State House District 124: Shannon Erickson focuses on schools, roads and taxes.
“I’m proud to be running an issue-based positive campaign,” says Shannon Erickson.
Erickson, an educator and business owners, is running for reelection to the S.C. House of Representatives for District 124. She is a Republican and has represented the district since 2007.
She has a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education.
The Island Packet sent questionnaires to all candidates in contested races. Candidates were asked to keep their responses to 150 words per question.
Here are Erickson’s answers:
What are your top issues this campaign?
My top issues are the top issues that I hear from constituents and grassroots supporters across the district — keeping taxes low while easing the pain of inflation, which we are all feeling; improving our state’s education system, and building our local roads and infrastructure to make it even more resilient. I am proud to be running an issues-based, positive campaign.
What issues affecting the district will be addressed in the next legislative session?
Continued education reform to support/retain/recruit teachers, ensure more funding makes it to classrooms and grow public and parental choice options.
Continue transportation funding that optimizes support of road, bridge and infrastructure repair and replacement for safety, economic development and tourism.
Repeal of the “Certificate of Need” limiting care providers from serving populations needing care options. Keeping taxes low and reducing red tape and unnecessary costs to businesses and citizens.
Should the state use public money to create educational scholarship accounts to allow parents to send their children to private schools?
Yes, public money is dedicated to children’s education, not programs. As an educator, a mom and grandmother, I know firsthand that every child has personal, individualized educational needs. I support an education structure that allows for strong traditional public, charter, virtual and magnet schools and also other options such as independent, faith-based, homeschooling, and various other educational programs that allow our children to learn in their most positive environments.
No parent should have to settle on an education that does not fit their children’s learning needs because they cannot afford a different education type. I support piloting a program where qualifying families can receive a scholarship to send their child to a school that best fits their needs, while also continuing to fully fund and support public education.
I am proud of the work I have done to support state education during my time in the House. I have successfully secured more funding for education in Beaufort County. In fact, state funding has increased by $84.7 million — a 304% increase from when I was first elected.
Should SC ban abortion? What exceptions, if any, should there be for an abortion ban?
I am proudly pro-life and consider any abortion a tragedy. I also believe in compassion and empathy. I will always work to ensure that women have the resources they need to support a happy, healthy, full-term pregnancy.
I continue to support reforms to our child services. The hoops you have to jump through and the pricetag to adopt in our state must be overhauled, and we must fully fund and support our state’s foster care system to ensure each unwanted or unexpected child is cared for, loved, and protected.
That said, I supported last year’s fetal heartbeat bill which bans an abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected (usually about the 6-week point), unless the pregnancy is caused by rape or incest, the unborn child is diagnosed with a fatal fetal anomaly or the life or health of the mother is in jeopardy. The most recent ban from the House did not include those and I would not have supported it in that form. (I was away on emergency family leave.) The bill moved to the Senate where Sen. Tom Davis and others added those amendments. When it returned to the House, I voted to support the Senate’s version, which included those exceptions. That bill is still awaiting conference committee action.
Also on the ballot for voters in Beaufort County is the green space sales tax referendum. Do you support the statewide effort to fund conservation efforts with sales taxes?
Our state is one of the most beautiful and highly visited in the nation and this only continues if we protect the natural resources that make it special. In Columbia and at home, I continue to support smart, environmentally and business friendly policies — supporting our shrimpers, oyster growers and harvesters, avid sports fishermen, hunters, and naturalists, as well as developers and builders.
I support using sales taxes to fund conservation efforts, if the community votes affirmatively on their local referendums. The legislation passed by the General Assembly gives local governments, the governments closest to the people, the ability to ask the people and hear from them directly. I will support what the community wants in this regard.
Is there anything that can be done at the state level to address the affordable housing shortage in the Lowcountry?
Somewhere to call “home” is important to a person’s well-being and their dignity. I fully support providing affordable military, senior, and workforce housing, funded by using tax credits from state and local governments. While providing affordable housing, we must strike an important balance and protect the reason people move to our beautiful district, through preservation of our natural beauty and resources, marsh lands and waterways.
This story was originally published October 29, 2022 at 9:58 AM.
