Weekly Legislative Update from Rep. Tom Young – April 3, 2012 to April 9, 2012

My family and I hope that you and your family enjoyed the Easter weekend.  The House of Representatives is in session for 2012. The House is on furlough this week.  I hope that you find the following information helpful and informative:

National Day of Prayer:  With this update the day after Easter, I wanted to let you know that Thursday, May 3 is the National Day of Prayer.  The Greater Aiken area will recognize this day with a service in Aiken at 7:00 p.m. that night.  I will provide more information later this month.  Whether you can go or not, please know that prayer works and our state and nation need our prayers not just on May 3 but every day.

Charleston Port:  As I have written several times since the beginning of the year, deepening the port is critical for our state’s economic future.  One in every 5 jobs in South Carolina (260,000 jobs total) is tied to the Charleston Port. To see the latest on what is happening at the Charleston Port, go here.

Local Golf Courses Recognized:  Four golf courses located within House District 81 have been recognized as being some of the the best in the state.  Those four are Palmetto Golf Club, Aiken Golf Club, The Reserve at Woodside, and Sage Valley Golf Club.  To see the story, go here.

Expansion of Horse Liability Protection Law:  Last Monday, the Governor signed into law the bill which protects landowners from liability due to someone’s sustaining damages while riding a horse on the landowner’s property where the landowner grants permission to ride. I sponsored the bill.  Clubs, classes, and stables are already protected from lawsuits under an existing law dating back to the mid-1970s.  This legislation will benefit private landowners across the state in addition to the Aiken Land Conservancy and the Greater Aiken Chamber of Commerce with their joint horse trail easement project for Aiken County.

Senate Campaign Update
Senate Campaign: As reported in last week’s update, no one else filed to run by March 30 as a Republican or Democrat for Senate District 24 which represents a large part of Aiken County including Aiken, North Augusta, Warrenville, Gloverville, Montmorenci, Couchton, New Ellenton, Jackson, Windsor, and Beech Island.  As a result, my name will not be on the Republican primary ballot on June 12, and I will be on the ballot for the November general election.  My family and I are extremely grateful for the enthusiastic and tremendous support from people all over the district.  During the next few months, I will be visiting many areas around the district.  Thank you for the honor and the privilege to serve in the House of Representatives.  I ask for the opportunity to continue doing so in the State Senate.  To learn more about my campaign for State Senate, go to www.tomyoungforsenate.com, email me at tom@tomyoungforsenate.com, or call me at 215-3631.

Last Week’s Legislative Session

No Session this Past Week:  The House was on furlough last week for the week before Easter so there was no legislative session.

This Week’s Legislative Session
House on Furlough:  The House will be on furlough until April 17. The Senate will return to Columbia April 10.

Other Topics of Interest
Laurens Street Bridge Closed: The bridge on Laurens Street between Park Avenue and South Boundary is indefinitely closed.  SCDOT advises that the bridge may need substantial repairs or may need to be replaced.  More will be known this week as engineers continue examining the bridge.  Governor Haley has signed an Executive Order declaring the bridge an emergency which will allow the SCDOT to obtain federal help in its work with the bridge.  I will provide more information as I learn it from the Department and local officials.

SRS Retiree’s Association Annual Meeting:  This meeting will be tomorrow — Tuesday, April 10 at 1:30 pm at St. Angela’s Hall on York Street.

Congratulations to South Aiken High NJROTC!:  The NJROTC unit at South Aiken High recently finished first in a national competition!  The story can be seen here.

Workshops to Help with Job Search:  In the month of April, Goodwill Industries in Aiken has a series of free workshops to help develop job readiness skill development at its Job Connection office. To learn more, go here.

Small Business Development Work Shop:  The Aiken Small Business Development Center is offering a FREE tax work shop for prospective and new small business owners. The workshop will be held from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Wednesday, May 2 2012, in the Penland Admin Building Conference Room 110 at USC Aiken.  For more information and to register, call 641-3646 or email at sbdc@usca.edu.

SCDOT Weekly Update:  The Department of Transportation started a weekly update in August to inform the public about what is going on at the agency as to its financial situation and other matters.  To see the latest, go here.

Constituent Information
Speaking with Groups Around the District: Several local groups have invited me to attend one of their meetings to provide a legislative update.  If you have a group that would like for me to come to a meeting, please let me know.

Help for Displaced SRS Workers: If you or someone you know lost a job at SRS, there is a One-Stop Transition Center open in downtown Aiken at Park Avenue and Laurens Street to assist workers displaced at SRS with finding new work.  The Center is open from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm Monday through Friday. For more information, visit www.lswia.org.

Report Waste, Fraud and Abuse in State Government:  To report waste, fraud and abuse in state government, you can call: 1-855-SC-FRAUD.

Facebook:  I have a Facebook page for Representative Tom Young. Please “like” the page to receive updates during the week from me on Facebook.

Tom Young’s Website: My website can be reached at www.tomyoungforsenate.com. There are links to a variety of constituent services; the status of sponsored bills; and roll call votes. Please add my web site as a bookmark on your computer.

State House Tours:  Tours are available for the S.C. State House by calling (803) 734-2430.  If you set a tour between January and June and it is on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, please let me know so I can do my best to see you.

Email Updates:  If you know of people in or around District 81 who do not receive my updates but they would like to get them, please email their names and email addresses to me.

Road Issues:  If you see a road problem, call the SCDOT at 641-7665 or Aiken County at 642-1532 to report the problem.  If you do not get a prompt response, please let me know at tom@tomyoungforsenate.com or call me. Generally, most paved roads in the County are maintained by SCDOT and are identified on the road sign poles by a small black and white sign listing the road number, such as S-2-1669. Most unpaved roads in the County are maintained by the County.

Thank you for the opportunity and the honor to represent you.  Please let me know if I can help you in any way or if you have questions about these or other issues. Your feedback is meaningful and appreciated.

Sincerely,

Tom Young

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