Henry McMaster on Government Reform

	Henry McMaster on Government Reform

Create an Election Integrity and Compliance Audit Program

The right to vote is the single most important right protected by the Constitution. In 2020 we learned that our state's election laws were not being applied properly and consistently by election officials. My Budget proposes creating a new Election Integrity and Compliance Audit Program at the State Election Commission. Teams of auditors, working for the State, will conduct regular and routine examinations to confirm the integrity of elections conducted on the state and local level. Source: 2022 State of the State Address to the S.C. legislature , Jan 19, 2022

Magistrate judges should be lawyers, publicly screened

South Carolina has over 300 magistrate judges who receive little public scrutiny before they are confirmed, receive limited legal training and are not required to be lawyers in good standing. Magistrate judges must be required to be attorneys in good standing and certified to practice law. Second, they should be publicly screened in hearings similar to those used for circuit and family court judges. And each member of the Senate should vote on the record on each magistrate's confirmation. Source: 2021 State of the State Address: South Carolina legislature , Jan 13, 2021

Rules for public registration and transparency

Anyone paid to influence decisions made by state, county, municipal, or school board officials must be required to publicly register with the state ethics commission as a lobbyist. Public officials must be required to recuse themselves when a conflict exists. And public officials in all branches of government - at all levels - must comply with the Freedom of Information Act. , Jan 23, 2019

Served on state Commission on Ethics Reform

2012: Appointed to the South Carolina Commission on Ethics Reform: Led the Commission on Ethics Reform, a bipartisan group, to develop ways to strengthen our states outdated, and often ineffective, ethics laws. With Henry's leadership they drafted what is considered the blue print for a more ethical government, a government that works for the people. We are now closer than ever to enacting real ethics standards for our state's public officials which promotes honesty & accountability. Source: 2010 S.C. Gubernatorial campaign website HenryMcMaster.com , Jan 11, 2017

Cited by Ethics Commission for excessive donations of $51K

On Jan. 6, 2015, the Ethics Commission of South Carolina accused McMaster of accepting about $70,000 in campaign donations when he unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2010, which exceeds South Carolina's legal limit for donations by $51,850. Documents released by the Ethics Commission state that McMaster accepted these extra funds to help in settling his campaign debt. In September 2015, the Commission refused to dismiss the complaint and McMaster's attorney indicated McMaster was likely to settle. Source: Wikipedia.org politician profile , Sep 30, 2015

Register all lobbyists; speed up FOIA

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.

Source: The State newsmagazine, "Commission on S.C. ethics reforms" , Jan 28, 2013

Full disclosure of campaign funding & fines for violators

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.

Source: The State newsmagazine, "Commission on S.C. ethics reforms" , Jan 28, 2013

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[Title7]	*Gubernatorial Debates 2023:* KY: Incumbent Andy Beshear(D) vs.State A.G. Daniel Cameron(R) vs.Ambassador Kelly Craft(R) vs.State Auditor Mike Harmon(R) LA: Incumbent John Bel Edwards(D,term-limited) vs.Jeff Landry(R) vs.Shawn Wilson(D) vs.John Schroder(R) vs.Sharon Hewitt(R) MS: Incumbent Tate Reeves(R) vs.Bill Waller(R,withdrew) vs.Brandon Presley(D) *Gubernatorial Debates 2024:* DE: Gov. John Carney (D, term-limited); Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long (D) vs. Matt Meyer (D) IN: Gov. Eric Holcomb (R, term-limited); Sen. Mike Braun (R) vs. Suzanne Crouch (R) vs. Jennifer McCormick (D) MO: Gov. Mike Parson (R, term-limited): Jay Ashcroft (R) vs. Bill Eigel (R) vs. Mike Kehoe (R) vs. Crystal Quade (D) MT: Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) vs. Tanner Smith (R) vs. Ryan Busse (D)	*Gubernatorial Debates 2024 (continued):* NC: Gov. Roy Cooper (D, term-limited); Dale Folwell (R) vs. Michael Morgan (D) vs. Mark Robinson (R) vs. Josh Stein (D) vs. Andy Wells (R) ND: Gov. Doug Burgum (R) vs. State Rep. Rick Becker (R) NH: Gov. Chris Sununu (R, retiring) vs. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R) vs. Joyce Craig (D) vs. Chuck Morse (R) vs. Cinde Warmington (D) UT: Gov. Spencer Cox (R) vs. State Rep. Phil Lyman (R) VT: Gov. Phil Scott (R) unopposed WA: Gov. Jay Inslee (D, retiring); Hilary Franz (D, withdrew) vs. State Sen. Mark Mullet (D) vs. County Chair Semi Bird (R) vs. WA Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D) WV: Gov. Jim Justice (R, term-limited); vs. WV State Auditor JB McCuskey (R, withdrew) vs. WV Secretary of State Mac Warner (R) vs. State Del. Moore Capito (R) vs. WV Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R) vs. Huntington Mayor Steve Williams (D)	Abortion Budget/Economy Civil Rights Corporations Crime Drugs Education Energy/Oil Environment Families/Children Foreign Policy Free Trade Govt. Reform Gun Control Health Care Homeland Security Immigration Infrastructure/Technology Jobs Local Issues Principles/Values Social Security Tax Reform War/Iraq/Mideast Welfare/Poverty [Title9]