There are only a few months left in the legislative session with several transformational pieces of legislation that is prepared to cross the finish line. Our activists across the state will be reaching out to their lawmakers throughout the remainder of the session to show their support for these principled policy solutions.

Every South Carolinian should have access to quality, affordable health care when and where they need it most, especially those in rural areas. We must work with our lawmakers to remove regulatory barriers to innovation, so new technologies and treatments can make this a reality.

• Full Repeal of Certificate of Need
  • We support a full repeal of South Carolina’s Certificate of Need regulations – resulting in greater access to quality care for all South Carolinians.

• Medicinal Cannabis
  • Ending SC’s prohibition on medicinal cannabis will allow for greater patient-centered care.

• Scope of Practice Expansion
  • AFP-SC will work with lawmakers to enable our qualified medical professionals to utilize the full scope of their training and provide care to rural communities and other urban and suburban underserved areas.

Keeping our communities safe is the primary goal of our criminal justice system. By ensuring that our returning citizens are set up for a successful reentry, we’re able to achieve just that.

• Abolish Civil Asset Forfeiture
  • Civil Asset Forfeiture (CAF) allows law enforcement to seize property without arresting, charging, or convicting the property owner. CAF should be reformed to protect innocent owners and ensure the protection of their due process rights by strengthening the legal requirements for property seizure.

• Driver’s License Suspension Reform
  • Suspending driver’s licenses for non-driving related offenses jeopardizes families’ economic well-being and has the unintended consequence of creating barriers to reconciliation. AFP will encourage lawmakers to end these types of suspensions.

• Mandatory Minimum Reform
  • SC has some of the strictest mandatory minimum requirements across the country. AFP-SC supports reforms that would eliminate mandatory minimum sentencing, particularly for non-violent drug offenses, and would allow for the judge to use discretion in sentencing.

We must level the playing field to ensure that every South Carolinian is able to achieve their version of the American Dream. This means making meaningful policy reforms that remove barriers to employment and allow for hardworking taxpayers to keep more of what they earn. Our government must stop picking winners and losers. Instead, we should focus on empowering everyone to contribute and succeed.

• Tax Reform
  • The core beneficial role of state government is to protect the foundational rights necessary for people to earn success. To ensure government plays this beneficial role, government should have a fairer, flatter, and simpler tax policy that unleashes growth and removes barriers to opportunity so all Americans can improve their lives.
  • AFP will encourage lawmakers to reduce the personal and corporate state income tax in SC.

• Government Transparency
  • We believe that government, at all levels, should be held accountable to taxpayers. As such, we encourage the SC legislature to create a checkbook so taxpayers can easily track – down to the penny – how their tax dollars are being utilized by the state.

• Government Favoritism
  • Individuals should be able to find success based on the value they create for others, not on political connections.
  • We will work with lawmakers to support legislative efforts to keep South Carolina’s programs in check and to end corporate welfare programs that leave taxpayers on the hook for millions, with little economic benefit to show for it.

• Regulation
  • We support proposals and polices that seek to reduce “red tape” and unnecessary over-regulation which stifles growth, innovation, and entrepreneurship. South Carolina should be a place of balanced accountability and a regulatory environment that does not empower unelected bureaucrats to overburden South Carolinians without checks.

Through broad-based grassroots outreach, Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is driving long-term solutions to the country’s biggest problems. AFP activists engage friends and neighbors on key issues and encourage them to take an active role in building a culture of mutual benefit, where people succeed by helping one another. AFP recruits and unites activists in 35 states behind a common goal of advancing policies that will help people improve their lives. For more information, visit americansforprosperity.org.

Candace Carroll, SC State Director ccarroll@afphq.org

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