S.C. Politics Today: Brown to challenge Clyburn

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"We can contribute, we do contribute and I think women should contribute."

- S.C. first lady Jenny Sanford, lamenting the low number of elected women in the state

CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Brown to challenge Clyburn

U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, a Columbia Democrat who is also the U.S. House Majority Whip, is set to get primary opposition from a small-business owner.

Columbia's Gregory Brown will announce his candidacy today during a tour of the 6th District that stops in Columbia, Orangeburg, North Charleston and Florence.

Brown runs a telecommunications company. Voters will go to the polls June 8 to choose a nominee. Clyburn was first elected to Congress in 1992. He became the first African-American to represent S.C. in Washington post Reconstruction.

Brown, 49, is an Air Force veteran and a graduate of Lower Richland High School and Norfolk State University, according to his campaign Web site. He is president of Keystone Enterprises.

- Staff Reports

Drake, Sheheen trade barbed attacks

Two Democrats running for governor, Dwight Drake and Sen. Vincent Sheheen, duked it out Thursday over the state's embattled Employment Security Commission.

Drake, a Columbia attorney and former lobbyist, took the first shot in an e-mail blast to the media, accusing Sheheen of dropping the ball on reforming the agency. An audit out this week shows the unemployment trust fund is nearly $800 million in debt to the federal government.

"And what did Senator Sheheen do?" wrote Drake. "Absolutely nothing then and nothing since. It shocks my conscience that as a legislator responsible for screening and approving the selection of commissioners to run the agency, Senator Sheheen was told flat out that the fund was going bankrupt and did nothing - and nothing is what he continues to do."

Sheheen fired back his own e-mail, accusing Drake of playing fast and loose with the facts. Sheheen said he and 18 other senators requested a detailed audit of the agency a year ago to determine the problems.

"Perhaps Dwight's just been too wrapped up in his lobbying for payday lenders, Big Tobacco and companies dumping hazardous waste on our shores to get his facts straight about what's happening in our state government," Sheheen wrote.

"But either way, it's unacceptable behavior from someone who wants to govern this great state."

- Gina Smith

DAILY BUZZ

HOWARD RICH COMES TO S.C. TO GET COZY

New York businessman Howard Rich was in South Carolina this week, meeting with lawmakers and others about future school choice legislation, sources tell The Buzz.

Rich has gained notoriety for quietly backing S.C. State House candidates friendly to the school choice agenda and helping to craft legislation to give tax credits to parents who send their children to private schools.

Sources say Rich was not here to push any specific piece of legislation. Rather, he was looking to build bridges.

Neither House Republicans nor Gov. Mark Sanford included school choice on their agendas for this legislative session.

But The Buzz thinks Rich's money guarantees someone will take up the issue again.

CAPITOL CONNECTION

Warrantless searches bill advances

Officers in South Carolina would not need a warrant to search juveniles and adults on probation or parole under a bill approved Thursday by a House panel.

Law enforcement and crime victim groups hope the possibility of being searched by any officer in the state will deter people on conditional release from prison from committing more crimes.

"It makes logical sense, when we have a known felon on probation and/or parole, that we are able to curtail any further criminal activity," said Laura Hudson, executive director of the S.C. Crime Victims' Council. "When someone has gone on probation, that's a privilege, and he's lost rights to certain protections."

The bill, which heads to the full House Judiciary Committee, allows police and probation officers to bypass going to a judge for a search warrant. They can search the person, the vehicle the person owns or is driving, and any of that person's possessions, such as a purse or book bag.

The Senate passed the bill last February.

HARRELL PROPOSES BILL TO AID ECONOMY

S.C. House Speaker Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, introduced a bill Thursday that would, he said, make South Carolina more attractive to new industry.

The list includes the elimination of the corporate income tax, lawsuit reform, Employment Security Commission reform and improvements to the Charleston port.

The ideas are the brainchild of a group of private-sector industry leaders, including Lewis Gossett of the S.C. Manufacturers Alliance and April Allen of the O'Neal Inc.

- Gina Smith

10TH AMENDMENT DEBATE STALLS

Debate in the S.C. Legislature was adjourned again today on a resolution to reaffirm states' rights - but not before Democrats had some fun.

Working to delay the vote on the resolution that reaffirms the 10th Amendment, Democrats introduced a list of tongue-in-cheek amendments, reaffirming other constitutional guarantees.

State Rep. Ken Kennedy, D-Williamsburg, spoke on one reaffirming the Second Amendment.

"I would love to own a tank so I could protect myself," Kennedy said. "Can you imagine coming into the town of Greeleyville and each person has a tank in their yard? And then we could give each citizen an Uzi, and I would be the only one with an airplane so I can drop bombs."

Democrats want to delay a bill they call a waste of time. Republicans say the resolution is an effort to prevent the federal government from forcing expensive health care reform on the states.

- Gina Smith

ONLINE

- For fresh political and legislative news, visit thestate.com/politics and click on "S.C. Politics Today."

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- Also, find out how much state employees earn by clicking on "S.C. salary data" and searching the online list.