbarred Trump’s Former Attorney John Eastman Funneled Money to Super PAC Fighting Election Integrity

California disciplinary court Judge Yvette Roland (pictured above), who disbarred Trump’s former attorney and constitutional legal scholar John Eastman last month, contributed to a Democratic PAC last year which funneled all of the contributions to a Super PAC that seeks to stop “undermining the most basic tenet of our democracy, the right to vote.” Despite the fact that the charges against Eastman were all related to his efforts investigating and stopping election corruption in the 2020 election, Roland did not recuse herself.

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South Carolina Senate Poised to Consider 2024-25 Budget

South Carolina Capitol

South Carolina senators will soon consider a fiscal 2024-25 budget for the state, a plan that includes nearly $100 million to speed up a personal income tax reduction.

Last week, the Senate Finance Committee gave the thumbs up to its version of a state budget, H.5100, and a Capital Reserve Fund, H.5101, sending both to the full Senate for consideration.

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Feds Send $1.2 Million to South Carolina for Transit Development Study

Charleston Bus

The federal government has awarded a $1.2 million grant to a three-county planning council in the Charleston area to study transit-oriented development tied to a bus rapid transit line slated to open in five years.

The Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments will use the federal tax dollars for the third phase of a TOD study. The study will focus on implementing affordable housing strategies along the proposed 21.3-mile-long Lowcountry Rapid Transit line.

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Georgia, South Carolina Port Operations Could Be Affected by Baltimore Collision

South Carolina Port

While the discussion continues following the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, several opportunities to improve operations and processes have emerged.

Officials at Georgia’s and South Carolina’s ports have vowed to help however they can.

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California Disciplinary Judge Issues 128-page Opinion Disbarring Trump’s Former Attorney John Eastman

California Bar Disciplinary Judge Yvette Roland disbarred Donald Trump’s former attorney and constitutional legal scholar John Eastman.

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South Carolina Senate Fails to Advance Tort Reform Measure

South Carolina Capitol

The South Carolina Senate did not pass a measure aimed at stemming lawsuit abuse, likely killing the push for the legislative session.

Senate Bill 533, the South Carolina Justice Act, would have amended the South Carolina Contribution Among Tortfeasors Act and moved the state toward a model in which a defendant is financially liable based on their percentage of fault. Proponents say this would reduce excessive damage awards in civil cases.

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