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Five elected officials spoke about ongoing and upcoming issues.
Highlights included:
STATE REP. RICHARD CHALK
Chalk, R-Hilton Head Island, focused on education funding. Local officials have long complained the state's system of funding education is unfair to Beaufort County, and Chalk intends to continue advocating to change it. Possible ways to draw attention to the issue could include organizing a press conference in Columbia or filing a lawsuit, he said.
"We have been beating that horse," Chalk said. "We're going to find new ways to do it."
STATE SEN. TOM DAVIS
Davis, R-Beaufort, left little doubt about his primary focus: school funding.
The time could be ripe to push that issue in part because gubernatorial candidate and state Superintendent of Education Jim Rex could use the issue to distinguish his campaign.
"That's the No. 1 issue," Davis said. "This is the year to get it done."
He also:
• Called for all the state to eliminate many of its exemptions from what he called a "screwed up tax code."
• Said the state should pick up the tab if the Verizon Heritage, Hilton Head Island's PGA Tour event, is not able to find a new title sponsor after next year.
• Pledged to build support among fellow legislators to choose a Beaufort County resident to fill the next vacancy on the state's highway commission, a move that would give the county more sway over road spending.
• Urged faster progress on a Jasper port, saying "never has there been an idea that made so much sense that has seen so much resistance for purely parochial reasons."
STATE REP. SHANNON ERICKSON
Erickson, R-Beaufort, said she is encouraged by the state's ongoing negotiations to sell the Port of Port Royal to a South Carolina-based development company.
She is optimistic the deal will be successful where many previous attempts have failed.
"I would ask for prayer on that," Erickson said.
She also said the state should create a position that would be solely responsible for coordinating the development of a proposed port in Jasper County.
"We need to ask for appropriations for a point person on that issue," Erickson said.
U.S. REP. JOE WILSON
Wilson, R-S.C., offered support for the Jasper port, which he said would aid the region.
"I have seen the spot," he said. "I know this would benefit the whole I-95 corridor."
He also took a dig at the recovery.gov Web site, which was intended to track federal stimulus spending but has been criticized for its inaccuracies.
Wilson said the site noted a nonexistent 43rd Congressional District in South Carolina.
"Since we have six, that's of interest to the people here," Wilson said.
STATE REP. KENNETH HODGES
Hodges, D-Green Pond, said South Carolina should continue to improve workforce development and expand alternative energy. He said the state is becoming a leader in the latter, citing Monday's ground-breaking of a biomass facility in Aiken and the state's role in wind exploration.
"That is a South Carolina thing," Hodges said. "South Carolina is positioning itself to be at the forefront."
