Rose responds to State of State address, takes issue with use of word "surplus"

Members of both the S.C. State Senate and State House of Representatives convened Wednesday to hear Gov. Henry McMaster delivers the annual State of the State address on Jan. 22, and as expected his speech generated different reactions.

During his speech, McMaster dedicated much of his time to discuss his thoughts on education reform, economic development, a controversial abortion bill and a budget surplus estimated to be around $1.8 billion.

Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette says she's looking forward to lawmakers working on 4K education for low-income children.

"Early childhood education as you heard the governor say, is a passion of mine and so looking forward to see what we are going to do on that 4K education," says Lt. Gov. Evette. "It's really about getting our kids ready and set for kindergarten and set for the 21st century. we cant sit where we are and we are determined to change education around in South Carolina."

When it came to the budget surplus, Governor McMaster explained that he wants to give that away to taxpayers, through a rebate. However, that concerned some lawmakers.

"I heard from a lot of my constituents, when we spent more than $750,000 on postage last year sending a $50 rebate out," says Rep. Seth Rose, D-Richland. "I think it's a play on words when you say surplus when in actuality we've been neglecting state agencies for years, we have teachers walking out. When you have state agencies operating on a deficit and have been for many years, we don't have a lot of surplus we have needs that need to be addressed."

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