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Lawmakers have approved $2.4 million toward the state’s AIDS Drug Assistance program that helps provides lifesaving medicines for people with HIV who have low income and little or no prescription drug insurance coverage. The money will go toward helping some of the estimated 800 South Carolinians a year diagnosed with HIV/AIDS.
Continue reading "HIV/AIDS treatments to get $2.4 million" »
The House will take up a bill May 7 that would eliminate the requirement that school superintendents and nurses be notified if a student has HIV/AIDS. Tuesday, the House adjourned debate until May.
Advocates of the bill say the disclosure is stigmatizing and violates privacy rights. Others argue disclosing who is HIV-positive is needed to protect students from being infected.
A bill aimed at ending the racial disparities that exist in many chronic illnesses among S.C. residents got key approval Wednesday in the S.C. House.
The state Department of Health and Environmental Control would establish grants to create partnerships between state and local government and community and faith-based groups to help raise awareness about treatment and behavior.
The House needs to come up with a different state budget that protects Medicaid, the program that provides medical care for the poorest South Carolinians.
Sanford visited hospitals in Greenville and Charleston today, calling on the House to rework the Ways and Means Committee's proposed spending plan that takes $100 million in reserve funds from Medicaid.
"The bottom line is that this budget needs a lot of work if the House is serious about protecting both the people served by government and protecting taxpayers from the effects of poor budgeting," Sanford said. "After the last recession, the lesson should have been learned about taking money from trust funds and digging annualization holes. It's very disappointing that history is about to repeat itself."
Gov. Mark Sanford today signed S.588 which should make it easier for small businesses to offer health insurance to their employees.
Sanford had this to say about the bill, which he made a high priority this legislative session:
"First off, I want to thank leaders in the House and Senate - particularly Chairman Cato, Representative Lowe and Senators McConnell and Lourie -- as well as the National Federation of Independent Businesses for pushing for this bill and getting it to my desk so quickly.
"We continue to believe that this is an example of the kind of reform we should be looking at as a first avenue for increasing healthcare availability in our state -- rather than first looking to raise taxes. We know that while there's no silver bullet when it comes to healthcare, this is another tool in helping make insurance more affordable for a whole host of workers and small businesses in our state.
"Given the fact that 97 percent of all businesses in this state are small businesses - and that half of our workforce is employed by those companies - reforms aimed at helping small businesses become especially important in bettering quality of life for those who live in South Carolina. This is also another example, along with things like tort reform and cutting income taxes, of the importance of creating the general soil conditions for businesses to grow and thrive in our state - rather than picking one business over another."
The bill would allow groups of 10 small businesses to band together in order to purchase health insurance for their employees.
Gov. Mark Sanford will sign S.588 in Columbia today, a bill that should help small businesses provide health insurance for their employees by banding together into health-care cooperatives.
The bill signing will take place at 10 a.m. at Nuttall's Tire at 2405 Millwood Ave.
A bill to lower the age that South Carolinians can donate blood to 16 has passed another hurdle. A House subcommittee amended the bill Thursday to include that written parental consent is required for donors who are minors. Also donors cannot be paid for giving blood. The full committee will consider the bill later this month.
A Senate committee agreed Wednesday to strike a provision in the law requiring the state to report a student's HIV status to school authorities.
The Medical Affairs Committee agreed the provision probably violates federal privacy laws, and likely hindered minors from submitting to tests that detect HIV or AIDS.
Students are more likely to refuse the tests than submit, said Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, once they are informed the results will be forwarded to school officials.
DHEC is currently required to report such results to the school's superintendent and nurse, but the agency also worried that the provision in the law requiring the disclosures also violated the student's rights to have their medical history remain private. The measure heads to the full Senate.
The Senate Medical Affairs Committee passed out a bill allowing 16-year-olds to donate blood, with written parental permission.
If approved, the Senate bill would the lower age a minor could give blood by a year, matching the legal threshold observed in 15 other states, including Georgia. "We have to import blood into South Carolina because we don't give enough," stated Sen. Joel Lourie, D-Richland, who sponsored the bill.
Current law requires both an age and weight stipulation in order to
donate blood in South Carolina. The new bill would not allow donors
under 18 to sell their blood without parental consent.
-- Roddie Burris
Gov. Mark Sanford nominated South Carolina native Emma Forkner as the Director of the Department Health and Human Services today, according to a news release.
Forkner, 57, is a nurse with 35 years experience, and is currently a senior policy analyst in the area of Health Quality Research at the Altarum Institute in San Antonio, Tex., the release said.
Forkner retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1997, where she achieved the rank of colonel.
A Dillon native, Forkner grew up in the state and received her nursing degree from the Medical University of South Carolina.
Forkner will take the reins of the DHHS, which lately has been focused on innovative changes to Medicaid aimed at improving the overall quality of care while helping control the rate of the program's growth.
Last week, it Sanford announced that South Carolina was chosen to be the first state in the nation to offer Medicaid recipients direct incentives for healthy behavior. The agency has also implemented a prescription drug reform package that has saved the state almost $13 million per year in drug costs, according to the release.
"Whether it's been her time in the military spent as a hands-on health-care professional or her work in the private sector looking at big picture issues, I think Emma brings a unique skill set to this job," Sanford said in the release. "Under Robbie Kerr's leadership of the agency, this administration has successfully focused on both improving quality of care while helping to control the rate of Medicaid growth, both of which will continue to be a priority for us. I want to thank Emma for agreeing to accept this role, and I welcome her to the team."
Forkner will begin work at the agency pending Senate confirmation.
"I'm honored that the governor has chosen me to lead the Department of Health and Human Services," Forkner said. "This agency has made some remarkable strides over the past four years, and it's a record of progress I'm going to make every effort to continue, while at the same time facing new challenges that may come our way."
Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer Tuesday called on Gov. Mark Sanford to name a new director for the state Department of Health and Human Services.
Bauer said the department needs a director in order to stem public concern that a new $250 million contract to transport seniors and people with disabilities might pose a danger to them.
The Department of Health and Human Services entered into a new contract with two out-of-state agencies in May to take-over non-emergency transporta-tion services from local contractors.
That decision has been under protest since Sanford made it, and on Tuesday in Greenville, dozens attended a meeting called by Bauer to complain about the new system’s failures.
Sen. Harvey Peeler, R-Cherokee, who chairs the Senate Medical Affairs Committee, is holding a similar meeting today in Columbia. Complaints range from failure to pick up nursing home patients for transport to vital medical care, to returning patients to incorrrect addresses and refusal by new contract employees to assist the elderly and disabled customers.
The state health agency, which oversees the Medicaid program, has been without a director since Robbie Kerr resigned the position four months ago to become a health consultant.
The House voted overwhelmingly Thursday to override Gov. Mark Sanford's veto of a $21 million budget increase to expand the state Children's Health Insurance Program.
The expansion would provide health coverage for between 70,000 and 100,000 children.
The vote was 101-3. The measure now goes to the Senate.
The House voted 86-16 today to override Gov. Mark Sanford's veto of a bill, H.4178, which establishes an advisory committee to help oversee a contract for non-emergency transportation of Medicaid patients.
The state pulled this transportation contract from existing in-state carriers this year and awarded it to two out-of-state carriers. The transportation system has been under fire for poor service since Sanford turned the system over to the new contractors in May.
The House on Thursday approved an amendment to the abortion ultrasound bill that makes it clear that a woman cannot be forced to view the ultrasound image. The amendment to H.3355 passed on a vote of 74-21. The bill now goes back to the Senate, which has already passed it once. The Senate can agree with the House changes or amend it back to its version.
S.C. lawmakers from both parties urged Congress to re-authorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program and find the $50 billion needed to pay for it.
The program, set to expire September 30, would give the state $795 million and could allow it to move toward insuring 35,000 more children.
Both the state Senate and the House have approved increased spending for children's health insurance in separate versions of the state budget. Lawmakers raised coverage under the program from 150 percent of poverty to 200 percent, meaning families of three making $34,340 or less would be added to the insured rolls of the state. The move insures an additional 65,000 children.
The proposed spending plans each include an additional $22 million to pay for new coverage. The House version uses one-time funds and adds a co-payment for recipients; the Senate makes the funding permanent. The differences are being resolved in a conference committee.
A Senate committee gave unanimous approval today to a tenuous abortion bill that requires women who are seeking an abortion be offered the
option of viewing an ultrasound image of her fetus before the
pro-cedure.
Still, the fate of the legislation is uncertain.
The Medical Affairs Committee sent to the full Senate a compromise version of a House-passed bill that would have forced women seeking an abortion to look at an ultrasound.
Attorney General Henry McMaster has said in a legal opinion that forcing a woman to view such images against her will would be unconstitutional.
Committee members had to beat back an amendment pushed aggressively by Greenville Sen. David Thomas that would have stipulated the woman "be given the right to view the ultrasound while it's being performed."
The committee amended the House bill, H.3355, and the Senate bill, S.84, identically, and sent them both to the Senate for debate, probably next week.
"This is a very tender agreement that we have," said Sen. Harvey Peeler, R-Cherokee, committee chair.
With time quickly winding down in the session, bill proponents are worried that any complications added to the bill could jeopardize its passage.
But other impediments also loom.
Sen Darrell Jackson, R-Richland, said he is uncertain why the bill is needed at all, because women have the option of viewing her ultrasound under existing law.
"In the end, we may have what we had before we started," Jackson said. A defender of a woman's right to choose, Jackson said he it is a "strong possibility" he would seek to slow the bill's progress toward passage.
Some senators also expressed concern about the bill going to a House-Senate conference committtee, if it passes in the Senate, because the two bodies were so far apart on their original positions on the ultrasound issue.
The House passed its bill requiring a woman to view an ultrasound by a 91-23 vote last month.
A Senate panel this morning overhauled a proposed abortion bill, making ultrasound a clear option, rather than a mandate, for women seeking to terminate a pregnancy.
Under an amendment passed unanimously by the five-member Medical Affairs subcommittee, a doctor must inform a woman of her right to view an ultrasound, if she seeks a procedure.
If the woman makes requests, the doctor must provide a description of the embryo, including its size and any discernible human features.
The amendment also requires that a woman be shown a list of facilities in the state that provide free ultrasounds.
The changes were necessary, according to Sen. MIke Fair, R- Greenville, in order to assure that women would not be forced to submit to an act against their will, while also assuring that as many women as possible to actually viewed a fetal image.
"Abortions aren't down because of laws," Fair said, "they're down because of science."
The amended bill now goes to full Senate Medical Affairs Committee, which could take up the bill next week.
S.C. inmates would be able to make voluntary bone marrow and organ donations under a bill approved today by the Senate Corrections Committee.
The proposal raises questions about fairness and the state possibly preying upon prisoners.
"What prevents them from donating organs now?" asked Sen. Kay Patterson, D-Richland.
State prisons director Jon Ozmint said there is nothing standing in the way of such donations. "If this bill didn't pass and organ groups came to me and said, 'Set up a program (for organ donations by inmates), I would," Ozmint said.
Sen. Ralph Anderson, D-Anderson, the bill's sponsor, said such a law would raise awareness among inmates and the public of the shortage of available organs and would attract financing for the surgeries and educational materials needed to inform inmates and their families about the donation process.
Originally, the bill proposed incentives for the donations, including shortened sentences through so-called good time credit. Those incentives are not in the bill approved today.
The bill passed the committee with one dissenting vote: Patterson, who said he would do everything possible to impede the bill's progress, including a possible filibuster. "I think you're exploiting inmates," he said.
S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster says forcing a woman to view an ultrasound image of her fetus before receiving an abortion would be "illegal and improper."
The comments are contained in a letter McMaster sent to a lawmaker a week after voicing support for a bill that would require women seeking an abortion to sign a document stating they had been shown ultrasound images of their fetus.
Last week, McMaster testified that the legislation would pass constitutional muster. Today he reiterated his stance but advised lawmakers that an amendment to the bill would clarify that women won't be forced to view the images before the procedure could be performed.
The contention hinges on language in the legislation, which states that the doctor must view the ultrasound to determine the gestational age then must review those images with the patient.
"Such a 'review' requirement by the state, in my view, would likely be held as constitutional as long as there is no requirement and no effort is made to force an unwilling patient to view an ultrasound image against her will," McMaster wrote.
He suggested amending the legislation to require the doctor "to explain and provide information in a manner that is more clearly consistent with the patient's prerogative to decline or refuse the information."
A Senate subcommittee is hearing testimony on the measure (S.84) today. The House passed a similar bill (H.3355) last month.
Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer is calling for an end to child abuse and neglect in South Carolina.
During a rally at the State House today, Bauer and child advocates said the key to preventing neglect and abuse lies in greater public awareness, financial support and participation.
"Jesus had a special place in his heart for children, and we must do better," Bauer said.
Prevent Child Abuse South Carolina launched a yearlong campaign to raise $200,000 to help fight abuse in the state where more than 16,000 reports came in last year to the S.C. Department of Social Services.
More than 6,000 of those referrals turned out to be bona fide instances of abuse or neglect, according to Wendell Price, deputy state DSS director.
Gloria Prevost, Prevent Child Abuse South Carolina director, said that a $1 donation by each state resident in recognition of each child in their life would help provide parenting education and professional trainings in all 46 counties.
"It's a tough business getting out there in the trenches and fighting for kids," Prevost said.
Donations may be made by clicking on "Ju$t One" at www.pcasc.org or by mail to Prevent Child Abuse South Carolina, 1712 Hampton St., Columbia, SC 29201.
S.C. Health and Human Services director Robby Kerr is stepping down, according to Gov. Mark Sanford's office.
Sanford credited Kerr with overhauling the state's Medicaid system, which provides health care for the poor, elderly and disabled.
"He's led the agency in slowing the growth of our Medicaid program and eliminating fraud while staying focused on providing services to some of South Carolina's neediest citizens," Sanford said in a statement. "The bottom line is that Robby is leaving the agency in far better shape than what he inherited."
An agency spokesman said Kerr is leaving to form a private health care consulting firm.
Friends and foes of a bill that would require women to view an ultrasound of their fetus before receiving an abortion are at the State House today.
About a half-dozen people testified this morning to a Senate subcommittee that is considering the legislation, which was passed by the House last week.
More than 40 people signed up to speak, so the panel will meet again this afternoon to hear more testimony.
State Attorney General Henry McMaster says the bill, if passed into law, would be constitutional. He's basing that on a 1995 opinion that said offering an ultrasound image to a pregnant woman before an abortion does not violate her rights.
However, Sen. Brad Hutto questioned whether that test would hold up if the state forces the woman to view the image.
Hutto, a Democratic lawyer from Orangeburg, says he is ready to offer amendments to the bill that would exempt the requirement for women who are victims of rape or incest. A similar amendment was rejected by the House.
Subcommittee chairman Mike Fair, R-Greenville, says anyone who does not get to testify today may come to the next meeting on the bill, which will be held in April.
The House gave third and final reading this morning to a bill requiring women seeking an abortion to view an ultrasound before having the procedure.
The bill, which was approved on voice vote, now goes to the Senate. It wil most likely be sent to the Senate Medical Affairs Committee.
The House gave key approval today to a bill requiring women seeking an abortion to view a fetal ultrasound prior to the procedure.
Lawmakers rejected amendments that would have exempted victims of rape and incest.
Supporters of the measure said such changes could create loopholes and essentially render the bill useless.
Supporters of the amendments said the changes would give dignity to crime victims.
The bill was approved 91-23.
The House continues to debate a bill that would require a woman seeking an abortion to view an ultrasound image of the fetus before undergoing the procedure.
House members tabled an amendment from Rep. Todd Rutherford, D-Richland, to exempt women who are victims of rape and incest. Representatives voted 71 to 45 to kill the amendment.
Another amendment proposed by Rep. Cathy Harvin, D-Clarendon, that would require insurance companies to cover the ultrasound cost was tabled by a vote of 68 to 44. Ultrasounds already are performed before abortions, but women currently are not forced to view the images.
Rep. Doug Jennings, D-Marlboro, has introduced an amendment to exempt a woman who has been raped when a judge has determined that probable cause exists that criminal sexual conduct has occurred.
The House is expected to debate the actual bill this afternoon.
Gov. Mark Sanford weighed in with support Monday for a House bill requiring mothers to have an ultrasound performed before having an abortion.
Lawmakers are likely to debate the measure, which also requires mothers to review the ultrasound, this week.
"I believe life is sacred, and in the debate over when life begins I believe that as a society we should always err on the side of life," Sanford said.
"It's incredibly important for a woman to have the maximum amount of information possible before making that decision. This new ultrasound requirement is an important one in that I think it has the potential to lessen the number of abortions carried out in South Carolina.”
Sanford does not often weigh in on legislation before lawmakers take action.
Gov. Mark Sanford and his family today announced plans for a May bike ride and a 5-kilometer walk as part of their 2007 Family Fitness Challenge.
The initiative is aimed at improving the health of South Carolinians through encouraging healthier decisions in their day-to-day lives.
This year's events will take place May 5. The bike ride begins in Aiken and ends approximately 70 miles away in Estill. Sanford's wife, Jenny, will lead the walk in Aiken.
"A big part of quality of life in our state goes back to how we look and feel as individual South Carolinians, and the fact is that too many of us don't get enough exercise and eat the wrong things, leading to our state being near the top of the list for a whole host of health problems due to unhealthy lifestyles," Sanford said.
"This bike ride and walk are all about challenging folks to be just a little bit more active every day. Whether you come out and walk or ride seven blocks, seven miles or 70 miles, I'd invite all South Carolinians to come join with me, Jenny and the boys and take this step toward a healthier state."
The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee on Wednesday approved a bill requiring insurance companies to provide coverage for autism.
The committee sent an amended version to the full Senate. It would cap an insurers total per patient liability.
A Senate committee will consider legislation Wednesday that would require insurance companies to cover autism and other neurological disorders.
The Banking and Insrance Committee will hear tetimony from advocates and insurance companies, who have opposed the mandate.
Chairman David Thomas, R-Greenville, said he's hopeful the bill will advance out of committee. He said advocates have drafted an amendment that could make the bill more palatable to the industry.
The amendment would set caps on total treatment cost per patient.
There are 17 states with similar mandates, including Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky, said Sen. Joel Lourie, D-Richland, one of the bill's co-sponsors.
Lourie and Thomas were joined at a State House news conference Tuesday by co-sponsors Sens. Dick Elliott, D-Horry, Phil Leventis, D-Sumter, and Ray Cleary, R-Georgetown, and advocates Marcella Ridley and Lisa Rollins.
The S.C. Mental Health Department may hold off on the sale of its 81-bed children's hospital on Bull Street until a new facility is completed, and that could still be several years away.
A state Supreme Court decision last month gives the Mental Health Commission the authority to determine saleability of the 178-acre State Hospital campus in addition to the right to the proceeds of the sale, the commission was told today.
Agency lawyer Mark Binkley says the commission could carve out the hospital for sale at a later date as it puts the remainder of the property on the market.
Department officials say they need at least $30 million to build the hospital, which would take over treatment of about 70 severely ill children who currently are housed in the William S. Hall Psychiatric Institute on the campus.
About 80 HIV/AIDS care advocates, physicians, health officials, patients, a lawmaker and others are calling on the Legislature to invest $8 million in the care of low-income people with the disease or the virus that causes it.
That will save lives and save the state money, they say.
Rep. Joe Neal joined representatives from the state health department, community organizations and the S.C. Medical Association to make the request at a State House news conference today.
Standing with the S.C. HIV/AIDS Care Crisis Task Force, Deadra Lawson-Smith revealed that she has AIDS and said how the state’s cash-strapped AIDS Drug Assistance Program has helped her.
More than 430 people are on a waiting list for that program.
"I am a woman who is willing to stand on the front line and to do my part," she said. "We’re just asking everyone to do their part."
A bill to allow S.C. employers to advertise for nonsmoking employees when hiring and to designate in their ads that the workplace is smoke-free appears to have been snuffed out.
A Senate subcommittee failed to pass the measure when it came up for consideration today.
"Do you think that will pass constitutional muster?" asked Sen. Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, who opposed the bill.
"I think employers should have the prerogative to hire non-smokers," said Sen. Greg Gregory, author of the bill. "If you've got one employee, and that one has a catastrophic disease like lung cancer, it can destroy an employer."
Richard Heath, a Surfside Beach accountant, said he attempted to place a newspaper ad for nonsmoking employees two years ago and his ad was rejected.
"It blows me away all the stuff people are doing to try to improve health and for an employer to try to encourage nonsmokers and to be denied the opportunity to do just that," Heath said.
Gregory and Heath said the policy they propose is not discriminatory because smoking is not genetic, racial or sexual in terms of how such an employment practice would be applied.
Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, who voted for the bill, said it empowers employers and helps bolster the legal concept that smoking is a state issue to be determined by the Legislature, rather than city and town councils.
Sen. Robert Ford, D-Charleston, said a bill allowing employers to refuse to hire people on the basis of a personal choice would go too far. "Tobacco is a legal substance. How can we legislate against that?" he asked.
House Democrats say they have reached an agreement with Republicans that the state health program for poor children should be raised to cover those at 200 percent of poverty level.
The program presently extends only to those at 150 percent of the poverty line.
Raising the level would ensure medical coverage for about 70 percent of the eligible children in the state, up from 60 percent.
Many details must be worked out in order for the proposal to become part of the 2007-08 budget.
Republicans want to create a new, stand-alone program under Medicaid's Children Health Insurance Program to accommodate the increased coverage, which would be privatized and administered by HMOs.
Also, federal legislation allows for a premium to be imposed and a co-payment of up to 5 percent to be assessed to Medicaid recipients, if the poverty level is raised.
"If this allows us to get to 200 percent of poverty, it's worth it," said Rep. Joe Neal, D-Richland, as long as the added coverage isn't too expensive for recipients.
"It's the perfect time to do this," said Rep. Tracy Edge, R-Horry and chairman of the Ways and Means health subcommittee, which oversees Medicaid spending.
A House panel may take up the Medicaid proposal this afternoon. Edge says he expects the measure to pass quickly.
House Democrats are unveiling their plan to raise cigarette taxes in order to pay for more small business health insurance.
The proposal, the Democrats' top agenda item, is similar to a 2006 plan.
The bill would raise the nation's lowest cigarette tax by 30 cents per pack, using most of the $107 million raised to expand insurance for 173,000 workers.
A second part of the plan would spend $20 million to $28 million to increase the number of poor children covered by Medicaid.
After a whirlwind neuroscience lecture about the brain development of young children, Sen. Nikki Setzler, D-Lexington, declared, "You convinced me."
Harvard University professor Dr. Jack P. Shonkoff discussed groundbreaking scientific research from the last decade that says the earlier a poor child receives specialized health and education services, the better for society as a whole. He spoke Tuesday to the Senate Select Committee on Early Childhood Education at the invitation of Sen. Robert Hayes Jr., R-York.
Among his findings:
+ For every dollar spent on early childhood education, a society can save $18 per child in costs that may be incurred as an adult, such as welfare, incarceration or lost tax revenue
+ Children from impoverished homes have one-third the vocabulary by age 3 as children from affluent homes.
Shonkoff is co-author of the groundbreaking 2000 book "From Neurons to Neighborhoods," which examined the implications of new neuroscientific findings for early childhood education and health policies.
The committee is charged with examining South Carolina’s approach to early childhood education, particularly in light of a recent court ruling that said the state isn’t doing enough to help its youngest, neediest children be ready to learn in kindergarten. A pilot 4-year-old kindergarten program is underway this year and being eyed for expansion by lawmakers.
But the lawmakers who probably needed to hear Shonkoff’s story probably weren’t in the room Tuesday, he said.
The research Shonkoff presented has implications for policies on public assistance, mental health and housing, among others.
Five of the six senators on the special early childhood committee attended the meeting, as well as numerous state education officials, university professors and teachers from local school districts. Some brought copies of Shonkoff’s "From Neurons to Neighborhoods" to be autographed.
Research has linked sometimes "toxic" early childhood experiences, such as neglect or exposure to violence, to whether a child is likely to need costly assistance or intervention as an adult. Studies have shown that quality preschool can, for example, predict whether a child will someday own a home, make more than $2,000 per month or even end up in jail.
"We can consider this a moral responsibility and use this knowledge to give children a better start," Shonkoff said. Or, "if it’s money you’re worried about, the smartest investment you can make is investing as early as possible."
Shonkoff fielded questions such as whether limited resources should first be targeted at children from birth to age 3, or continue down the General Assembly’s path toward expanded 4-year-old kindergarten.
"There’s no magic bullet here; there’s no one place to put the money," he said.
The Harvard professor — a pediatrician by training — acknowledged the difficulty of the question, but said scientific findings cannot answer such a question. It is a question that must be wrestled with in the policy-making and political arenas.
"The science would say don’t put all of your resources into 4K and say, ‘Someday we’ll do something for the other children,’" Shonkoff said. "If I have to make a choice, I would always opt for taking care of the needs of the neediest and most vulnerable children first."
Reach Staff Writer Lisa Michals at (803) 771-8532.
ABOUT DR. JACK P. SHONKOFF
Title: Director of the Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University
Age: 59
Author of: "From Neurons to Neighborhoods," a groundbreaking book that examined the implications of new neuroscientific findings for early childhood education and health policies
Ties to S.C.: Serves on the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child with state Sen. Robert Hayes Jr., R-York
Why he was in town: The Spartanburg-based Mary Black Foundation asked him to speak at a Monday event, and Shonkoff accepted Hayes’ invitation to address the Senate Select Committee on Early Childhood Education because, Shonkoff said, of his great respect for Hayes
S.C. House Democrats say their No. 1 priority this year is health insurance for the state's 150,000 uninsured children, even if there's no increase in the state's lowest-in-the-nation cigarette tax.
"I don't see why we can't do this," said House Minority Leader Harry Ott, D-Calhoun. "North Carolina has done it. Georgia has done it. But there is a real reluctance on the part of Republicans to raise spending on Medicaid."
Democrats say a $2O million investment in the state's Children's Health Insurance Program program would draw down $80 million in federal funds and eliminate the disparity in health care to uninsured children.
The caucus named a committee to work with new state Education Superintendent Jim Rex to formulate an education agenda.
Democrats also vowed to push legislation targeting: the fast-rising costs of workers' compensation insurance premiums; predatory lending; and the spiraling costs of homeowners insurance on the coast. They plan to rejuvenate the rural caucus, which will concentrate on improving health care, jobs and education in small-town South Carolina.
Gov. Mark Sanford's pick to lead the state Department of Health and Environmental Control Board is Edwin Cooper of Sullivans Island.
In 2004, Cooper was appointed to the board by Sanford to represent the 1st Congressional District and has served as vice chairman since that time.
If confirmed by the state Senate, Cooper will replace Elizabeth Hagood, who resigned last year.
Cooper received his bachelor's and law degrees from the University of South Carolina. He has practiced real estate and construction law and has consulted with landowners and developers on conservation planning. For three years, he has served as a broker with Holcombe, Fair and Lane, specializing in rural and recreational properties. He previously served as director of land protection for Ducks Unlimited's South Atlantic Region.
