Morning Buzz: DOT board detour, paying college athletes + Haley talks trash
Buzzing Today: New transportation route
State senators will debate Wednesday whether to give the governor more control of the South Carolina Department of Transportation. Changing who controls the Transportation Department – legislators now do – is a key demand of Republican Gov. Nikki Haley.
But giving the governor control of the agency could face opposition from senators. The Senate Transportation Committee meets at 11 a.m. in Room 209 in the Gressette building.
Big score for college athletes: A Senate bill that would require the University of South Carolina and Clemson University to pay football and basketball players up to $25,000 for graduating with a GPA of 2.0 or higher gets hearing. Experts and ex-college athletes are expected to testify.
This comes after the NCAA's largest conferences agreed to let schools pay annual stipends to athletes. The Higher Education subcommittee meets at 10 a.m. in Room 207 in the Gressette building.
Gov. Nikki Haley talks trash: She will announce the “Zero Tolerance for Litter” campaign 11 a.m. at the State House. This is the governor’s second litter intiative in two months after announcing a boost in highway clean-up in February.
SC Clicks
Indiana law: South Carolina’s Religious Freedom Act is a little-known law that is not substantially different from the new Indiana law.
S.C. State: The current S.C. State University board continues to work as the S.C. House and Senate remain divided on how to replace trustees at the financially struggling school.
Clemson death: Clemson students said they are glad lawsuits have broken the secrecy after months of silence from Clemson University and law enforcement that has surrounded Tucker Hipps’ death.
Boeing talk: There was some disagreement Tuesday among four of South Carolina’s Republican U.S. congressmen when it came to federal issues impacting one of the state’s largest manufacturers.
Moped rules: A Senate panel moved Tuesday to close a loophole in South Carolina law that seems to allow moped operators to drive while intoxicated.
2016 in SC: A new poll of South Carolina voters shows a bump for Texas senator and Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz as he heads to the Upstate.
Scoppe says: It was pretty jarring to see Gov. Nikki Haley arguing that she should be dismissed as a plaintiff from a federal lawsuit against one of those Cabinet agencies — the embattled Department of Social Services — because she doesn’t oversee the agency, but merely appoints and removes its director.
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This story was originally published April 1, 2015 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Morning Buzz: DOT board detour, paying college athletes + Haley talks trash."