State Rep. Bill Herbkersman on the issues: education, healthcare and roads
Age: 61
Political party: Republican
Office: S.C. House of Representatives District 118
Number of years living in the district you seek to represent: 35
Education: University of South Carolina, Jefferson Institute
Family: wife, Mary; two children, Shelby and Cole
Current occupation/employer: Partner at State of Mind Street Partners LLC and Calhoun Street Promenade
Employment, military and volunteer history: Owned Cycle Centers. Owned and managed seven restaurants in Sout Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Owned and managed Calhoun Street Development LLC and State of Mind Street Partners LLC since 2004. Volunteer: St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church, Hibernian, Knights of Columbus, Volunteers in Medicine, Bluffton Rotary Club, Mercy Flights International, Angel Flights Southeast, AOPA.
Unsuccessful bids for public office: None
Other prior political and government experience: Beaufort County Republicans, Republican Caucus, Chair of Ways and Means Health and Human Service Committee.
Key endorsements you’ve received: National Rifle Association, Hilton Head-Beaufort Realtors, Conservation Voters of SC, SC Citizens to Life, S.C. Sen. Tom Davis, Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner, Hilton Head area Homebuilders, former S.C. Sen. Scott Richardson, Bluffton Mayor Lisa Sulka, Ridgeland Mayor Joey Malphrus, Bluffton Town Council member Larry Toomer, Bluffton attorney Bill Bethea, Bluffton resident Joanie Heyward, Bluffton Town Council member Dan Wood, Bluffton attorney Wes Jones, former S.C. education superintendent Barbara Neilson, former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, the Vaux Family, Bluffton resident Ray Pringle, Bluffton Town Council member Bridgette Frazier, but my most important endorsements are from the people of Beaufort and Jasper counties that have entrusted me for the past 18 years.
Campaign contributions: $110,000
Campaign expenditures: $45,000
Biggest contributor: Republican Caucus
Questions from the League of Women Voters
What are your top three legislative priorities?
Education, from K-12 through secondary, including technical schools and colleges. Funding teacher, librarian, school workers pay. Funding for technology in the classrooms and providing for a safe learning environment. Equal funding for our K-12 and higher education students has been a long time coming, and I plan to keep equitable.
Constituent service and senior care. We’re blessed to have retirees and those about to retire here in Beaufort and Jasper counties. We have a wonderful retired military presence. I’ve worked hard and will continue to work for health care and health care opportunities for our retirees and all of our local folks. I instituted funding for a new Nursing program at the Technical College of the Low Country this year and will continue the funding efforts.
Infrastructure is key to a safe and healthy environment. Our counties are now receiving a fair share of infrastructure dollars, and I’ll keep fighting for that every day.
What steps should the state legislature take to provide equitable, quality public education for all South Carolina children pre-K through grade 12?
First, we need to continue raising the pay for teachers and school workers to above the national level. We want the best and the brightest to come, and we want to keep those great teachers and workers that we have. We need to relax testing and give the local school boards the opportunity and control of local schools. We also have to meet the challenge of having parents involved in the education of their children. From a legislative standpoint, we need to have the teachers more involved with legislation and funding.
Do you support regulation of business to ensure that our environment is not degraded? if not, who should bear the cost of remediation when damage is done to our air, soils and water?
I believe that regulation and enforcement should be done on a local level with oversight by DHEC. As an eco developer, I set the standards for post runoff development in the Calhoun Street promenade by using the best science and technology. Personally I have been involved in over 80 river cleanups and beach sweeps. The environment, waterways and landscapes belong all of us, including future generations. We need to treat the environment as the asset it is. A good, clean environment is simply good business. Those that violate and damage the environment should bear the brunt.
What criteria do you think should be used to determine voting district lines for SC state (House & Senate) and US Congressional Districts for SC? Do you support the use of incumbent and/or party affiliation protections as criteria? Lastly, should there be transparency and public input as part of the redistricting process? Please explain your answers.
I believe it should be done in a purely mathematical method. There should be absolutely no gerrymandering for incumbent, party or class protection. The model should be started at some point in the state and drawn to elect based on total population only. Anything else is unacceptable.
Are you in favor of ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment?
I’m in favor of civil rights not being denied on the basis of sex or gender.
Vouchers and scholarships are being discussed by members of the General Assembly. All taxpayers in SC will be impacted by passing such vouchers and scholarships. What is your position on voucher bills which divert taxpayers’ money to private, independent, home, and/or parochial schools?
I believe in giving the children the best education possible. The use of vouchers, scholarships and school choice should be an option, particularly in failing school districts. The goal is to educate our children, not to keep a failing system propped up in a failing district. The tax dollars belong to and come from the tax payers, may of whom want an alternative form of education. I can point to the GI Bill used by hundreds of thousands. Tax dollars followed the students no matter where those who used the GI Bill went to school, and it was the most successful education program in the country.
The coronavirus has pointed out the inequities in our national and state health care system, as well as how unprepared we were for such an epidemic to protect the health of all residents of the state no matter where they live and/or their racial or ethnic group or education or income. What will you do to significantly improve the health care delivery system in our state? Will you support providing Medicaid dollars from the federal government for South Carolinians who need it?
Coronavirus pointed out that groups such as the Hospital Association, MUSC, DHEC, etc., can and did mobilize quickly to address and preempt what could have been a worse disaster. As a legislator I was involved in the critical decisions for emergency funding for DHEC and will be involved in the solvency of our hospitals. Your statement/question about being unprepared is not a rational question — unprepared compared to other states? One look at our numbers shows how prepared we were as opposed to states like New York and California. My daily conversations with the Hospital Association and MUSC and other stakeholders, including the House Minority Leader, show evidence of heavy involvement in all communities.
This story was originally published May 24, 2020 at 5:15 AM.
