‘Stick your neck out:’ McMaster praised, panned after first State of the State

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster received a warm welcome Wednesday night upon his arrival for his first State of the State address. Afterward, however, the reaction was mixed.

‘Pleased’ with the speech

"I was pleased with a lot of the things the governor had to say, especially cutting taxes. One of the things that I didn't hear, that I would like to add to the conversation. is that when we talk about the SCANA debacle, we need to include this notion of free-market choice. Pennsylvanians have 37 options with their gas and their electricity. In South Carolina, we have monopolies. We've seen what government intervention has done. It's created a disaster.”

– Lt. Gov. Kevin Bryant, R-Anderson, also running for the GOP nomination for governor

‘More of the same’

“What was telling about Henry McMaster’s speech ... was what he didn’t say how a string of prison riots happened under his watch; how his political consultants are responsible for the criminal conspiracy that has shaken our belief in government; and why he refused to call for repeal of the Base Load Review Act for months while accepting over $115,000 in SCANA donations to his campaign. And what about roads? Nothing. All we heard was more of the same from a politician who’s been running for office for over 30 years.”

– Catherine Templeton, also running for the GOP nomination for governor

McMaster was ‘pretty direct’

“He did a great job. He led with education and with workforce development, and that’s very important. We need to invest in South Carolinians and we need to ensure that people have the opportunity to get the skills and the training they need to compete for good and high-paying jobs. ... He was pretty direct in where he is on the (V.C. Summer issue). I appreciate him letting us know where he is, and, hopefully, he’ll be willing to work with us.”

– State Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield

‘Encouraged’ but no ‘real surprises’

"I was encouraged to hear what he had to say about not exploring for oil or drilling for oil off the coast of South Carolina, that the on-shore infrastructure associated with the off-shore drilling is incompatible with our coastline and that (tourism) generates $20 billion a year in revenues. ... (N)o real surprises, just a real solid presentation of some core values."

– State Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort

Stuck his neck out on the line

"I was thrilled. A governor who is running for re-election has two options. One is to play it safe, and the other is to stick your neck out on some critical issues. This is the biggest issue in the history of South Carolina, the biggest fiasco in the history of the state, and to go out there and say, ‘I want a repeal of the Base Load Review Act. I want those rates to come down.’ That was huge. The people deserve either two reactors or their money back."

– State Sen. Mike Fanning, D-Fairfield

‘A pro South Carolina speech’

“It was a pro-South Carolina speech. ... (R)eally, the thing that was most poignant to me was that everything the governor talked about — whether it was ethics or SCANA or V.C. Summer — the House has been working on for some time.”

– S.C. House Majority Leader Gary Simrill, R-York

Taking the ‘bully pulpit’

“I was glad to hear him talk about the Abbeville (rural schools) decision and what’s still needed to be done there. I was also very, very pleased to hear him talk about off-shore drilling and the fact that our coast ... that we have zero tolerance for off-shore exploration. ... If there was one thing I wish he could of talked about it it would have been the notion of health care.”

–State Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg

‘Not well-informed’

“Ill conceived and not well-informed. I heard a number of mentions on tax cuts but also heard spending projects. I’m not sure where he thinks the revenue comes from unless it’s Gov. Haley’s money tree which he has also seen in the backyard of the (governor’s) mansion.”

– State Rep. Todd Rutherford, D-Richland

‘Too early’ on some remarks

On McMaster’s proposal to sell Santee Cooper: "It's too early to determine that. That is a very complicated issue, and we've got so many people that their lives are at stake, their livelihoods are at stake. People that need help paying their energy bills, and people that need help keeping their jobs.”

– State Rep. Sylleste Davis, R-Berkeley, a former manager at Santee Cooper

All about ‘Henry’s political future’

“The governor talked entirely about problems that Republicans created, while taking away the money needed to fix them, and offered no real solutions to actually do anything about them. This year’s state of the state was not about South Carolina but about Henry’s political future."

– S.C. Democratic Party Chairman Trav Robertson

This story was originally published January 24, 2018 at 9:35 PM with the headline "‘Stick your neck out:’ McMaster praised, panned after first State of the State."