Thank God, SC Legislature Adjourns

And Tim Walz is headed down!

May is one of the best months—we wrap up another academic year, we cheer on our graduates, and the SC legislature adjourns until January so we can breathe a little easier not having to watch our elected representatives actively work against the wellbeing of our citizens. We can take a little break from reading things like the SC House Majority Leader, Republican Davey Hiott from Pickens, telling the Post and Courier that rural maternal and infant mortality don’t matter: “No, it’s not a priority. If something were going to happen, it wouldn’t happen this year.”

(Their priorities included trying to raise income taxes on the working poor, defunding public education to funnel money to religious school voucher systems (even though the Supreme Court they appointed ALREADY RULED it’s unconstitutional), lowering boat taxes, an energy reform bill that they gutted of consumer protections, and liquor liability reform, which I actually support because at least let me have a nice glass of wine through the end times.)

I will say, despite Hiott’s disregard for human life, he did take a lukewarm stand against his bigoted colleague John McCravy, and now other legislators are coming forward to confirm Hiott’s story that McCravy is doing a lot of racisms against his own colleagues.

I’m also happy to see that the legislature let the anti-DEI bill stall in committee, although never say never with that crew. They still have to pass a budget, so be on the lookout for some bullshit budget provisos, where they sneak in the most heinous bits that even the bigoted and misogynist legislators don’t want to be on the record supporting. Ellen Weaver, our homegrown Heritage Foundation Aunt Lidia aka the SC State Superintendent, snuck our current book banning apparatus into State Education Department policy in June, after the legislature had wrapped it up, and now we’ve just become the #1 state in the country for state-wide book bans.

South Carolina Becomes the Nation's Top Book Banner

We also didn’t pass any more abortion restrictions, which yay, I guess, but just your regular reminder that we’re living under inhumane, unethical and lethal laws that erode women’s healthcare, in addition to stripping us of our rights and bodily autonomy. Sign up to donate monthly to our state’s only abortion fund, the Palmetto State Abortion Fund, to help girls and women access the care they need outside of the state. They’re currently fundraising to pay a director, a vital step to ensuring the future of the organization (currently staffed only by volunteers).

Highly recommend following SC’s Women’s Rights and Empowerment Network (WREN) if you aren’t already. They’re hosting a webinar on May 16^th at 12 pm (register here) to reflect on the wins of this session and strategize for the legislative road ahead. They do great work, like pushing through Senate Bill 425 (just signed by McMaster) to fund free school meals for children living in poverty in the state.

Last week I was honored to speak to the South Greenville Democrats about reproductive justice in South Carolina. They’re a feisty group, holding it down in a red part of the county (they’ve been harassed by MAGA threatening the restaurants and bars where they meet, just incredible these people can’t tolerate the First Amendment). Tomorrow I’m headed to the College of Charleston to convene with students and colleagues from statewide Women’s and Gender Studies programs. You can fire off hollow executive orders but you can’t keep us down—I’m sorry but an angry fascist octogenarian literally cannot be the future of this country.

You know what is? Things like Tim Walz being the keynote speaker at the South Carolina Democratic Party state convention on May 31st at the state fairgrounds in Columbia. YASSS, DNC, let’s invest in every state (maybe also get in our time machines and go back a few decades and decide not to abandon us in the first place). Let’s keep this Party going.