Tag: spencer wetmore

Categories
Environment Legislation

Count on News 2: Bill taking aim at abandoned and derelict boats in local waterways passes SC House

CHARLESTON, S.C. – As law enforcement attempts to crack down on abandoned boats in local waterways, a new bill would place more responsibility on the owners.

Bill H.3865, introduced by freshman Representative Spencer Wetmore, would require a permit for watercraft or floating structures to be moored in a public waterway for an extended period, specifically, 14 consecutive days.

The cost of the permit would not exceed $15.00.

For years local law enforcement has been working to remove abandoned and derelict boats which post environmental and navigational hazards.

Boats are often left abandoned due to the cost of upkeep. Charleston Police Department’s Harbor Patrol Unit will track down vessel owners through the registration and the hull identification number.

In compliance with a City of Charleston ordinance, if an owner of a derelict boat is identified, they are issued a $1,000 citation.

But what happens when an owner is not located? “If we’re unable to track down the owners, then we start the abandonment process for us to acquire funds to remove that boat from the waterways,” said Sergeant Chris Morrell, with the Charleston Police Department’s Harbor Patrol Unit, during an interview with News 2 last December.

That money comes from the city, the SC Department of Natural Resources, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and outside donors.

The SC House bill, which passed with wide support on Tuesday, now goes to the Senate floor, where Sen. Chip Campsen has introduced similar legislation.

Categories
Community Legislation

P&C: SC House panel shelves bill to ban transgender athletes from girls’ sports

COLUMBIA — A S.C. House panel shelved a GOP-led proposal on March 16 that would prevent participation in girls’ middle and high school sports by transgender athletes, with one Republican calling it deceptively worded.

Known as the “Save Women’s Sport Act,” the measure raised concerns among opponents that such a move would be unconstitutional and marginalize the state’s LGBTQ population.

Despite support from the influential S.C. Family Caucus, H. 3477 was tabled by the House Judiciary Committee.

S.C. Rep. Micah Caskey, R-West Columbia, told The Post and Courier he voted to shelve the bill because he thought its definition of gender was too simplistic and failed to take into account science used by sports organizations to determine eligibility.

He also was worried over lost economic opportunities if the bill passed, a concern raised by some Republicans in 2016 when lawmakers considered a proposal to restrict public bathroom use by transgender people.

While the bill’s chances in the House are dwindling, a companion bill awaits in the Senate.

Twice in the past five years, waivers have been granted in South Carolina to transgender women seeking spots on a girls’ team, South Carolina High School Sports League officials have said. None have been issued for transgender men, though two such requests have been made.

Similar legislation has been introduced in conservative-majority statehouses around the nation, where it has run into legal challenges and civil rights complaints. In August 2020, a federal judge ruled that transgender women and girls in Idaho can’t be barred from competing in sports based on their gender identity, overruling that state’s Legislature.

Ivy Hill, program director of the Campaign for Southern Equality, said the bill sent a “poisonous message across the state.”

“Our collective message today was a powerful reminder to trans youth. That they are loved, cared for and supported,” Hill said in a statement.

Caskey, the only South Carolina lawmaker on the committee who spoke ahead of the March 16 vote, said he received word of a screening video sent to the Charleston Visitors Bureau from USA Weightlifting. One of its requirements is if potential host sites have discriminatory practices, Caskey told The Post and Courier following the vote.

“Ultimately, if we’re going to go down this road and do this sort of thing, I don’t know why we wouldn’t adopt scientifically-based protocols that have been established by the NCAA and International Olympic Committee,” Caskey said. Both those organizations have guidelines to allow for transgender competition.

Among opponents to her bill was S.C. Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman, who made a surprise appearance at a subcommittee hearing earlier this month to lobby against it.

“I know how important athletics is to what we’re trying to do in our public schools across South Carolina,” Spearman said March 3. “My responsibility as state superintendent is to make sure every child feels protected when they are in school and when they are on the athletic field, and I believe this bill does damage to that.”

State Rep. John McCravy, a Greenwood Republican who chairs the Family Caucus, said House lawmakers will re-file the bill next session.

“We will come back with this bill, because it’s what our constituents in South Carolina want us to do,” McCravy told The Post and Courier.

Bill sponsor Pelzer Republican Ashley Trantham added after the hearing, “This isn’t the first time women have had to fight for equality. Today’s defeat was just the beginning of a bigger battle that will be won.”

Still, an identical bill to Trantham’s, sponsored by state Sen. Richard Cash, R-Anderson, is awaiting action by the Senate Education Committee.

Roughly 3 percent of all South Carolina adults are LGBTQ though just how many are transgender is unknown, but a 2019 U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey showed that 2 percent of school students identify as transgender.

Categories
Folly Beach People

P&C: Gov. McMaster honors historian who found remains of 19 African American Civil War soldiers

FOLLY BEACH, S.C. — In 1987, just moments before bulldozers were about to plow a new road on the island, Charleston historian Robert Bohrn noticed something peculiar.

Sticking out of the earth were the skeletal remains of 19 African American soldiers of the Union’s 55th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.

If it weren’t for Bohrn’s watchful eye, their stories could have been buried under asphalt. His act has been called by scholars one of the most significant finds in South Carolina history.

On Feb. 11, the 64-year-old Civil War relic hunter was awarded the Order of the Silver Crescent in Columbia by Gov. Henry McMaster and state Rep. Spencer Wetmore, D-Folly Beach, for his contributions to South Carolina history.

The 55th Massachusetts was the sister regiment to the 54th Massachusetts, the Union’s all African American regiment that stormed Fort Wagner on Morris Island. Their story was the inspiration for the 1989 Hollywood movie “Glory” starring Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman.

The 55th Massachusetts was stationed on Folly Island in 1863 during the siege of Charleston where the unit built forts, cleared trees and maintained supply lines. Many of the soldiers, Bohrn said, died from painful illnesses such as dysentery.

Thinking back to 34 years ago, and with dozens of found Civil War relics under his belt since, Bohrn believes the Folly Beach find was the most significant moment of his career.

“I have spent my life using a metal detector,” Bohrn said. “As far as I’m concerned, in my mind it was meant to be. I was supposed to find them within moments of them being bulldozed.”

Wetmore, who is still in her first months as a legislator, said she wanted to honor Bohrn’s accomplishments.

Bohrn’s research and findings led the reburying of the remains with full honors on Memorial Day 1989 at the Beaufort National Cemetery. In 2009, the archaeologist launched the “Friends of the 55th Massachusetts” foundation, which raised private funds for a State of South Carolina Historical Marker.

On July 15, 2011, the marker was placed to honor the Black soldiers, and it is still located at the Folly River Park.

Bohrn had not been individually honored for his efforts. About three months ago, Wetmore began the process of nominating the historian for the state’s Order of the Silver Crescent, one of the highest civilian honors that can be given to a South Carolinian.

“The discovery happened in my neighborhood,” Wetmore said. “There’s nothing more important than preserving this type of history. This really tells the story in a way that people will remember and recognize it.”

McMaster said Bohrn has added to the history and culture of South Carolina with his findings.

“You’re quite deserving of this recognition,” McMaster said and cited his achievements.

Bohrn said he hopes more people will engage with Civil War history, especially the roles of African American soldiers. He believes their stories are more relevant now than ever before.

“You can’t forget history. These men didn’t have a whole lot to gain but a whole lot to lose,” Bohrn said. “They gave their lives for not just the Union, but also their families. Their contributions are not recognized as much as they should be.”

Categories
Community

The Island Connection: First Impressions

“I will continue to support good legislation, from either political party, that benefits our sea islands district and the state of South Carolina.” – District 115 Rep. Spencer Wetmore

After the marathon of running in four elections last year (Primary, Runoff, Special, and General), reporting to Columbia to begin the work of legislating instead of campaigning was a relief. I am often asked what the most surprising thing about the South Carolina House of Representatives has been, and I am pleased to report that it is the ability to work with my colleagues, regardless of political party. I worried that it would be partisan gridlock, where even small bills are bogged down in controversy, but the reality has been far more productive and a pleasant surprise.

I have opposed some bills that made the news like the one that outlawed most abortions and the one that permitted the open carry of firearms. However, I have worked across the aisle on bills to protect vulnerable adults, to address the danger of abandoned vessels in our waterways, to protect our children in foster care, and to finally achieve a retroactive step increase in salary for our teachers. I have also co-sponsored bipartisan bills reforming criminal sentencing, preventing water contamination, creating hate crime legislation, opposing animal cruelty, and mandating new training for law enforcement. I will continue to support good legislation, from either political party, that benefits our sea islands district and the state of South Carolina.

I hope that 2021 finds you and your family well, and I hope that we can come together in person very soon. Stay safe and please keep your feedback coming!

I can be reached at:

Representative Spencer Wetmore

S.C. House of Reps. District 115

(843) 693-8292

spencer@spencerwetmore.com

Categories
Community

The Island Connection: A Common Voice

Every beach along the South Carolina coast is unique, but each of them is blessed with the same natural beauty and in many ways burdened by similar natural and man-made issues.

This symbiotic relationship was a major reason South Carolina Beach Advocates (SCBA) was formed in 2014, and the mission of the organization has remained steadfast in the past seven years.

“We all deal with similar situations and problems,” said Linda Lovvorn Tucker, former Isle of Palms city administrator and now an ex-officio member of the SCBA board of directors. “The beaches need a common voice. We need to get together and collaborate and have one unified voice to the state Legislature.”

“South Carolina Beach Advocates allows the mayors to come together and agree on certain topics for which they can advocate,” SCBA Executive Director Nicole Elko added.

At the organization’s most recent annual meeting, held at Wild Dunes Feb. 8 and Feb. 9, representatives from coastal communities, counties and homeowners’ associations from North Myrtle Beach to Hilton Head heard from a wide range of professionals concerning an assortment of issues that affect the beaches and inlets along the coast. Subject matter at the two-day meeting ranged from federal, state and local beach management to erosion control, flooding and updates on various beach-related projects.

Presentations also were made by Gov. Henry McMaster; U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace; Christy Hall, secretary of the South Carolina Department of Transportation; State Sens. Stephen Goldfinch and Chip Campsen; and State Reps. Lee Hewitt, Joe Bustos and Spencer Wetmore.

Elko noted the importance of developing a relationship with the governor’s office and legislators. She said the organization is hoping the state will eventually provide dedicated funding for beach preservation, an issue contained in a bill filed by Campsen.

“The state does fund beach activities, but we don’t put away $5 million to $8 million a year like we are recommending,” Elko said. “We’re hoping we can set aside a portion of the admission tax, kind of a user fee for tourists to help us pay to maintain the beaches.”

Tucker echoed the significance of communicating with state leaders.

“Just knowing that our voices are being heard and getting feedback is certainly important,” she said.

In addition to state funding, Elko said the session on alternative erosion control devices, “alternatives to what has traditionally been available,” was especially noteworthy to SCBA’s members and industry partners.

Besides nurturing relationships with state lawmakers, the governor and state agencies, Tucker, who has been to every SCBA annual meeting since the first one in 2015, cited “being good stewards of the beach” and emerging

technologies and practices to accomplish that goal as vital issues discussed at the meeting.

Mayors Pat O’Neil of Sullivan’s Island and Jimmy Carroll of Isle of Palms, both members of the organization’s board of directors, agreed that South Carolina Beach Advocates and its annual meeting serve an important purpose for the Palmetto State’s beach communities, which are attracting an ever-increasing number of visitors.

“The group was originally formed to advocate for help in renourishing beaches, but we have expanded over the last two or three years,” O’Neil said.

“We’ve also expanded to include off-shore drilling and testing and all of our other challenges. It’s not limited to beaches. It’s creeks, marshes and shorelines as well.”

“We’re there to protect our coast. Every coastal community has the same challenges,” Carroll remarked. “Before the pandemic, tourism was a $24 billion industry, two thirds of that from the coast.”

“The formation of this organization has been quite an accomplishment,” Elko concluded. “We’ve increased awareness that South Carolina’s beaches are a statewide treasure that requires investment.”

Categories
Legislation

P&C: Conservative lawmakers seek to ensure SC churches stay open during future emergencies

COLUMBIA, S.C. — After watching more liberal states shut down or limit religious gatherings in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus, a group of conservative state lawmakers is seeking to ensure that South Carolina will never be able to to take similar action if another pandemic arises in the future.

A new bill would add to South Carolina’s already existing Religious Freedom Act by formally classifying religious services as essential during states of emergency, saying they are “considered necessary and vital to the health and welfare of the public.”

That means churches or other houses of worship could not face more stringent restrictions than any other services considered essential.

The effort is an attempt to prevent South Carolina from following in the footsteps of states like California and New York, which sought to ban religious gatherings in an attempt to stem the spread of COVID-19.

But that issue never arose in South Carolina. Republican Gov. Henry McMaster steadfastly refused to restrict religious services, saying he could not trample on their First Amendment rights.

State Rep. Richie Yow, the lead sponsor of the bill that has 25 GOP co-sponsors, told a House subcommittee on Feb. 16 that South Carolina’s decision to let churches stay open through this pandemic does not mean it could attempt a different approach in the future.

Yow, R-Chesterfield, said he had been questioned whether South Carolina had ever shut down churches.

“I said, ‘No, but we’re not guaranteed the answer for tomorrow,’ ” he said.

The subcommittee voted 4-0 in favor of the bill, H.3105, sending it to the full committee for the next step. Already two dozen other House members, mostly Republicans from the Upstate, have signed on as co-sponsors.

South Carolina was among 15 states that never impeded religious gatherings. According to the Pew Research Center, 10 states banned services completely due to COVID-19. Other states, including North Carolina, limited gatherings to 10 people or fewer.

While the U.S. Supreme Court initially rejected a California church’s attempt to overturn that state’s restrictions on in-person religious services, it later ruled against the restrictions in that state and several others.

State Rep. Jason Elliott, R-Greenville, said he does not foresee church closures becoming an issue in South Carolina.

“But if you were in one of those (other) states at different times, you might not have foreseen that your religious rights would be violated in those states,” Elliott said. “So I appreciate this and I plan to support it.”

Five members of the public, including multiple pastors around South Carolina, testified in favor of the bill; none spoke against it.

State Rep. Spencer Wetmore, D-Charleston, asked some speakers at the hearing why the bill is necessary, pointing to the Supreme Court’s recent rulings on the issue.

“Despite the fact that there are protections for the exercise of religion, the unfortunate fact remains that laws are occasionally passed that do violate those rights, and this is necessary to ensure that the state will not take those measures,” responded Greg Chaufen, legal counsel at the Alliance for Defending Freedom.

Wetmore ended up voting in favor of the bill.

Categories
People

CCP: Charleston relic hunter, historian awarded Order of the Silver Crescent

Robert E. Bohrn, of Charleston, was awarded the Order of the Silver Crescent by Gov. Henry McMaster on Thursday. S.C. Rep. Spencer Wetmore, D-Folly Beach, presented Bohrn with the commendation at a Statehouse ceremony.

This award is the state’s highest civilian award for significant contributions, leadership, volunteerism and lifelong influence within a region or community. Bohrn earned the honor for one of the most important archaeological finds in the history of the country and state, according to a preess release.

Bohrn discovered the remains of Civil War-era African American soldiers who fought for the Union’s 55th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry in 1987. The remains of 19 soldiers were identified with help from archaeologists from the University of South Carolina.

“These soldiers gave their lives for their country in a horrendous way, most of them dying from dysentery,” Bohrn said in a press release. “They didn’t die instantly, they just withered away.  When you see that guy laying there, who never had a chance to go home, who never saw his family again, that saddens me.”

The 55th Massachusetts was a secondary option to the 54th Massachusetts, one of the first Union regiments comprised of African American soldiers, which inspired the film, “Glory.” When Massachusetts’ then-Gov. John A. Andrew saw the demand for enlistment in the 54th, in 1863, he created the 55th Regiment.

The 55th Massachusetts remained on Folly Island, clearing forest, building fortifications and hauling supplies. This was, and still is, the only such find of African American soldiers from the Civil War, according to a press release.

Categories
Legislation

P&C: Critics of SC abortion ban prepare for legal fight as bill nears final passage

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A bill to ban most abortions in South Carolina took yet another step closer to passage on Feb. 9, advancing out of a House committee on party lines to set up one final debate on the House floor before the Republican majority almost certainly approves it. 

After around 2.5 hours of debate, mostly featuring lengthy denunciations from Democrats who slammed the proposal as an affront to women’s freedom, the House Judiciary Committee voted 15-8 in favor of what sponsors call the “fetal heartbeat” bill, which would ban abortions after around six to eight weeks of pregnancy.

Though the arguments were tense at times, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle acknowledge that they amount to little more than going through the legislative motions at this point, with few if any House members undecided on how they are going to vote.

Similar bills have already passed the S.C. House multiple times before in years past but were held up in the Senate, where Democrats managed to block them through extensive filibusters. That changed this year after Democrats lost three Senate seats in the 2020 election. The Senate passed the bill last month.

The House could approve the abortion limits as early as next week. Gov. Henry McMaster has pledged to sign the bill when it reaches his desk.

State Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, said passage of the bill is now effectively inevitable, a fact she said would be clear to anyone who knows how to count.

“There’s nothing that Democrats can do to stop it,” Cobb-Hunter said. “We all know that the fetal heartbeat bill will pass based on the numbers in the House and the Senate. Elections have consequences, and passage of this bill is one of the consequences of November’s elections.”

That didn’t stop Democrats from spending hours speaking up against the bill, pointing out that most members of the committee, and the chamber more broadly, are men who would never have to grapple with the decision of whether or not to go forward with a pregnancy.

Critics of the proposal also note that many women may not realize they are pregnant after just six weeks.

“I believe abortion is a decision a woman should make with her family, her doctor, but not her legislators,” said state Rep. Spencer Wetmore, D-Folly Beach.

State Rep. Seth Rose, D-Columbia, bemoaned that other legislative business “has been bogged down again by a bill that we all know will do absolutely nothing but cost millions of dollars in taxpayer money.”

“In the midst of a pandemic where people and businesses are already hurting, with people out of work, this is what we choose to prioritize?” Rose added. “I think it’s extremely tone deaf and very, very disappointing.”

State Rep. John McCravy, the Greenwood Republican who has long championed efforts to pass abortion bans in the House, said supporters know the bill will face legal challenges but are hopeful that lawsuits will prompt the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider the boundaries they have set on the issue.

In the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, the court found that women have a constitutional right to access abortions, a precedent they have upheld multiple times with some restrictions.

Many legal experts are skeptical that the high court, even with more conservative justices added in recent years, will be receptive to even taking up the case, let alone deciding in favor of abortion opponents. They have yet to take up less extreme measures, including a 15-week abortion ban in Mississippi.

“It hasn’t persuaded the court so far,” said Carl Tobias, a constitutional law professor at the University of Richmond. “They haven’t shown much appetite for overturning Roe or taking those cases. So maybe this will add fuel to the fire, but I think that’s mostly a political argument.”

Tobias said the case will likely cost the state millions of dollars in attorney fees and take multiple years to wind through the courts. Close to a dozen other states have passed similar bills that are now all tied up in legal challenges.

Democrats proposed four amendments, including ones to require the state to bear financial responsibility for children of women denied abortions or to delay the effective date of the bill to when the Supreme Court rules on a different state’s bill. All were voted down, mostly along party lines.

Categories
Uncategorized

CCP: Charleston community leaders sound off on lessons from 2020

Looking ahead, looking back

How about one final look back at 2020 before we close the book on this wild year and throw it on the fire? We’ve enlisted a group of local figures, some of whom you may recognize, to jot down some of what they learned over the course of the year. With one foot already in 2021 for many of us, there are some smart takeaways here from local folks you should keep your eyes on. Bye, bye, 2020! Here’s to 2021. Can’t wait to see you there. —Sam Spence

 

Spencer Wetmore | S.C. Representative

There’s a Saturday Night Live sketch that makes me laugh every time I think about it. Kate McKinnon plays a psychic in 2019 spouting crazy visions: “Yes, I see him. He is washing a bag of Doritos with soap … You are screaming, you are crying, ‘That’s not enough soap!’” I’m no psychic, and my predictions didn’t foresee a global pandemic; not to mention running for office and opening my own law firm.

Nevertheless, here is my attempt at resolutions for 2021.  First, 2020 taught us that when you find yourself simultaneously on a dirt road and a six-lane highway, you still have to find a path forward. So, my first goal is to “stay in the work” by learning, focusing on the details, and pushing ahead. Second, I’ve been reminded this year that we’re not going to get anywhere unless we go together. So, my second goal is to listen and better appreciate others’ perspectives.

Finally, 2020 reminded us that we’re all the parent hiding in the closet during a Zoom meeting (as I write this, my husband is participating in a federal hearing in our daughter’s bedroom); so we can’t take ourselves too seriously.  Cheers, y’all!

 

Read more thoughts on 2020 here!

Categories
Achievement Campaign

Associated Press: South Carolina Democrat flips State House seat

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina Democrat has flipped a legislative seat from Republican control in a victory heralded by some Democrats as a possible signal their party could make more gains this fall.

Spencer Wetmore won more than 59% of the votes counted in Tuesday night’s special election in state House district 115, according to unofficial election results from the state election commission. Republican candidate Josh Stokes received just over 39% of votes counted.

The seat in South Carolina’s Lowcountry had long been held by Republicans but was targeted by Democrats seeing possible trends in their direction in the area, spurred in part by Democrat Joe Cunningham’s 2018 victory in the 1st Congressional District. Its most recent occupant, Peter McCoy, earlier this year resigned to become South Carolina’s U.S. attorney. McCoy had been chairman of the state House judiciary committee.

A Green party candidate secured 1% of votes cast. Results will be certified later this week.

Republicans currently hold control of the state House chamber, in which Democrats would now have 45 seats with Wetmore’s victory. The legislature is not currently in session, but lawmakers are due to return next month for a special gathering to weigh in on some measures related to the pandemic, including possible expansions of absentee voting and other changes for the November election. They will also debate the state budget and spending $668 million in federal coronavirus reimbursements to state agencies and local governments.

Democrats across the state heralded Wetmore’s apparent victory as a sign their party could make substantive gains in the November general elections, during which all seats in South Carolina state House and Senate are up for election.

Wetmore’s victory holds only until that balloting, when the seat will again be up for a vote. The Folly Beach city administrator and Stokes, a local attorney, will again face-off in that contest.