In The News
Bill to fight rising anti-Semitism on campus introduced in Congress
Wednesday | May 30, 2018by Jackson Richman
A bipartisan bill to combat anti-Semitism was introduced last week in Congress, following statistical analysis showing that Jews are the most targeted religious group for hate crimes annually. If enacted, the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act, introduced by Reps. Peter Roskam, R-Ill., Ted Deutch, D-Fla., Doug Collins, R-Ga., and Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., would require the Department of Education to adopt the State Department's definition of anti-Semitism to determine whether certain incidents … Continue Reading
Step forward in preserving historic sites
Tuesday | May 29, 2018For many years, North and South remained divided on how to observe Memorial Day, which was born of the Civil War. Even after Northern states began recognizing the holiday, Southern states did not, opting to honor Confederate dead on a separate day until after World War I. Importantly, U.S. Army commander Gen. John Logan in officially proclaiming Memorial Day in 1868 made clear that the observance was to be a national one and was not to be about any particular battle of the Civil … Continue Reading
Gallery: Scott makes Opportunity Tour Stop in D.C.
Wednesday | May 23, 2018Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) joined Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) in Southeast Washington, D.C., Tuesday to meet with local residents and business leaders as part of Scott's National Opportunity Tour. Scott and Norton were joined by members of the community and discussed solutions and initiatives geared toward increasing access to opportunity. Washington D.C.'s Attorney General Karl A. Racine and representatives from Mayor Muriel Bowser's office were in attendance. Scott's Investing in … Continue Reading
Rep. Erik Paulsen: How tax reform brings opportunity to poor neighborhoods
Friday | May 18, 2018by Rep. Erik Paulsen
America's new economy is finally taking off. In January 2017, prior to tax reform and regulatory reforms, the Congressional Budget Office projected only 1.9 percent growth for 2018. CBO now projects 3.3 percent growth for 2018, the highest annual growth rate since 2005. While all Americans will benefit from this growth, some still need even more help. In the average state, 15 percent of the population lives in a distressed community. The new tax law contains a provision designed to help … Continue Reading
Black families have 10 times less wealth than whites and the gap is widening—here's why
Friday | May 18, 2018by Jennifer Streaks
The wealth gap between white and black Americans is widening: Black families now have 10 times less wealth than whites. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) thinks he knows why, and he is trying to do something about it. In spite of all of the strides people of color have made over the past 50 years in America, there has not been much real progress on many fronts in minority communities because the underlying issues of racial inequality have not been adequately addressed. It remains harder for minorities … Continue Reading
Scott’s historic park legislation moves forward in Senate
Friday | May 18, 2018U.S. Senator Tim Scott's (R-SC) Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park Act was approved Thursday by the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. The legislation will revamp the protections overseeing some of South Carolina's most historic locations."South Carolina's history is an essential chapter of our American story, and today we are one step closer to helping preserve some of our state's most important and historic sites," said Scott. "By officially … Continue Reading
Former S.C. schools superintendent Mick Zais confirmed as deputy U.S. education secretary
Wednesday | May 16, 2018by Jamie Lovegrove
The U.S. Senate confirmed former South Carolina Education Superintendent Mick Zais as the nation's new deputy education secretary Wednesday in a vote that split along party lines. The 50-48 vote ended a months-long wait for Zais after President Donald Trump picked him to be Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' second-in-command last October. Zais became a controversial figure during his four-year tenure leading South Carolina's education agency, regularly feuding with teacher groups and members … Continue Reading
Senator Scott's Commencement '18 Highlights
Friday | May 11, 2018United States Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina addressed the Class of 2018 and offered words of wisdom inspired by his own life experiences: … Continue Reading
Keep the Economy Humming
Saturday | May 5, 2018The nation's economy is setting some records this year. According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national unemployment rate, at 3.9 percent for April, is the lowest in 17 years. Wages are rising, and likely to rise more given a tight labor market. Now the job of the economy's minders in Congress and the Federal Reserve is to keep it humming. The latest Labor Department figures contain some very encouraging news. For example, while black unemployment at 6.6 percent is still … Continue Reading
Opportunity sprouts in impoverished areas, thanks to tax reform
Thursday | May 3, 2018by Ryan Ellis & Cesar Conda
Outgoing Speaker of the House Paul Ryan talks about the new tax reform law quite a lot, as one would imagine. When he does, he invariably talks about three things-the corporate income tax rate cut, the tax cut for middle class families with kids, and Opportunity Zones. The latter is also a favorite topic of both White House Council of Economic Advisers chief Kevin Hassett and his colleague Larry Kudlow of the National Economic Council. What are these "Opportunity Zones" that have these … Continue Reading
U.S. Senator Tim Scott: conditions are ripe for small business success in SC
Wednesday | May 2, 2018by Renee Sexton
U. S. Senator Tim Scott, R-South Carolina, says now is a good time for small businesses in South Carolina. "This is a great year to start your small business," Scott told hundreds of business owners and entrepreneurs at the Grow with Google event in Columbia on Wednesday. He mentioned two key pieces of legislation that contribute to favorable conditions for small business in South Carolina: The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which restructured federal income tax laws, and Opportunity Zones, which … Continue Reading
New community development program will offer funds for poor rural communities
Wednesday | May 2, 2018Colleton County and the SouthernCarolina Alliance are waiting to see the nuts and bolts of how Opportunity Zones will work. Sandra DeVoe-Bland, Promise Zone coordinator for SCA, said the federal government, primarily the U.S. Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service, are still working on details of how the community development investment program will work. She said that South Carolina U.S. Sen. Tim Scott and three other federal legislators introduced the Investing in Opportunity Act … Continue Reading
'Opportunity zones' aim to give neighborhoods an economic boost
Friday | April 27, 2018by Gray Rohrer
Ten years after the Great Recession, the economic recovery has skipped over some long-downtrodded neighborhoods such as Pine Hills and Parramore. "When the West Oaks mall [west of Pine Hills] began to degrade, you ended up with anywhere from 60 to 80 stores that are empty," said state Rep. Bruce Antone, whose district includes parts of Pine Hills and Parramore. "Think about it: if each one of those stores has five to 10 jobs ... that's a lot of jobs in that community." Pine Hills and … Continue Reading
New Redevelopment Tax Incentive Program Starting to Take Shape
Monday | April 23, 2018by Oscar Perry Abello
With big questions about the new Opportunity Zones program still on the table, the U.S. Department of the Treasury has begun to issue approvals of opportunity zone designations. The Opportunity Zones program came about as a late addition to the tax-cut bill passed by Congress at the end of 2017. Its inclusion, orchestrated by senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Tim Scott (R-SC), surprised many in the community development and state policy sectors because the proposal had been floated for a few … Continue Reading
Rubio and Scott: New federal tax law will help Miami’s low-income working families
Friday | April 20, 2018The new tax law has two provisions that will particularly empower working families. The Child Tax Credit will give American families back more of their own money. The Investing In Opportunity Act has the potential to power an economic renaissance in the communities left behind by the global economy. By working together, we can help restore hope and ensure that the next great American idea isn't lost because someone did not have the opportunity to share it. The tax law passed last year cut the … Continue Reading
‘Responsive to our unique needs’
Friday | April 13, 2018by Charles Warner
UNION COUNTY - Among the benefits of economic development and efforts to promote it is that it brings people together to improve the community and the lives of its residents and that's what the Opportunity Zone program is doing according to Union County Development Board Executive Director Kathy Jo Lancaster. On Friday, March 23, Gov. Henry McMaster announced the nomination of 135 Opportunity Zones throughout South Carolina including one in Union County. According to the South Carolina … Continue Reading
Officials optimistic on 'Opportunity Zone' program
Sunday | April 1, 2018by Bruce Mills
In a business environment where every dollar counts, Sumter and Lee County officials are hopeful a new federal tax incentive program will help spur industrial and commercial development in their communities by companies. Created in part by U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., a new Opportunity Zones program recently passed in a $1.3 trillion spending bill in Congress to encourage long-term private-sector investment in low-income census tracts across the U.S. Of South Carolina's 1,097 census tracts, … Continue Reading
Summerville, Ridgeville among S.C. locations nominated for community development program
Monday | March 26, 2018by Jenna Ley-Harrison
More than 130 low-income communities across the state, including a handful in Dorchester and Berkeley counties, have been proposed by Gov. Henry McMaster as possible "opportunity zones" that could see more private investment thanks to a federal tax incentive program meant to stir economic development in those areas. Most of the targeted locations are in need of added infrastructure and affordable housing, according to a press release from the governor's office. They are among 135 urban and … Continue Reading
'Opportunity zones' could transform S.C. communities
Saturday | March 24, 2018A bright idea for spurring investment in economically distressed areas, approved as part of the federal tax reform bill, has the potential to pump much-needed capital into some of the poorest communities in South Carolina and across the nation. With a little economic alchemy, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., hopes to transform the problems of the rich into opportunities for the poor. Under his Investing in Opportunity Act, individuals and businesses can defer or reduce capital gains taxes by … Continue Reading
Aiken tract named to national 'opportunity zone' investment shortlist
Friday | March 23, 2018by Colin Demarest
Plans to revitalize economically ragged communities throughout South Carolina received a jolt from Gov. Henry McMaster on Friday morning. At a press conference in Ridgeway, McMaster announced he had submitted a list of 135 distressed areas within the state to the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The tracts on that list - known as "opportunity zones" under a new program included in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 - are eligible for tax incentives designed to spur hyper-local … Continue Reading
