Another 6 Things That Happened In SC Politics This Week: School Spending, Suing, Secret Reports, And SEX

The week that was in SC politics

1. Let's talk about sex, baby

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Whenever you hear a state senator use the words, "I don't need a book to tell you what an exposed nipple looks like on a female body!" on the Statehouse floor, you know it's got to be one heck of a debate.

That was what a flustered State Sen. Brad Hutto said during a feisty Wednesday session. Hutto was trying to halt an effort by social conservatives to punish two colleges for requiring students to read LGBT-themed books. Sen. Tom Corbin, R-Greenville, was arguing at the time that images in the graphic novel were inappropriate for college students and challenged Hutto to show one particular image to the public on the Senate floor.

Hutto eventually did, making sure to point the book directly at Corbin as he did so. Corbin responded, "Point it at the camera!" To which Hutto answered "The camera's not offended, YOU are!"

It was actually a pretty entertaining (and slightly ridiculous) debate that referenced "nipples," lesbian sex, and (of course) Hitler. Click on the link above to listen for yourself, if you dare.

2. It's my party and I'll sue if I want to

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Greenville city council wants to join the other major cities in the state in holding non-partisan elections.

The Greenville Chapter of the NAACP will file a federal complaint if the city takes "Rs" and "D's" off of the ballot, saying it will dilute the black vote.

Charleston and Columbia already hold nonpartisan city elections, though the mayors of both cities are well-known Democrats.

Greenville's leaders say they do not want to force candidates to choose a party. They're having a hard time attracting voters and this is an effort to bring in those in the public who dislike the party system. Most of the city's eligible voters have never even been inside a voting booth before.

3. 4K in the road?

Powerful SC Senate Republicans showed their paternal side in budget debates this week. Until this session, funding 4-year-old kindergarten (4K) had been the banner of rural Democrats. But this week, some of the state's most staid members of the GOP swore to "keep the money with the kids" - even taking the money out of a fund for local governments (which has historically been a certain way to garner favor back home).

The governor's budget plan focuses on education-- mainly as an economic driver. If we are to compete on a global scale, we'd better start earlier, say senators.

We decided to ask some elementary school kids how much money they think education needs:

4. Get me that report by 5:00, please

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During Thursday's budget debate, State Sen. Vincent Sheheen accused of Gov. Nikki Haley of covering up an investigation into the 2012 Department of Revenue hacking. Sheheen filed a budget amendment which would have required the release of an investigator's report into what exactly happened during and after the cyber-attack that compromised over 3.8 million Social Security numbers. The report is not available for the public, beyond a brief summary.

But the Senate's GOP leadership, echoing concerns from the Secret Service and state police, said making the report public could compromise the ongoing investigation. But Sheheen argued it has been 19 months since the hacking. His amendment was defeated on a technicality after Lt. Gov. Glenn McConnell ruled it was not germane to the budget.

During the debate, many senators said they were surprised to learn that they are allowed to read the report, as long as they sign a non-disclosure form and promise not to talk about what it contains. But Sheheen said he would not agree to those conditions.

Rumors that the report is being kept in a vault miles below the Statehouse are probably slightly inaccurate, however...

5. Budget nuggets

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Of course, it's hard to blame Sheheen. He's only following what most senators do around budget time. It's normal for lawmakers to use the budget as an opportunity to garner support for ideas that they cannot normally bring up for debate.

Usually, it's members of the minority party trying to get a floor vote that they know they won't win. Sometimes, it's members of the GOP majority trying to buck their own leadership. The latter doesn't happen more than a half-dozen times, though, because the leadership usually snaps back after too long...

6. Wooly bullies

The Columbian Mammoth lumbered back into Statehouse debate this week. The bill which would designate the mammoth as the official "State Fossil" has had an unusually difficult time this year. First, some senators got language included which mentioned the mammoth was "created on the Sixth Day." Then one powerful senator who says he is sick of designating state "whatevers" sought to ban the practice in the future.

A conference committee consisting of both House and Senate members on Wednesday agreed to remove the Creationist language, as well as the "state whatever" ban.

However, it is now stuck in the Senate behind budget debate that will continue for another week. Some senators better hurry before they become an "Official State Fossil" nominee themselves.