Jack O'Toole

1 week ago | charlestoncitypaper.com | Jack O'Toole

WEEK IN REVIEW |  The S.C. Senate Finance Committee advanced a $14.4 billion budget plan this week that, in a surprise move, contained only one earmark — a $300 million expenditure to cut the state’s top income tax rate from 6.2% to 6%. Under current law, the rate was set to drop to 6.1%, the number adopted in the S.C. House Ways and Means Committee budget plan last month.

1 week ago | charlestoncitypaper.com | Jack O'Toole

Amid ongoing concerns about lackluster academic performance and fresh allegations of financial self-dealing, state officials are considering major reforms to rein in South Carolina’s charter school system. The goal, officials say, is to hold the worst players and practices accountable—while preserving what’s working in a system that’s also produced some of the state’s top-performing schools.

2 weeks ago | charlestoncitypaper.com | Jack O'Toole

Courtesy Gettyimages.com Clearly frustrated by a process that many members see as out of control, the state Board of Education on April 1 deferred action on 10 books it has been asked to remove from state public school libraries. “I’m concerned about potential abuses of a process that we intended to be fair and equitable,” said Myra Slaughter, the board member for Calhoun, Dorchester and Orangeburg counties.

2 weeks ago | charlestoncitypaper.com | Jack O'Toole

A much-ballyhooed Republican income tax plan is in trouble in the South Carolina House, where nine co-sponsors withdrew their support this week after an analysis showed the proposal would raise taxes on most taxpayers. Meanwhile, the powerful Ways and Means Committee on Thursday delayed a vote on the measure. The bill’s apparent collapse, at least in its current form, came just eight days after state GOP leaders, including Gov.

3 weeks ago | charlestoncitypaper.com | Jack O'Toole

Credit: Unsplash A bombshell new report from the state’s Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office reveals a much-ballyhooed state Republican income tax cutting plan would actually raise taxes for the vast majority of Palmetto State residents earning less than $120,000 a year. Just last week, state Republican leaders unveiled what they called a historic income tax cut that would lower the state’s top rate from 6.2% to a 3.99% flat tax for all.