Government Transparency

  • Analysis: School board transparency is great, but lawmakers should lead by example

    The Senate last week unanimously passed a bill pushing South Carolina’s school boards to livestream their meetings. Despite some issues in its execution, this is a much-needed policy – one that is central to the Policy Council’s goal of empowering citizens through transparency in government. At the same time, however, the...
    Sam Aaron

    Written by
    April 13, 2022

  • Check-in: Budget transparency hits a new low

    Transparency for taxpayers hit a new low this week. On Wednesday and Thursday, the S.C. Senate held a total of nine budget subcommittee hearings – the most it has held in one week since session began. Not one was streamed to the public.   According to meeting agendas, 36 state agencies presented their...
    Bryce Fiedler

    Written by
    March 04, 2022

  • Half of House budget meetings not streamed in first week (now updated weekly)

    Budget meetings sorted by week As part of our push for more government transparency, we have been tracking the streaming of legislative budget meetings each week. Below is list of how many budget meetings were held compared with how many were streamed, sorted by week. For a more thorough explanation...
    Sam Aaron

    Written by
    January 14, 2022

  • Delegations have a transparency problem: let’s fix it

    Legislative delegations in South Carolina have a serious transparency problem. As it turns out, an alarming number of counties are missing basic information about legislative delegations on their websites. In fact, some counties don’t mention them at all. Citizens can’t hold their elected officials accountable if they don’t know what’s happening, and when it’s...
    Bryce Fiedler

    Written by
    September 24, 2021

  • Delegations in SC rank among most powerful in nation

    South Carolina’s county legislative delegations, comprised of the lawmakers representing each of the state’s 46 counties, are among the most powerful in the nation. In fact, most states don’t even recognize such delegations, and where they do, many have weak, if any, power.    
    Bryce Fiedler

    Written by
    September 17, 2021

  • Delegation influence reaches state airports

    By now, if you’ve been following the Policy Council’s latest research, it should come as no surprise to hear that legislative delegations (the group of state lawmakers representing a particular county) play an oversized role in filling important state and local positions, which has an effect on everything from education policy to the roads we drive on.  But this power extends far beyond the more predictable...
    Sam Aaron

    Written by
    April 19, 2021