Henry McMaster on Government Reform

Create an Election Integrity and Compliance Audit Program

Magistrate judges should be lawyers, publicly screened

Rules for public registration and transparency

Served on state Commission on Ethics Reform

Cited by Ethics Commission for excessive donations of $51K

Register all lobbyists; speed up FOIA

Lawmakers would disclose more sources of income, face stiffer fines and stop representing clients before some state commissions under new ethics rules suggested by a commission created by Gov. Nikki Haley. The governor's commission was led by former Attorneys General Henry McMaster and Travis Medlock. The suggestions included:
• Lobbyists register with the state Ethics Commission when going before any local government board or council. Now, they must register only for state government lobbying.
• Speeding response to time for Freedom of Information requests and lowering fees.
• Stopping legislators from representing clients before state boards and commissions if the lawmaker voted to appoint its members.

Full disclosure of campaign funding & fines for violators

The governor's commission, led by former Attorneys General Henry McMaster and Travis Medlock, recommends SC ethics reforms including:
• Raising the amounts of ethics violation fines.
• Lawmakers disclose all sources of income--public and private-- and reveal the amounts received from government agencies or businesses with government contracts tied to a public official. They also must disclose income of immediate family members. Legislators only must disclose government income.
• More narrowly defining a political committee so more of them will have to file details election spending reports and ending leadership political-action committees that allow unlimited contributions to candidates. The status of political committees is up in the air after courts shot down the state's definition as overly broad.