South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Governor Nikki Haley delivered her second annual State of the State message last night. Here’s what people across South Carolina are saying about the governor’s speech:

“We all have to admit she’s done a great job of creating jobs in South Carolina,” said Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler, R-Cherokee, after the speech. “Not since (the late Gov.) Carroll Campbell have we had such a great salesman for the state of South Carolina.”(Gina Smith, The State, “Haley: Our state is surging,” 1/19/2012)

“Rep. Dan Hamilton, R-Taylors, called the speech ‘a positive look at what we’ve actually accomplished in a year and a positive look forward’ and praised the emphasis on tax changes…” (Associated Press, “Responses to Gov. Haley’s State of the State,” 1/18/2012)

“Sen. Larry Martin, R-Pickens, says the governor set a great tone overall in her speech…” (Robert Kittle, WSPA 7 On Your Side, “Gov. Haley Delivers State of the State,” 1/18/2012)

“She drew applause when she hailed the state’s success in adding jobs and bringing industrial investment in the past year, and for her plans for 2012.” (Editorial, The Post and Courier, “First, finish restructuring,” 1/19/2012)

“…Haley devoted most of her time behind the podium to speaking about jobs for South Carolina’s residents. She said that by the end of January, state government will unveil a restructured workforce training program to further drive down the unemployment rate, which fell below double-digit figures at the end of 2011.” (Allyson Bird, The Post and Courier, “Haley criticizes port ‘bickering’,” 1/19/2012)

“Her budget proposal also would set spending caps, cut taxes for some South Carolinians and businesses and create a $25 million fund to improve the state’s ports.” (Gina Smith, The State, “Haley: Our state is surging,” 1/19/2012)

“Haley pledged to fight unions and called the National Labor Relations Board’s lawsuit against Boeing ‘one of the most fundamentally un-American decisions ever handed down by the federal government.’” (Allyson Bird, The Post and Courier, “Haley criticizes port ‘bickering’,” 1/19/2012)

“Her speech focused on jobs, as she recognized a dozen companies that made job announcements for South Carolina in 2011, including Continental Tire, TD Bank, Bridgestone and BMW. Companies have announced some $5 billion in investments and promised nearly 20,000 new jobs, she told a joint session of lawmakers and others gathered in the House chambers.” (Seanna Adcox, The Associated Press, “Gov. Haley calls for tax cuts, tort reform, spending caps in State of the State speech,” 1/18/2012)

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Recently, Governor Nikki Haley sat down with WYFF News 4’s Tim Waller to talk about the results the administration has delivered this year for the people of South Carolina.

Video of the interview is available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUEofpWVuuM

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Post and Courier (Guest Column): South Carolina should not fear port competition
BY NIKKI HALEY
Sunday, December 11, 2011
http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/dec/11/11haley/

Last week, the South Carolina Senate undertook the clearly political exercise unprecedented in South Carolina history of subpoenaing my staff to ask them questions about my office’s involvement in DHEC’s granting of a permit for the dredging of the Savannah port. They concluded, unequivocally, what we had said all along: Neither I nor anyone who works for me played a role in this decision one way or another.

Now that this purely political inquiry, initiated by none other than my gubernatorial opponent Vincent Sheheen, is behind us, we have to have an honest discussion about where were going in South Carolina and what the last few weeks have been about.

Let’s start here, with the most important point: There is nothing that I am more committed to than the Port of Charleston. I know and believe in the Jasper Port. And I know that we have a port in Georgetown that has viability. I would never, ever, do anything that I believed would undermine the future of any of those ports. The ports are among the greatest economic development assets we have, and I will not stop until I see them succeed.

A little more than a year ago, I spoke in Charleston at the State of the Ports, and I told the people of this state, and every other, that I was tired of Georgia having their way with us on the ports. I meant that, every word of it, and I mean it now. But when I said it, I did not mean that we were going to stop Savannah, but that we were going to do something about our own port.

Not that we could have stopped Savannah. The Army Corps of Engineers, which is ultimately responsible for carrying out the dredging, had been quite clear: They intended to carry out the project, with or without DHEC’s approval. Georgia was going to dredge for the Savannah port whether we liked it or not.

That being the case, DHEC got a fantastic deal for South Carolina. Where we would have gotten nothing, we instead got massive environmental concessions from Georgia, including the protection of almost 1,600 acres of wetlands and a commitment to pay to maintain the oxygen levels in the river for the next 50 years, protecting the Lowcountry’s marine life.

Outside the environmental concessions, there’s an important political point to be made. Its been fascinating to me that some of our leaders truly believe Congress would have funded the Charleston port project while South Carolina held Savannah’s harbor hostage. That’s just not realistic, and is, frankly, why Sen. Lindsey Graham was ecstatic when he heard Georgia had acceded to DHEC’s permit requirements.

Sen. Graham needs the Georgia senators working with him to get Charleston’s deepening money, not against him. And now he’s got it. In mid-November, both Georgia senators and the Georgia governor publicly expressed their support for Charleston’s project and their willingness to work to get it done. That’s more than we ever had before.

Over the last 10 years, the leadership of this state at all levels failed in regard to the Charleston port. South Carolina watched Georgia invest in its port facilities, building distribution centers and transportation systems, and we sat on the sidelines and did nothing. And so, predictably, we also watched Savannah’s port activity rise while ours dwindled, and Georgia’s economy and citizens benefit from it while our suffered.

That is no longer the case. Today, we are fighting for the business of this state and for the ports of this state. But our fight is not with Savannah, not in the sense that we can or should use an environmental permitting board to undercut its ability to expand.

No, our fight is with ourselves — with the political culture that exists in South Carolina that for too long has been comfortable saying “no” and “can’t” and for accepting failure. That’s not who I am. It’s not who I believe South Carolina is. And I won’t settle for it. We deserve better, and we will get it.

And while some in this state may be afraid of real, honest competition, I am not. I am not scared of a 48-foot deep Georgia port 36 miles up the Savannah River with one-way traffic. Not when I know were going to have a 50-foot deep Charleston with post-Panamax ships rolling in and out both ways, with dual rail and a good system of distribution centers.

No, I am not afraid of that kind of competition.

We’re South Carolinians. We will win every time.

Nikki Haley, a Republican, is governor of South Carolina.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Red State: Nikki Haley Intends to Govern

Posted by Erick Erickson

http://www.redstate.com/erick/2011/12/09/nikki-haley-intends-to-govern/

The legislature and Governor in South Carolina have had a rather fractious relationship for the past decade. The Governor during that period has typically broken up the good old boy network and actually fought to reduce government in South Carolina and privatize what could be privatized.

Well, recently there’s been a port expansion issue affecting Georgia and South Carolina. Georgia wants to deepen the Savannah River to expand the port in Savannah to accept new ships coming through the Panama Canal. The good old boys in South Carolina wanted their backs scratched to get things done.

It didn’t work out that way. Neither the Governor nor the agencies responsible for getting the good old boys’ their backs scratched actually did it. Georgia gets to dredge and South Carolina will get a port expansion in Charleston, but it will still take a while.

The good old boys decided then to haul all of Governor Haley’s top aides into the legislature for examination. They couldn’t find that anyone did any wrong doing. And now Governor Haley has responded. She means to keep changing South Carolina, keep moving the state forward, and keep making it place where business is free to do business without scratching backs or letting government pick winners or losers.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Post and Courier (Editorial): Haley’s Paris payoff for S.C.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/dec/04/haleys-paris-payoff-for-sc/

Gov. Nikki Haley took a lot of grief for attending the Paris Air Show in June at a cost of $158,000. Details of the excursion, which included a state contingent of 28 and accommodations at a five-star hotel, were first reported by The Post and Courier.

Gov. Haley has acknowledged that she should have kept a better watch on who attended the air show, which is considered the top event for international aerospace interests. So it shouldn’t happen again.

But it’s also important to recognize that something positive came out of Gov. Haley’s trip to Paris. The governor reportedly initiated contact with GKN Aerospace at the air show, and ongoing efforts to bring the company to South Carolina have produced results. GKN has announced plans to begin operations by mid-2012 in a new plant in Orangeburg.

The company, which will manufacture components for civilian and military aircraft, will bring a $38 million investment and an estimated 250 jobs. That’s great news for job-starved Orangeburg, which suffers an unemployment rate of 14.9 percent — one of the highest in the state.

And it’s further evidence that the governor’s focus on bringing new jobs to the Palmetto State is paying off. Since she took office in January, the state’s economic development efforts have brought nearly 19,500 jobs to the state, and a total investment of more than $3.7 billion, according to Commerce Department figures cited by her office.

Those are impressive numbers, though the state’s jobless rate remains high at 10.5 percent. Clearly, the unemployment problem won’t be easily solved. That’s why it’s especially important for the governor to have made job creation her top priority for the state.

Of course, the biggest economic development coup in state history was the Boeing Dreamliner plant in North Charleston, which predated Mrs. Haley’s election. It is reasonable to assume that Boeing’s presence in South Carolina has something to do with attracting investments in aeronautics to Orangeburg.

Incentives and a capable workforce bolstered by training at Trident Technical College were major selling points for the Boeing recruitment effort.

Commerce officials used the same sort of inducements to attract GKN. The operation will get transportation improvements valued at $2 million and employee training will be assisted by the state technical college system.

Creating jobs is a tough sell, but Gov. Haley and the Commerce Department have delivered. Even more impressive is bringing jobs to rural counties with traditionally high rates of unemployment.

Keep up the good work.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

“The U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced Wednesday that Gov. Nikki Haley won their leadership award for her work on capping the amount of money businesses have to pay for civil damages in lawsuits… Lisa A. Rickard, president of the chamber’s Institute for Legal Reform, said Haley’s efforts toward the new tort reform law will make South Carolina more competitive in recruiting new businesses and offering certainty and stability to the ones already doing business in the state.” (Yvonne Wenger, The Post and Courier’s Political Briefing, “Gov. Haley wins national award, travels to D.C.,” 10/26/2011)

“South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley received the 2011 State Leadership Award at the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform’s (ILR) 12th Annual Legal Reform Summit for her unwavering commitment to legal reform in the Palmetto State. In 2011, Governor Haley shepherded the South Carolina Fairness in Civil Justice Act to passage, a major step in reforming South Carolina’s legal standards and improving the business climate.” (Press Release, U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, “South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley Wins ILR’s State Leadership Award,” 10/26/2011)

“Governor Haley was honored for her commitment to bringing about legal reform in South Carolina… a step in improving the business climate in the state.” (WTMA 1250, “Governor Haley Receives ‘State Leadership Award,’” 10/26/2011)

“Gov. Nikki Haley bashed labor unions and portrayed herself as a diehard supporter of businesses as she accepted an award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday. The Republican governor also slammed the National Labor Relations Board, which has sued Boeing over its decision to locate a factory in North Charleston rather than expand an existing assembly line in Washington state.” (Raju Chebium, Gannett Washington Bureau/Greenville News/WLTX News 19, “Nikki Haley Bashes Labor Unions in Chamber of Commerce Appearance,” 10/26/2011)