The House of Representatives is out of session for the rest of the year. I hope that you find this update helpful and informative:
End of Session Town Meetings This Week: Like the past three years, I have set town meetings in our district where I will review the past legislative session and discuss the upcoming session. The public is invited. I have two town meetings set as follows:
- Tuesday, October 2 at 4:00 pm at Woodside Plantation Reserve Club House in Aiken;
- Wednesday, October 3 at 6:00 pm at Odell Weeks Center in Aiken.
DEW Unemployment Insurance Tax Refund Update: The S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce announced last week that S.C. businesses should receive their revised 2012 unemployment insurance tax rates during the next few days. The rates are decreasing as a result of a state appropriation from this year’s state budget designed to help pay back outstanding federal unemployment insurance loans. The savings to impacted business will be about 12 percent for the year compared to the original 2012 rates. To learn more go here.
State Ethics Act Improvements: In the past few months, a lot has been written about our state’s ethics laws and the need for improvement. The last major overhaul of the State Ethics Act occurred in 1991 in the wake of Operation Lost Trust. This will be one of the top issues when the General Assembly returns in January. I am working with others on ways to improve our current ethics laws. To see what other states have in place for their legislators, go here.
Silver Bluff Road Widening: On Tuesday of last week, I attended the public information meeting for the widening of Silver Bluff Road from Richardson’s Lake Road back toward the City of Aiken. Several hundred residents attended. For those of you who were unable to attend last week’s meeting, public comments can be submitted until October 3, 2012. The plan can be viewed at http://www.scdot.org/inside/publichearings.aspx. Comments can be faxed to 803.737.1510 or emailed to GanttKL@dot.state.sc.us. The links for the information provided by DOT before the meeting are as follows:
- SC 302 Silver Bluff Road: http://www.scdot.org/inside/pdfs/PublicHearings/302_handout.pdf
- Display of Proposed Work: http://www.scdot.org/inside/pdfs/PublicHearings/302_display.pdf
Voter Registration: To vote in the November 6 election, you must be registered to vote by October 6. To learn more, go here.
Chukker Creek School Traffic: The Aiken County School District, SCDOT, and the Aiken County Transportation Committee are jointly addressing additional improvements. There is review and approval of plans; bid document preparation; advertising; and bidding which has to be done before the work can commence. My understanding is that those improvements will be complete some time next semester in 2013. I will continue to push on this issue.
Planning for the 2013 Legislative Session: The 2013 legislative session begins on the second Tuesday in January. If elected to the State Senate, I appreciate input from constituents on the critical issues facing our state and area including tax reform; spending reform; K-12 education; the costs of higher education; health care; economic development; job growth; and the underfunded liabilities in our state’s retirement systems. Your input is welcome on any issue important to you. Please email me back or contact me by phone or in person.
USC Aiken Science Education Enrichment Day: Employers involved with the Nuclear Workforce Initiative consistently say they seek strong math and science skills in new employees. An opportunity to ignite that interest is coming on October 13th from 10am-3pm at the USC Aiken campus with the 27th Annual S.E.E.D. – Science Education Enrichment Day. To learn more, go here.
Opt Out of Prescreened Offers of Credit: Several people have asked me how to stop their receipt of prescreened offers of credit in their regular mail. To opt out of receiving prescreened offers of credit in the mail, go to www.optoutprescreen.com.
Volunteer in Local Schools: If you would like to help with educating our children, consider volunteering in our local schools. Please click here for more information on volunteer opportunities in our public schools. Thank you to our local Aiken Downtown Rotary Club for putting together this list of opportunities.
Improving Reading Skills in Children: In addition to serving as a volunteer in one of our local schools, you can also help with early literacy by volunteering with Children’s Place where you can spend time reading with a young child or helping an older child with reading. Children’s Place would also be grateful for donations of lightly used books to send into the homes of needy children. Children’s Place will gladly help distribute those books to low income children throughout Aiken County by sharing them with all community agencies. If you are interested in helping through Children’s Place, please contact Peggy Ford at 641-4145.
Senate Campaign: Here is the latest on the Campaign for Senate District 24:
- Bumper stickers for “Tom Young for Senate” are available. They may be picked up at my office downtown at 409 Park Avenue SW; at the Tom Young Allstate agency on Whiskey Road next to Home Depot; or at Hixon Insurance in North Augusta. If you prefer, I can send a sticker to you. Just let me know.
- The following communities in Aiken County are in Senate District 24: most of Aiken, North Augusta, Warrenville, Gloverville, Montmorenci, Couchton, New Ellenton, Jackson, Windsor, and Beech Island.
- 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.
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.
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.
Small Business Help – SC Dept. of Commerce: The South Carolina Department of Commerce has helpful information for small business owners and employees. To learn more, go to http://sccommerce.com/sc-business-network.
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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