Lieutenant Governor Shares Past Successes and Hopes for Future

October 10, 2006: Lieutenant Governor Andre Bauer shared with us his approach to the position, his past successes and hopes for the future at our meeting. He stated that he was extremely happy that during his tenure he has expanded the duties of Lt. Governor and had significant successes to report.

His office has taken on the challenge of our aging population. It is his passion to ensure the needs of South Carolina senior citizens are met. He felt there is a great need for addressing the aging issue in South Carolina. He pointed out that South Carolina has a shortage of doctors in the state that specialize in geriatric medicine. What makes shortage even more critical is that South Carolina has the fifth largest immigration of seniors. These senior family units are well educated responsible citizen with significant assets averaging approximately one million dollars per family. According to Bauer we must ensure that the state can meet the needs of this key group.

Lt. Governor Bauer reported that he was proud that during his term not only has his office expanded its database and services but it has also provided more value to the state while the cost of running his office has decreased. By reducing office space and staff they have been able to deliver more with less.

He was also very pleased to report that under his leadership in the Senate there were had no tax increases. He used his power as leader of the senate and his tie breaking vote to ensure no new taxes.

He felt government not only had to do more standardization and reducing their cost but also to find new revenue streams rather than continually asking residents to increase tax payments. He gave an example of California which sold advertising on the back of their library cards and received $50,000 in revenue which did not have come out of the taxpayer’s pocket.

When asked whether the Governor and Lieutenant Governor should be elected separately he resoundingly said yes. He felt that if the lieutenant governor ran on the same slate as a governor this would not provide enough separation of powers when the lieutenant governor controls the upper chamber of the legislature and can essentially determine what issues reach the floor.

He spent a great deal of time talking about his accomplishments and acknowledged that the last year has been very difficult for him personally. He suggested that the focus be not on personal issues but on what someone is done while in office.

He closed by stating that a person’s character is shown not so much about what happens to them but how he or she responds to what happens. He shared a great many insights and responded candidly to questions.

Submitted by Wayne Outlaw, Keyway Committee