Editorial: District 78’s Beth Bernstein is the right representative at a ‘pivotal’ time in SC House
WITH SPEAKER Bobby Harrell out and most of the House reeling from his indictment on corruption charges, Rep. Beth Bernstein calls this “a pivotal time” in the life of the House, and by implication the Legislature and our state.
She’s right: How the House reforms its rules and how it defines ethics reform will go a long way in either restoring public confidence to the battered institution or not. And whether the public trusts the Legislature influences whether it can act effectively to address our infrastructure needs or improve our schools or overhaul our tax code, all of which Ms. Bernstein correctly sees as priorities.
One of the things we need in such a time is legislators who have sufficient understanding of the ins and outs of the legislative process to make a difference but who haven’t been around so long that they are jaded. Which is to say, people like Beth Bernstein.
Rep. Bernstein was one of a handful of legislative candidates who made ethics reform a priority in the 2012 campaign, and even as a freshman, she was one of a small group of House members who worked to clean up the mess after Mr. Harrell’s allies put forward proposals that could have made it more difficult for prosecutors to bring charges against the speaker — and given a pass to other legislators who might be accused of criminal wrongdoing.
Her opponent in the House District 78 contest, Jeff Mobley, is well-versed in the overarching governmental challenges facing our state — from the need to give governors more authority to the need to overhaul our tax system — but those overarching challenges don’t seem to be his focus.
When we asked how he would judge his first two years in the House as a success, he cited significant ethics reform, but he also said he would want to help pass an anti-abortion bill and an expansion of the program that pays some parents to abandon the public schools. Then he went on at length about the need to have more people carrying concealed weapons in more places. Regardless of which side you’re on in those culture-war issues, they are tangential to the problems our Legislature needs to be grappling with.
Rep. Bernstein says she’s still overwhelmed by much of the legislative process, but frankly we see that as a positive — because so many freshman legislators are not willing to admit that; some don’t even realize what a steep learning curve there is. The Columbia Democrat is much savvier than she was two years ago, she has the right priorities, and a clear focus on how to accomplish the changes we need. Voters would do well to re-elect her.
In their own words
We asked candidates for the House to complete a questionnaire as part of our endorsement process. Read their answers at thestate.com/1107.
This story was originally published October 15, 2014 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Editorial: District 78’s Beth Bernstein is the right representative at a ‘pivotal’ time in SC House."