Choice to run DHEC faces skeptical senators

Criticized for a lack of experience and the circumstances under which she was chosen, the nominee to run South Carolina’s environmental and health agency goes before a Senate committee Thursday in what could be an explosive meeting.

The Senate Medical Affairs Committee meets at 9:30 a.m. to screen Eleanor Kitzman for the Department of Health and Environmental Control director’s post.

Senators said they expect a lengthy session, with questions about her qualifications and how she was picked for the job high on the agenda. Members of the DHEC board, which chose Kitzman as director, also may be called to testify.

A campaign donor of Republican Gov. Nikki Haley, Kitzman is a former insurance commissioner in Texas and South Carolina with no known experience in environmental protection or public health programs. Haley credits Kitzman with helping persuade her to get into politics.

The Haley-appointed DHEC board nominated Kitzman on Jan. 12, four days after her predecessor quit. The board did not seek other applicants for the position and has been reluctant to answer questions. The agency has since hired Kitzman for a temporary $74-per-hour job as she awaits confirmation. If confirmed, Kitzman would earn more than $150,000 annually as director.

Haley and Kitzman have met with senators during the past week to discuss the nomination. Haley says Kitzman is well-qualified to run DHEC, an agency she has pushed to become more business friendly.

But questions remain.

Senators not only are asking about her environmental and health background but about troubles she encountered while serving as insurance director in Texas under Gov. Rick Perry from 2011-2013 and in South Carolina under Mark Sanford from 2005-2007.

“She worked for two Republican governors and was in one case asked to vacate the position (South Carolina) and the other was not (re)confirmed (Texas),” Sen. John Courson, R-Richland, said. “Those are questions that need to be asked.”

Courson said he also he wants to know why Kitzman has had multiple jobs in recent years. A resume she supplied to DHEC indicates she has held 10 jobs in the past 21 years. She has held five different jobs since 2005, according to her resume.

Kitzman has declined requests from The State newspaper to address her work history, background and qualifications to run DHEC, one of South Carolina’s largest departments. Its expansive responsibilities, which range from issuing pollution permits to responding to major disease threats, touch virtually every state resident.

Sen. Brad Hutto, one of the leading critics of the choice of Kitzman, said he expects a long hearing that could take several days. The hearing is scheduled from 9:30 to 11 a.m., but Courson and Hutto, D-Orangeburg, said that may not be enough time.

Hutto said questions also have popped up over some of the written answers Kitzman gave the Medical Affairs Committee about her background. She has provided amended responses to some of the committee’s questions, Hutto said.

“There are certainly differences between what she originally filed under oath and what she filed subsequently,” Hutto said. “That’ll all come out tomorrow morning. That’s probably one of the first things she’s going to have to explain.”

Hutto said he did not know details of the different answers provided, but he said they could have simple explanations that prove not to be significant.

Kitzman, 58, is a Texas native who contributed $2,500 late last year to Haley’s campaign for re-election. She also attended a fund-raiser in Texas for Haley several years ago. Haley lauds Kitzman in the governor’s book, “Can’t Is Not an Option.”

Haley’s office said late Wednesday that Kitzman would do well at DHEC.

“Ms. Kitzman has a great love for South Carolina, she is an independent thinker with a strong work ethic that believes in results in everything she does,” Haley spokeswoman Chaney Adams said in an email to The State newspaper. “When DHEC’s board consulted with the governor about what kind of leader would build upon the progress the agency has made, they saw in Eleanor Kitzman someone with experience in the private sector who can bring together stakeholders in business, health and conservation and make sure DHEC keeps moving forward.”

Her supporters – and even some detractors – say she is determined and pleasant. Darlington Democratic Sen. Gerald Malloy, who is not on the Senate screening committee, said Kitzman was always willing to work with him while she served as insurance commissioner in South Carolina.

Malloy noted that Kitzman has a “compelling story” about rising from the workforce and returning to law school in Texas as a single parent. He said he was not surprised she would come back to South Carolina one day.

“I think she has always maintained a place here,” he said. “I think it was always her intent, regardless, to return to South Carolina. I think she has friends here. On one occasion, she told me that everywhere else she goes, South Carolina feels like home.”

Kitzman critic Alex Winslow, who heads the insurance watchdog group Texas Watch, told The State newspaper in a recent interview that she had problems in the Lone Star state that were tied more to her philosophy and operating style than to her competence.

Winslow said Kitzman focused on helping the insurance industry in Texas, instead of the consumer.

“She had her agenda and knew what she wanted to do, which in our estimation was to help industry,” Winslow said. “She was going to implement that agenda regardless of whether it was what the Legislature wanted or regardless of whether it was in the best interests of the state.”

In 2012, Kitzman drew complaints over a plan that examined higher insurance rates for coastal policy holders, according to a story in the Austin-American Statesman. The plan, which concerned wind insurance, surfaced in an internal email obtained by the newspaper. One coastal chamber of commerce president said it appeared to be an attempt to secretly increase rates for Texans, the paper reported.

This story was originally published February 18, 2015 at 8:34 PM with the headline "Choice to run DHEC faces skeptical senators."