TheState.com: Gov. Haley Watch

Haley’s SC foundation mixes service, connections

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 09:00 EDT

Gov. Nikki Haley says she did not start The Original Six Foundation to win votes. But her nonprofit’s job-and-health fairs in struggling South Carolina communities have won her new supporters – even if they don’t recognize who she is.

Becky Biggerstaff did not realize last weekend that the dark-haired woman wearing a T-shirt, dark blue jeans and gray Chuck Taylor sneakers – and blocking Biggerstaff’s path to a blood-pressure testing table inside Barnwell High School’s gym – was the governor of South Carolina or that the Lexington Republican’s foundation was sponsoring the event.

After mouthing “wow” when told by a reporter, the mother of three from Williston, who voted for Democratic President Barack Obama, said she might cast a ballot for a Republican governor in 2014.

“If you have somebody who cares about you, that’s who you want to keep in office,” Biggerstaff said.

Barnwell was the fifth county where The Original Six has held job-and-health fairs since Haley created the nonprofit in 2011 with the stated aim to empower communities. More than 3,000 people have attended the organization’s community days, the foundation’s director said.

SC Gov. Haley touts state to 4k Wal-Mart supplier reps

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 08:46 EST

Gov. Nikki Haley spoke Thursday in Orlando, Fla., to 4,000 representatives of companies that supply Wal-Mart, pitching the retailer’s push to buy more domestic goods and South Carolina’s efforts to boost economic development.

Haley, who has made job creation the top priority of her administration, also met with representatives of about 30 suppliers either individually or in small groups, her office said.

Haley was asked to speak at the annual event by Wal-Mart’s U.S. chief executive, Bill Simon, two weeks ago, while she was at governors’ associations meetings in Washington, D.C., her office said.

“She has been such a leader in the areas of growing manufacturing jobs in her state,” Wal-Mart spokesman Dave Tovar said of Haley. “She’s a great ambassador to talk about this business.”

Haley was the only non-Wal-Mart official to talk to suppliers, which included Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola and Kraft.

NEW: Gov. Nikki Haley issues SC regulatory reform order

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 12:49 EST

Gov. Nikki Haley issued an executive order Tuesday requiring state agencies review and eliminate any regulations they think impede business growth in South Carolina.

Her order also created a task force composed mostly of business leaders to also look for regulations to eliminate. A final report is due Nov. 15, according the governor’s office.

Agencies must report their findings to the task force by May 15.

Haley made both announcements during a cabinet meeting.

Haley promised regulatory reform in her State of the State speech a month ago, announcing plans to form the task force and agencies to review their rules.

SC ethics reform bills would cut PACs, move complaints

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 15:27 EST

State Sen. Wes Hayes, R-York, introduced ethics-reform bills Wednesday that would force political committees to submit expense reports, ban leadership PACs and have the S.C. Ethics Commission hear complaints against state lawmakers.

Hayes, who chaired the Senate ethics committee last year, was the target of attacks from a committee that did not have to reveal its backers or spending since courts ruled the state’s definition of a political groups as too broad.

The ban on PACs associated with legislative leaders has been a hot issue and was among recommendations released last week by an ethic-reform commission created by Gov, Nikki Haley. Questions have been raised about a PAC tied to House Speaker Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, that has donated to campaigns.

Another ethics-reform popular suggestion has been ending state lawmakers policing themselves and sending complaints to the state commission. Hayes said he does not want to end the House and Senate ethics committees, but they would mainly help clarify rules and not handle ethics accusations.

Dems say Gov. Nikki Haley has declared war on rural SC

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 15:31 EST

S.C. Democratic leaders said Tuesday that Gov. Nikki Haley has declared war on the rural poor parts in the state by cutting off face-to-face unemployment claims help at 17 offices.

“These are the most vulnerable of counties,” Minority House Leader Todd Rutherford, D-Richland, said outside the governor's office.

Forcing people, who might not have a car or gas money, to drive to offices in nearby counties will lower the number of people filing jobless claims, Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, said. That could lower the unemployment rate -- a potential boon for Haley, a first-term Republican, he said.

“It’s clear the governor is running for re-election,” Hutto said.

Just before the Democrats spoke, Haley told reporters staffing was reduced as claims and federal funding have dropped.

SC Supreme Court to hear Nikki Haley ethics case

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 18:03 EST

The S.C. Supreme Court will hear arguments March 20 whether Republican activist John Rainey's ethics allegations against Gov. Nikki Haley could be heard in state court.

Rainey sued Haley over accusations she used her office for personal gain while she was a GOP state representative from Lexington County.

But Fifth Circuit Judge Casey Manning ruled last year that Rainey’s complaints should go before the House ethics committee, which cleared Haley twice. Ending or curbing the Senate and House ethics committees policing their members has become central to proposed reforms, including those backed by the governor.

Rainey, an attorney who has been an active fundraiser, appealed Manning’s decision to the Supreme Court, which will not consider the allegations but whether ethics charges can be heard in state court.

“This isn’t about Nikki Haley,” said Rainey’s attorney Dick Harpootlian, chairman of the S.C. Democratic Party. “This about whether we have three branches of government or 2 1/2.”

Governor's commission recommends SC ethics reforms

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 15:05 EST

Lawmakers would disclose more sources of income, face stiffer fines and stop representing clients before some state commissions under new ethics rules suggested Monday by a commission created by Gov. Nikki Haley.

Haley appointed most of the commission last year after ethics became a headline issue. They included the House ethics committee clearing the governor of changes she used her office for personal gain while she was a state representative and the resignation of Lt. Gov. Ken Ard over charges of misusing campaign contributions.

The governor’s commission led by former Attorneys General Henry McMaster and Travis Medlock included former U.S. attorneys, state ethics commission members and media representatives.

Their recommendations will be weighed against suggestions from three ethics-reform legislative committees that met simultaneously. McMaster and Medlock said they would lobby for the commission's suggestions and testify before legislative committees if asked.

Many of the governor’s commission recommendations mimicked what Haley suggested herself last year. The suggestions released Monday included:

Health care, education, jobs to be focus of Gov. Nikki Haley's State of the State address

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 11:59 EST

Gov. Nikki Haley said her State of the State tonight will focus on jobs, infrastructure, cyber security, ethics reform and health care -- a hot-button issue since she rejected provisions of the federal Affordable Care Act.

“That will be a debate (on health care), but it’s also going to be more of not just ‘no’ but solutions,” Haley told reporters in previewing what she expects to be a 50-minute speech starting at 7 p.m. “A lot of people in South Carolina don’t realize that we are working on a lot things when it comes to health care.”

Haley also promised a different take with education, but she said she would not share any details until the speech tonight.

“It continues on what this administration has tried to do from Day One, which is change the image of South Carolina so that people are proud,” she said. “I think you’re going to hear a lot of successes, a lot of things that people don’t realize that have gotten done.”

Haley said she has “seen nothing but support from” state lawmakers, who will determine if her recommendations are followed.

SC governor: Civil rights icon would be proud of state

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 09:09 EST

Gov. Nikki Haley said Tuesday (click here for video) that she has admired the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. since she was a 5-year-old growing up in Bamberg, saying the civil rights leader said things that she could relate to because her Indian-American family faced discrimination.

Haley added that her election in 2010 as the state’s first female and first minority governor would have made King proud of South Carolina.

“He would be so proud of what we have become that he would tell us, ‘Don’t stop,’ ” the Lexington Republican told about 200 government, business and civic leaders at the Columbia Urban League’s breakfast on King’s birthday Tuesday. “He would say, ‘See, this is just the beginning.’ ”

Haley said she won the governor’s race because she earned the win, not because of her race. The same, she said, was true of Tim Scott, the Republican congressman from North Charleston whom Haley appointed last month as the state’s first African-American U.S. senator.

“We got it because Dr. King fought for that to happen, for people to look beyond the color of skin, for people to understand what it means to communicate with each other through love and not hate,” she said. “That is what I took away from him: No matter how bad people are to you, always respect and love them back because that’s what he wanted.”

SC Gov. Nikki Haley not surprised Mark Sanford is running

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 11:51 EST

SC Gov. Nikki Haley said today she is not surprised her predecessor and onetime mentor, Mark Sanford, announced that he will run for the congressional seat along the Lowcountry coast.

“He is someone that is very involved in policy and has always loved policy," she told reporters while previewing her annual State of the State address. "This is going back home to him, which would be his old congressional seat.”

Haley, then a Lexington County state representative, received Sanford's support during her run to succeed him in 2010. The governor also named Sanford's ex-wife, Jenny, among the five finalists last month to be appointed for U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint's seat after he resigned to head the Heritage Foundation think tank.

Haley appointed U.S. Rep. Tim Scott, which opened the congressional seat Mark Sanford is seeking. Sanford served in Congress from 1995-2001 before becoming governor for eight years.

-- Andrew Shain

Mark Sanford announces for Congress, discusses challenges

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 13:35 EST

Former Gov. Mark Sanford, who officially announced this morning he’s running to represent the 1st Congressional District, has something to say about ex-wife Jenny Sanford and fiancee Maria Belen Chapur — but not Gov. Nikki Haley whom he helped catapult to the governor’s office in 2010 by raising money for her and encouraging his supporters to back her.

“I’m not about to grade other people on their report card,” Sanford said, when asked about Haley. “I’m about to get my own report card.”

Haley said she is not surprised Sanford is running for the congressional seat along the Lowcountry coast.

“He is someone that is very involved in policy and has always loved policy," she told reporters while previewing her annual State of the State address scheduled for tonight. "This is going back home to him, which would be his old congressional seat.”

While Sanford plans to marry Chapur, whom he secretly left the state to visit in Argentina in 2009, he isn’t giving up any wedding details. The secret trip not only destroyed Sanford’s marriage but ended growing talk of Sanford as a viable presidential contender in 2012.

Gov. Haley: MLK would be proud of South Carolina

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 14:59 EST

Gov. Nikki Haley said at a breakfast Tuesday honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King that the civil rights leader would be proud that South Carolina elected her -- the daughter of Indian immigrants.

Haley said she admired King since she was a 5 year old growing up in Bamberg because he said things that related to her.

She shared stories of discrimination while growing up. Her family could not join the local country club, she was disqualified from a beauty pageant because judges could not put her in category for white or black contestants and police eyed she and her father while shopping at a produce stand.

Haley said as a child she was proud to say she and King were Capricorns since their birthdays are so close together -- his on Jan. 15 and hers on Jan. 20

“I just tried to find any way to connect with someone that I would never be blessed to know,” Haley told about 200 government, business and civic leaders at a Columbia Urban League breakfast in West Columbia. “But I will tell you that I have been changed. All of us have been changed."

UPDATED: Sheheen leads Haley in SC governor rematch, poll finds

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 16:45 EST

State Sen. Vincent Sheheen leads Gov. Nikki Haley in a hypothetical rematch of their 2010 South Carolina gubernatorial race, according to a poll released today.

The Democrat from Kershaw is ahead 46 percent to 44 percent over the first-term Republican governor from Lexington, the survey by Raleigh-based Public Policy Polling found.

The result is inside the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percent.

Neither candidate has formally announced they will run for governor again in 2014, but they are expected to enter the race next year.

"I believe it's less about me and more about the distrust the people of South Carolina have in our state government," Sheheen said in a statement. "The people of South Carolina are smart enough to know they deserve better than what we have gotten."

Advocacy groups to start pressuring Haley to accept expansion of Medicaid rolls

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 01:38 EST

Health care advocates at events in Columbia on Tuesday will begin putting public pressure on state legislators to buck Gov. Nikki Haley and accept the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act.

The advocacy groups will stage a news conference at 10 a.m. the State House, a coalition-building and training meeting from noon-3 p.m. at the Clarion Hotel Downtown and a public forum at 6 p.m. at the USC School of Law. Robert Greenwald, director of the Harvard Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation, will be the featured speaker at the training session.

Bambi Gaddist, executive director of the S.C. HIV/AIDS Council, helped put together the events designed to spread the word about what the ACA means to state residents. She also hopes to turn up the volume in the discussion about Medicaid expansion before the state Legislature convenes in January.

“South Carolina leadership must take steps to educate citizens about the new federal law because it will change how we gain access to health care for years to come,” Gaddist said. “This community forum is needed to make sure South Carolinians get information first hand from the leading health authorities in the state and nation.

“Simply stated, no South Carolinan can afford to just stay home. Whether young or old, insured or uninsured, everyone should come out and learn how health care reform will impact them and their families.”

SC governor’s job-approval rating remains below 40% (+survey)

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 01:24 EST

Gov. Nikki Haley’s less-than-stellar job-approval rating could make her vulnerable in a re-election bid in 2014, though she has time to convince skeptics to give her another four-year term, political experts said Wednesday.

For the third time in a year, Haley could not crack 40 percent in job approval among South Carolinians, according to a poll from Winthrop University released Wednesday.

Democratic President Barack Obama, trounced in the Republican state during last month’s general election, received higher approval marks than the first-term GOP governor. But Winthrop poll organizers cautioned against comparing the two since more survey respondents did not have an opinion about Haley.

“There is some weakness there,” veteran S.C. political consultant Steve Fooshe said of Haley’s job-approval numbers.

After nearly two years in office, 38.3 percent of those surveyed by Winthrop last week said that they approved of the governor’s performance; 41.3 percent disapproved. Still, Haley’s job-approval number is higher than in Winthrop polls in April and a year ago, when the poll found Haley’s job approval rating at 34.6 percent.

Haley still struggling with job approval rating

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 23:51 EST

Gov. Nikki Haley is still fighting to win job approval from a majority South Carolinians almost two years after taking office, a new Winthrop University poll released Wednesday finds.

Haley received 38.3 percent approval of those surveyed last week, while 41.3 percent disapproved of her job performance. Both numbers are higher than the last Winthrop poll in April. Her job approval was 34.6 percent a year ago.

Since the last Winthrop poll was released, Haley watched her signature government reform bill get stonewalled by foes on the last day of the legislative session and was cleared of ethics charges from her days as a state representative from Lexington County. She also received acclaim for her prime-time speech at the Republican National Convention and grappled with criticism over hackers stealing sensitive financial information belonging to 6.4 million consumers and businesses from the S.C. Department of Revenue.

The governor’s numbers are roughly 50-50 in the latest poll when eliminating people who had no opinion or refused to answer the question. That has remained roughly the same over the past year.

Her job approval among Republican registered voters stands at 61.5 percent, up slightly from April.

Dems request audit of state agency hit by hackers

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 13:30 EST

Democratic leaders have requested an independent audit of the S.C. Department of Revenue after hackers stole tax information belonging to 6.4 million consumers and businesses.

The lawmaker also plan to introduce legislation for the state offer tax credits for people paying for credit-monitoring and repay people for the costs of resolving identity-theft cases.

Sen. Vincent Sheheen, a Democrat from Kershaw who was among lawmakers requesting the audit, called the hacking and the response by state officials, including Gov. Nikki Haley, “the mother of all government dysfunction” at a news conference Thursday.

The governor’s office said Sheheen, who is expected to try another run against Haley like he did in 2010, was grandstanding. “He has never uttered the word ‘cyber-security’ until this hacking incident occurred,” Haley’s spokesman Rob Godfrey said.

Still, Godfrey said the governor has no objections to an audit.

SC Gov. takes blame for state’s data breach

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 11:01 EST

Gov. Nikki Haley on Wednesday for the first time accepted personal blame for a massive cyber-attack that stole the Social Security and bank account numbers of millions of South Carolinians, saying she should have done more to ensure the data’s security.

Haley briefed the state’s congressional delegation on the hacking into S.C. Department of Revenue computer servers by digital thieves, who pilfered the tax returns of 3.8 million state residents and 700,000 businesses going back to 1998. The thieves gained access to the Social Security numbers and bank accounts of the taxpayers and also information on 1.9 million dependents.

Haley faulted the federal Internal Revenue Service for failing to make clear that being in compliance with its rules doesn’t require encryption — a method of storing data that protects it — but, she added, as the state’s top executive officer, it was her responsibility to know that.

“I, ultimately, am saying that South Carolina is at fault for not doing this,” Haley said. “I should have asked the extra question. I should have said, `Does this include encryption?’ ”

Before updating the state’s federal lawmakers, Haley addressed a closed meeting of the Republican Governors Association, where she said she warned governors and business leaders of hacking threats.

SC Senator: ‘For $25,000, we wouldn’t be here’

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 11:01 EST

A $25,000 dual password system likely would have prevented hackers from stealing state tax data belonging to 6.4 million consumers and businesses from the S.C. Department of Revenue, a special state Senate subcommittee investigating the data breach was told Wednesday.

“I almost fell out of my chair,” Sen. Kevin Bryant, R-Anderson, co-chairman of the cyber-security breach subcommittee, said after the hearing. “For $25,000, we wouldn’t be here.”

A computer security firm hired by the state told senators that hackers would have been thwarted by requiring Revenue Department employees to log-in twice – once with a password that changes every minute.

Dual passwords are required by the Internal Revenue Service for agencies, such as state tax departments, that access federal tax records remotely, but the S.C. Revenue Department did not install the system until after the breach. The password system is costing $25,000, agency director James Etter told senators.

The subcommittee also heard that the Revenue Department looked at encrypting data at least twice in the past six years before hackers stole unencrypted state tax data in September. Those efforts went nowhere, though the agency now is encrypting tax information, including Social Security numbers.

Governor's overseas development trips cost $134,000

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 12:39 EST

Taxpayers shelled out $134,000 for a pair of overseas economic-development trips to England and Japan this year attended by Gov. Nikki Haley, according to state documents provided Monday.

The trips combined to cost less than the $158,000 taxpayers spent on a trip to a Paris air show in 2011.

The S.C. Commerce Department has not said whether the latest trips produced any jobs or new or expanded plants. Commerce department officials joined Haley and one of her staff members on the trips.

The trip to the Farnborough International Airshow outside London in July cost $97,000 -- about $9,000 less than projected, according to documents from the governor’s office. About 60 percent of the cost, more than $59,000, paid for an exhibit at the show.

The Japan-U.S. Southeast Association meeting in September cost $36,880 -- about $17,000 under projections, according to documents from the governor’s office.

Forget Fort Sumter, SC governor rules out state seceding

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 19:43 EST

COLUMBIA, SC The governor of the state where the Civil War started has no plans to join any 21st Century secession movement.

“Didn’t we try that once before?” S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley said Wednesday. “I love this country. I’m going to fight for this country. I’m going to do everything I can for this country, and this country is going to be great.”

More than 34,500 people – many not from the state – have signed two four-day-old petitions on the White House website calling for South Carolina to secede. Petitions that collect 25,000 signatures in a month receive a White House response.

Petitions requesting secession have cropped up for about 40 states since President Barack Obama’s re-election last week.

Andrew Shain

Post-Romney, Haley’s governorship at a crossroads

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 00:14 EST

Gov. Nikki Haley is facing decisions over the next few months that will determine her future and legacy in South Carolina.

Two years after her election, any ambitions that Haley had of joining a Mitt Romney administration, which she denied, were quashed last week. Now, talk will start about the 2014 election for the South Carolina Governor’s Mansion.

Haley is expected to announce next summer that she will run for a second term in 2014 after a legislative session where she hopes to collect victories.

But her chief issues – cutting taxes and trimming government bureaucracy, as well as ethics reform even after facing allegations of using her office for personal gain – will be joined by another matter that already is testing her administration.

The theft of up to 4.5 million state tax records by an overseas hacker has upset South Carolinians and raised the ire of lawmakers, who appointed a special committee to investigate the theft last week.

Haley statement on Obama victory

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 09:42 EST

Statement from Gov. Nikki Haley on Tuesday’s presidential election results

“First, Michael and I want to offer our congratulations to Mitt and Ann Romney – two wonderful people filled with grace, strength and love of country, and two people we are proud to call our friends. They ran a campaign that offered a vision of America that is strong, prosperous and free, and inspired millions of Americans in the process. We all owe them a debt of gratitude for their service.

“Second, we congratulate President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama on their hard-fought and hard-earned re-election. Since the day he was sworn into office back in 2009, we have hoped and prayed for President Obama’s success as, more than anything, we want to raise our children in an America that’s thriving and that offers our children the same blessings and opportunities it has offered the generations that preceded them. Those hopes and prayers continue today.

“Although South Carolina cast a majority of its votes in the other direction, our country has spoken. As Americans, we must respect this outcome, and, as governor, I will work together with President Obama wherever I can for the betterment of our state and country.”

Haley cancels Romney stump trips

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 10:53 EDT

Gov. Nikki Haley has canceled weekend visits to swing states for GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney to concentrate on recovery efforts after hackers stole state tax information belonging to up to 4.25 million consumers and businesses.

Haley, who endorsed the former Massachusetts governor before the S.C. primary in January was slated to visit Ohio on Saturday, said Tim Pearson, who is running her political operation.

The Buckeye State is seen as the linchpin to winning the White House.

The governor has stumped for Romney in Michigan, North Carolina, Virginia and Florida.

She also gave a prime time speech during the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., and participated in GOP-response news conferences during the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.

Gov. Nikki Haley issues “Marcus Lattimore Day” proclamation

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 01:36 EDT

COLUMBIA Governor Nikki Haley issued a gubernatorial proclamation designating Monday, October 29, 2012, as “Marcus Lattimore Day” throughout the state of South Carolina. Lattimore, who has been widely recognized not only as one of the country’s best college football players but also as an outstanding leader, suffered a season-ending knee injury on Saturday during a game against Tennessee.

Gov. Haley said, “Michael and I ask every South Carolinian to join our family as we lift up in prayer Marcus Lattimore and his mother Yolanda Smith during this challenging time. He has been more than just a Carolina football player – he is a great role model for our state.”

SC business tax records also hacked (+ video)

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 12:41 EST

Tax data belonging to as many as 657,000 South Carolina businesses also was taken in the massive security breach that exposed records of 3.6 million people, Gov, Nikki Haley said Wednesday.

Businesses can sign up for free lifetime credit monitoring from Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. starting Friday, Haley said. Experian also is offering free monitoring for businesses starting Thursday, her office said.

Consumers are getting one free-year of monitoring and lifetime credit-fraud resolution from Experian as part of an agreement capped at $12 million with the state. Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. is offering business protection services for free to South Carolina, the governor’s office said.

State officials said in the first days after the hack was announced on Friday that they did not think business records were exposed. But a consultant hired by the S.C. Department of Revenue, Mandiant, found businesses records were compromised on Tuesday night, Haley said.

Business can sign up for the Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. monitoring service starting Friday online at www.dandb.com/sc or by phone at (800) 279-9881. No details of the Experian business plan were released.

SC hack victims to get lifetime ID theft resolution aid

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 12:48 EST

South Carolina taxpayers and their children who were victims of a massive data breach at the Department of Revenue will receive free lifetime credit fraud resolution, Gov. Nikki Haley announced Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Senate Finance Committee will hold the first legislative hearing since the breach became public four days ago. Revenue department director James Etter will answer questions at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday before the committee chaired by Sen. Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence.

[Click here for video of Tuesday's update from Gov. Haley • Also, scroll to the bottom of this story for information about what to do if you have filed taxes in SC since 1998.]

Haley said again Tuesday that she has no plans to discipline anyone in what is by far the state’s largest hacking incident in the past seven years. She said no one could have prevented the sophisticated breach and that blame belongs to the criminals who stole the data.

The state is paying for one-year of monitoring and up to $2 million in insurance from Experian after revealing Friday that foreign hackers stole 3.6 million Social Security numbers from people who paid state income taxes since 1998.

SC governor gets high marks on jobs, but some allies are alienated

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 23:14 EST

Politics is a game of addition, normally. Politicians work to keep the support of their base and, at the same time, win new supporters.

Not so with S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley, critics say. In the two years since her election, the first-term Republican has turned that adage on its ear, playing a game of subtraction.

Critics say Haley has adopted an insular management style, surrounding herself with a small group of 20-something former campaign staffers, led until recently by a young chief of staff, with limited state government experience. She also employs an “us vs. them” mentality against her perceived foes.

The result?

Haley has alienated some former allies, made powerful enemies and damaged relationships with legislators who could have helped pass her agenda. A list of the bruised extends from Tea Party elements and the libertarian Policy Council, both of which once championed Haley, to fellow Republicans, including House Speaker Bobby Harrell.

The Buzz: Keeping up ap-Pearsons

Sun, 21 Oct 2012 08:58 EDT

Tim Pearson is gone from the governor’s office, but he’s not gone from the governor.

Gov. Nikki Haley’s former chief of staff moved out of the State House last week after re-opening her campaign shop. (Some might ask: Did it ever really close? See details later.)

Pearson is working out of temporary digs at the Womble Carlyle law office – familiar turf since that’s the home of Butch Bowers and Kevin Hall, the lawyers who represented the Republican guv in her ethics case.

Pearson is looking for his own office space with the expectation of no longer working alone at his one-client consulting firm, Salt Box Strategies.

While Pearson’s boss has not formally announced her re-election bid – that should come next summer – that has not kept the two apart.

SC governor creates ethics panel

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 00:55 EDT

Gov. Nikki Haley, the target of an ethics probe this spring, Thursday ramped up efforts to fix South Carolina’s legislative disclosure, conflict of interest and open records laws, creating a commission to develop a blueprint for ethics reform.

Headed by former S.C. attorneys general Henry McMaster and Travis Medlock, the commission joins three legislative committees assigned the task of developing a proposal to be considered by the Legislature, starting in January. The governor also introduced a reform plan this summer.

“I’m going to take this report very seriously,” said Haley, a Lexington Republican. “Will I agree with everything? Probably not. Will the House or Senate, probably not.”

Lawmakers working on ethics reform say they expect any legislation to include recommendations from the legislative committees and the governor’s special commission – all of which say they want to know what the public thinks.

“There’s going to be a marriage, one way or another,” said House Ethics Committee chairman Roland Smith, R-Aiken.

Haley: SC tourism is at whole new level

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 23:11 EDT

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said Wednesday the state’s $15 billion tourism industry is reaching new levels and garnering worldwide attention despite the troubled economy.

Haley stopped by the birthplace of the state, the Charles Towne Landing Historic Site, to talk about tourism, which is one of the largest industries in the state.

Hotel room occupancy in South Carolina through August was up more than 3 percent compared to last year while revenue per available room, a key indicator of the health of the industry, is up approaching 8 percent.

And this week, the readers of Conde Nast Traveler voted Charleston the top tourist town in the world. Last year, and again this year, it was also voted the top tourist destination in the United States.

“What it should tell people across South Carolina is that you don’t need to go anywhere. It’s all right here,” the governor said. “And what it tells everybody across the world is if you haven’t been here, get here quickly, and if you have, get back.”

SC governor's supporters group buys TV ads

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 23:06 EDT

A political organization led by Gov. Nikki Haley supporters will begin airing television ads today against longtime state Sen. Nikki Setzler, D-Lexington.

“I'm surprised and disappointed,” Setzler said. “I have a lot of respect for Nikki Haley.”

The Movement Fund has spent $37,750 to air an ad 59 times over the next nine days on WIS, according to contracts obtained from the station.

The ad says Setzler “voted to spend millions of our tax dollars on wasteful projects like a green bean museum,” according to a copy of the script provided by the fund. The ad also says Setzler, a senator since 1977, takes a state pension though he still works and takes his hotel allowance despite living near the State House.

These issues are not unique to Setzler. Other senators take a pension and housing allowance.

SC governor to campaign in Sumter state Senate race

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 20:22 EDT

Gov. Nikki Haley is dipping her toe into the November general elections, venturing into one of the most competitive races in the state.

Haley will campaign today for Republican state Senate candidate Tony Barwick in Sumter. It is Haley’s first endorsement in a local race on the November ballot.

Barwick, owner of Palmetto Pigeon Plant, is running against Democrat Thomas McElveen, a Sumter attorney and son of Sumter Mayor Joseph McElveen. The two are hoping to succeed District 35 state Sen. Phil Leventis, a Democratic Senate stalwart who is retiring after 31 years.

While District 35 has been Democratic for decades, its boundaries were redrawn last year by the Republican-controlled Legislature, and the GOP is hopeful of winning the seat.

“The governor, in Sumter, has got a tremendous following. She was so instrumental in bringing Continental Tire, bringing another Caterpillar plant and bringing Au’some Candy,” Barwick said, referring to three employers who recently announced they would locate in the county. “Certainly, she will help me. I want anybody I can get to come out and support me.”

SC college, political leaders joust over funding

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 18:17 EDT

South Carolina should fund its colleges with a merit system that rewards schools for graduation rates and job placement, Gov. Nikki Haley told a gathering of political, academic and business leaders on Wednesday.

"Colleges will not get everything they want. They will get what they earn," she said.

During a panel session, college presidents said they need more money to pay state-mandated raises and maintenance and to curb regulation that slows development of new projects.

"If you want us to run like FedEx, don't treat us like the Post Office," Francis Marion President Fred Carter said.

South Carolina lawmakers on the panel said colleges should not to expect more cash with the impending health-care regulation.

Haley: Should the state of South Carolina keep its planes?

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 16:15 EDT

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said Monday that she is wondering why the state should keep planes if she cannot use them for what she considers legitimate uses.

Haley paid the state $9,590 after The Associated Press raised questions about her using the planes for bill signings and news conferences. Lawmakers added a clause to the state budget last year banning the use of state planes for these purposes.

The governor’s office said it was not aware of the clause before being alerted by a reporter. Haley paid for the flights she took to sign bills for creating a state Medal of Valor and redrawing new congressional districts and promote her ethics and tax reform plans.

But she felt they were part of her doing business as governor.

“Now I am in decision mode of do we need a plane?” Haley said during a news conference Monday, the day after the story broke.

New chief of staff to SC Gov. Haley named

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 10:43 EDT

Gov. Nikki Haley’s new chief of staff is a Boston-area native and USC graduate with a reputation for keeping a cool head and building relationships while working for Columbia law firms and the state attorney general’s office.

Bryan Stirling will take over as chief of staff on Oct. 15 for Tim Pearson, who – after leading Haley’s successful 2010 race for governor – is departing to run Haley’s political operation. Stirling, 42, will earn $128,750 a year, a $21,000 raise from his job as a deputy attorney general and the same amount Pearson was paid.

Stirling has spent the past five years working for state attorneys general Henry McMaster and Alan Wilson, helping get legislation passed in the General Assembly. In his new role, he could help repair Haley’s relationships with lawmakers, said veteran Republican political consultant Richard Quinn of Columbia.

“There’s a lot of hostility with the governor’s office in both chambers,” Quinn said. “The leaders think she’s not willing to work and collaborate with them.”

While respected for his work as Haley’s campaign manager, the 30-year-old Pearson had “an aura of making political decisions (based on) what was good for the governor,” said Quinn, who ran campaigns for Wilson and McMaster, including McMaster’s bid for the GOP nomination against Haley. “Bryan will promote what’s good for the state.”

South Carolina deputy AG named Gov. Nikki Haley's chief of staff

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 14:52 EDT

Bryan Stirling, a state deputy attorney general, was named chief of staff for Gov. Nikki Haley on Tuesday, a day after Tim Pearson announced he was leaving the post to run Haley’s political operation.

Stirling starts Oct. 15. He will get a raise from the $107,382 a year he makes in the attorney general’s office. He will earn the same pay as Pearson, $128,750.

Stirling has spent the past five years in the attorney general’s office prosecuting domestic violence cases, overseeing office administration and budgets, and working as liaison with the legislature, the governor's office said.

“It’s been an honor to serve two attorneys general, I look forward to joining Gov. Haley’s team, and I’m excited about the opportunity that lies ahead,” Stirling said in a statement.

He worked as special assistant to the Transportation Secretary Andrew Card after college and the S.C. GOP after law school. He spent 10 year in private practice before joining the attorney general’s office.

SC Governor Haley aide leaves to run her re-election campaign

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 08:50 EDT

News that Gov. Nikki Haley’s chief of staff is leaving that post in two weeks to run her political operation marks the de facto beginning of the 2014 governor’s race, political experts said Monday.

“She’s raising a lot of money and her chief of staff is going to run her political arm,” said Bob McAlister, a media consultant who was chief of staff for Gov. Carroll Campbell. “You don’t have to be a Ph.D. to figure this out.”

Haley has not announced whether she will seek re-election, a decision the governor’s office expects next summer. However, her campaign already has raised more than $1 million and a political group, started by her supporters, has collected another $555,000.

“The goal is to make sure the minute that she decides that she wants to run that we have a campaign ready to go,” said Tim Pearson, who went from Haley’s campaign manager to her chief of staff after her surprise 2010 win.

Pearson helped Haley overcome a double-digit deficit to defeat two better-known Republicans to win the GOP nomination before beating Democratic Sen. Vincent Sheheen in the general election.

Haley says all her travels promote state, bring jobs

Thu, 27 Sep 2012 06:37 EDT

Deflecting criticism that she has spent too many days out of town in recent weeks, Gov. Nikki Haley said Wednesday that those trips – whether to pitch companies in Japan or Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney to voters – always have one purpose.

“Everything I do is an economic-development issue,” Haley told The State. “There’s not a place I will go … that I don’t bring South Carolina jobs into it.”

Haley said even appearing on news shows helps the state’s bottom line: “Every time you see me get on national TV and be a union buster, we have another CEO who calls. There’s a method to my madness.”

Haley recently returned from a weeklong trade mission to Japan with S.C. Department of Commerce officials that included 23 economic-development meetings. No deals were announced on the trip, which carries a preliminary price tag to the state of $54,000. But Haley, who attended 16 of the 23 meetings, said projects need to time to come to fruition.

The Japan trip was Haley’s third foreign trade mission in less than two years. A $158,000 trade trip to Paris and Germany last year yielded one new project and five expansions, Commerce officials said. No deals have been announced yet from a $106,000 trip to the Farnborough International Airshow outside London this summer that also featured the governor and other state officials.

New group with ties to SC governor raises $555,000

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 02:11 EDT

On the web

A group with ties to Gov. Nikki Haley is raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to advocate for unspecified conservative candidates and causes in South Carolina during the November election and the legislative session that starts in January.

The political organization, called The Movement Fund Inc., can raise unlimited amounts of money from groups and individuals, then spend it to endorse — or attack — candidates and causes. The fund, which had raised $555,000 from four donors as of mid-August, also could become involved in unspecified national races.

“The Movement Fund is unequivocally backed by supporters of Governor Haley who want to support her conservative reform agenda,” said one of its directors, Chad Walldorf, the Haley-appointed chairman of the state’s Board of Economic Advisors. “The group has consistently followed all requirements for public disclosure during its 18 months of existence and looks forward to moving forward with its advocacy efforts.”

The Movement Fund, a tax-exempt, federally recognized 527 organization, was formed in March 2011. The organization is prohibited from coordinating its activities with any candidate, including Haley.