South Carolina Statehouse Blog

Illegal immigration, along with the many problems associated with it, is a major topic being debated in almost every state’s legislature and South Carolina’s statehouse is no exception. A recent bill proposed by Representative Nathan Ballentine tries to tackle the issue of illegal immigrants receiving state aid to public educational institutions. The bill he is […]

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A new law regarding abortions recently passed through the state legislator and will soon be signed by Governor Sanford. The law involves new guidelines in the inevitably controversial issue of abortions. As would be expected in legislation regarding this topic, debates and emotions accompanied this bill on its way to the Governor.
This soon-to-be law specifically […]

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Being debated in the Banking and Consumer Affairs subcommittee right now, is the issue of payday lending. What the final product of this bill will look like is still not entirely clear. It may still undergo fundamental changes. The legislative term used for this bill is the “Deferred Presentment Act.” In this committee is Representative […]

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The argument about who has the right to possess a gun has been going on since the creation of the second amendment. An especially hot topic in recent years has been handgun possession and in particular the issue of what should be the legal age of possession. For the citizens of South Carolina, a consensus […]

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Yesterday morning, I made my first excursion to the South Carolina state house to interview Republican Representative Nathan Ballentine of Lexington County. Ballentine’s name is on the list of representatives in the House Ways and Means committee supporting the recent “Appropriations Bill Earmark Disclosure Act.”
This Earmark Disclosure Act, officially referred to as House Bill 4356, […]

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