Tomorrow, the 126th General Assembly of South Carolina begins the first year of a two-year session. This year, we have thirteen new members in the Senate, which happens to be the largest turnover since Reconstruction. The Republicans will go from a 30-16 majority to a 34-12 Super Majority, a first in the South Carolina Senate.

In December, we gathered for a meeting where everyone was sworn in and the new members gave opening speeches. We also received our seat and committee assignments for this session. My committees for the next four years are:

• Finance
• Education
• Banking and Insurance
• Corrections and Penology
• Fish, Game and Forestry

Despite the official opening of the session being tomorrow, I was busy in Columbia last week co-chairing the Joint Senate and House Special Subcommittee on Child Care, and serving on the Education Committee. We are preparing an answer to the Court Case with a new bill on Education Savings Accounts (ESA). The ESA bill gives parents more choices for their children’s education, and this will be the first bill we debate on the floor.

We will also be working hard on subcommittee and committee meetings to get other bills on the calendar for debate. The challenge of the first year of a two-year session is that while you are eager to begin debates on the floor and pass good legislation, it takes time to fill the calendar and do it transparently.

This year, we have a bold Senate Republican Caucus agenda that includes:

• Infrastructure: Continuing to invest in infrastructure for roads, bridges, and energy.
• Education: More choices for parents, continuing to increase teacher salaries, and providing more funds to keep our schools safe.
• Law Enforcement: Continuing to fund their needs and pass bills that give them the tools to keep South Carolina safe.
• Tort Reform: The scales of justice are out of balance if someone can be proven 1% at fault and be responsible for 100% of the damages.
• Tax reform: We have seen with the almost one billion dollar cut in income taxes over the last few years that individuals can spend their money better than government. We are still seeing a large surplus -which invites us to get below where our neighboring states are – Georgia (5.49%) and North Carolina (4.5%).

We have a lot of opportunity ahead of us to continue making South Carolina the best we can be, without losing who we are and what makes us such a special place to live.

As always, thank you for the opportunity to represent District 8 in the South Carolina Senate. It is an honor and privilege that I do not take lightly.