SC judges and economic growth: 5 takeaways from Gov. McMaster’s 2nd inauguration speech
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster Wednesday used his second inauguration speech to tout the state’s economic rebound despite the COVID-19 pandemic and take a veiled shot at the state Supreme Court’s ruling to upend the six-week abortion ban.
McMaster, 75, was sworn in outside the State House for his second full term, putting him on the path to be South Carolina’s longest-serving governor. He was first promoted to the position after then-Gov. Nikki Haley stepped down to join the Trump administration.
Here are five takeaways from McMaster’s more than 2,000-word speech.
McMaster lightly goes after abortion ruling
South Carolina’s top Republican leaders have equally shared frustration after the state Supreme Court ruled 3-2 last week to strike down the state’s six-week abortion ban with narrow exceptions.
Though none have so far explicitly said how the state Legislature will respond as they’re still reading the 147-page court order, the top Republicans in the House and Senate told reporters during the first week of session that the General Assembly will respond.
One area of interest for legislators? The judicial vetting process.
In South Carolina, the General Assembly elects judges after they are screened for temperament and their qualifications by the bipartisan Judicial Merit Selection Commission, made up of lawmakers and members from the general public.
On Wednesday, McMaster called for more “transparency” as it relates to the selection of judges in South Carolina. Legislators have been more direct, saying that in the vetting process legislators should be looking at “judicial philosophy” more than, say, geography.
“We must also ensure that the public has confidence in whom and how all our judges are selected — by making the processes more transparent and accountable; so that every South Carolinian, born and unborn, may enjoy life, liberty and happiness,” McMaster said.
The line brought some Republicans to their feet.
McMaster confronts teacher shortage by pay
For years, South Carolina teachers and their advocates have sounded the alarm over the growing teacher shortage.
No year was it more clear than in 2019, when thousands of teachers and their supporters marched on the State House grounds, calling for better pay and better working conditions.
In recent years, the Legislature has passed budgets that included millions of dollars to pay teachers more. When McMaster first took office in 2017, the starting salary for teachers was $30,113 a year.
Now, the current starting salary is $40,000.
McMaster in his executive budget proposal this year has asked lawmakers to spend more to raise starting teacher pay to $50,000 a year by 2026. In the next year, he wants more money to increase the starting pay to $42,500, and provide teachers a $2,500 retention bonus to encourage them to stay on the job.
“Standing here four years ago, I said, ‘Being perceived as weak in education is not good. But, being perceived as not committed to fixing it is disastrous,’” McMaster said.
McMaster makes environment a priority
The governor made a point in his inauguration address Wednesday that the state needs to do all it can to help protect important landmarks and public lands from the climate threats and over development.
He pointed to the newly created Office of Resilience, a Cabinet agency designed to measure the state’s strengths and weaknesses due to flooding, erosion and the conditions of rivers, coast and barrier islands.
McMaster said protecting significant structures, monuments, islands and waterways from too much development, mismanagement, flooding, erosion and storm damage are imperative to the state.
“Vigorous economic growth and the preservation of our shared natural heritage and environment are not opposing objectives which must be balanced as in a competition, one against the other,” McMaster said. “Instead, they are complementary, intertwined and inseparable, each dependent on the other.”
McMaster wants SC at the forefront of business
South Carolina leaders have in recent weeks celebrated multimillion-dollar investments from big companies, namely makers of electric vehicles and electric batteries.
McMaster’s inauguration address made clear Wednesday that he wants the state to do more in order to remain competitive and continue raking in big business.
McMaster said Wednesday that he wants South Carolina to continue to offer workforce development scholarships to train people for jobs in high-demand industries, such as health care and computer science. He also wants to spend hundreds of millions of dollars more on infrastructure upgrades to make sites ready for development.
McMaster touted recent economic development announcements related to electric vehicle manufacturing in South Carolina, which were part of the $10 billion in investment announced in 2022.
“Today, when business leaders from around the world measure the assets of our state, they remark on our people — the character and nature of the people themselves,” McMaster said.
McMaster puts COVID in rearview mirror
Back on the campaign trail and through the latter part of his first full-term, McMaster regularly touted how the state did not shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic.
McMaster made it clear Wednesday that he’s moving forward to continue the state’s economic growth, while the state health department announced COVID-19 cases are back up, urging residents to take caution.
In South Carolina, the pandemic has resulted in about 1.8 million cases in South Carolina and about 19,000 deaths since March 2020.
“We relied on common sense and the Constitution during the pandemic, and while other states faltered, we flew, with some of our businesses having their best years ever,” McMaster said.
Because of the resurgence in COVID-19 cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have suggested that residents in 21 S.C. counties with a high level of cases wear a mask in public indoor spaces and on public transportation.
In the last week of 2022, DHEC reported 48 COVID-19-related deaths in the state.
