The South Carolina House of Representatives voted 77-34 today to adopt a House rules change that expands the range of matters subject to a vote on the record, but the rules change exempts most legislation from a recorded vote. In response to today’s rules change, Policy Council President Ashley Landess released the following statement: “We’ve …

A Policy Council study of the Constitutional and legislative procedural rules in all 50 states finds that South Carolina is one of just five states that do not require lawmakers to record their votes when passing bills. South Carolina has the nation’s most burdensome requirement for requesting a recorded vote among the five states that …

The General Assembly wants to play an active role in the South Carolina economy – that much is clear. If elected officials insist on tampering with the American free-market model, they should at least do it openly. Five simple, non-partisan transparency reforms would ensure greater accountability. 1. Online Check Registers 2. Taxpayer-Funded Lobbyist Ban 3. …

Legislators must be held accountable for their choices, and South Carolinians deserve to know how their elected officials vote. Roll call voting is critical to ensuring open government. Voice votes keep citizens in the dark. In South Carolina, roll call voting in the General Assembly is the exception rather than the rule. [ Download Complete …

According to the National Association of State Budget Officers, South Carolina?s state government spent over $19.6 billion dollars in 2007, an increase of more than nine percent over the 2006 budget. Nearly twenty cents of each dollar spent went to public K-12 education. In addition to the $3.8 billion in state money, local governments were …