Latest news with #StephenGoldfinch
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
State Sen. Stephen Goldfinch launches run for South Carolina attorney general
MURRELLS INLET, S.C. (WCBD) — State Sen. Stephen Goldfinch (R-Georgetown), who co-led a recent Senate investigation into alleged misconduct by the state treasurer, is now running to become South Carolina's top prosecutor. Goldfinch officially launched his 2026 campaign for attorney general during a July 7 event in Murrells Inlet, vowing to continue fighting against what he calls a 'bloated, overburdensome' federal government. 'As attorney general, I will get between the citizenry, the people out there, and the bureaucrats,' he said. 'I'm going to get in the way. We need an attorney general that's not scared of the federal government.' The 43-year-old senator, alongside Sen. Larry Grooms (R-Berkeley), helped spearhead the effort to oust Treasurer Curtis Loftis from office over his role in a $1.8 billion accounting error. Though senators voted to remove Loftis for 'willful neglect' following an hours-long hearing in April, the House did not take up the resolution before the session ended. Goldfinch was elected to the South Carolina House in 2011, where he served four years until his election to the upper chamber in 2016. He won reelection to the Senate in 2024, representing Georgetown and Horry counties He is the first official entrant into the race to succeed current Attorney General Alan Wilson, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor in 2026. First Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe, who switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party earlier this year, said in April that he is also exploring a bid for statewide office. This story is breaking and will be updated. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
South Carolina Senate seek at hearing to remove state treasurer over $1.8B accounting error
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina's Republican-dominated Senate and its elected Republican treasurer faced off Monday in an extraordinary hearing as senators try to kick the treasurer out of office over a $1.8 billion accounting error. The hearing is the culmination of over two years of investigation by the Senate that started when state accountants unintentionally exaggerated money given to colleges and universities by $3.5 billion. That led to the discovery of an account error that started a decade ago when the state was changing from one accounting system to another. If accountants couldn't balance the entries in the two sets of books as they moved thousand of accounts with different definitions, they kept adding it to a special account year after year until it grew to $1.8 billion. It took forensic accountants, who were paid millions of dollars in fees, to finally unravel that nearly all of the $1.8 billion was not real money but just an accumulation of errors. The two Republican senators calling for Loftis to be kicked out of office said he can no longer be trusted to handle South Carolina's bank accounts. They charged that he is incompetent and never reported the mistakes to lawmakers as required by law while refusing to take accountability. 'He's a liar that was so concerned with his public appearance that he would do and say anything to cover up his mistake,' Sen. Stephen Goldfinch said. Loftis has called the Senate investigation a witch hunt. He repeatedly said no money went missing and the errors were not made in his office, although others have testified differently. The treasurer said continuing to focus on the mistakes threatens the state's strong credit rating. His lawyer Deborah Barbier opened the treasurer's three-hour case with a photo of Loftis and Republican President Donald Trump on a screen. She pointed out that he has won election four times and will face voters again in a primary in 14 months. Loftis has previously said he would not run for reelection. 'The people don't want to be told that you are better than them," Barbier said from a temporary lectern at the back of the state Senate chamber. 'Let issues like this be decided at the ballot box.' Senators can ask questions at the end of the hearing. The Senate would need a two-thirds vote to decide Loftis committed 'willful neglect of duty" and send the matter to the House, which must also hold its own two-thirds vote to remove the treasurer. Thirty-one of the 40 senators present on Monday will have to vote against Loftis to keep the process going. No office holder has been removed in this way since South Carolina became a state 225 years ago. Republican leaders in the House have given no indication whether they will take up the matter. The books still haven't been fully straightened out, and accountants continue to struggle with Loftis' office and how they handle the state's bank accounts, Grooms said. The treasurer is trying anything to protect his 14 years in office and reputation as a competent conservative steward who is always looking out for taxpayers, Grooms said. 'Because of his failures, the self-proclaimed best friend of the taxpayer is costing the taxpayers tens of millions in legal, auditing and oversight fees,' Grooms said. 'With friends like this, who needs tax-and-spend liberals.' A Senate subcommittee held hearings to question Loftis under oath. They have been contentious. Loftis has slammed papers, accused senators of a witch hunt and threatened to get up and leave. He did not show any outward signs of frustration or anger as the hearing started Monday.
Associated Press
21-04-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
South Carolina Senate seek at hearing to remove state treasurer over $1.8B accounting error
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina's Republican-dominated Senate and its elected Republican treasurer faced off Monday in an extraordinary hearing as senators try to kick the treasurer out of office over a $1.8 billion accounting error. The hearing is the culmination of over two years of investigation by the Senate that started when state accountants unintentionally exaggerated money given to colleges and universities by $3.5 billion. That led to the discovery of an account error that started a decade ago when the state was changing from one accounting system to another. If accountants couldn't balance the entries in the two sets of books as they moved thousand of accounts with different definitions, they kept adding it to a special account year after year until it grew to $1.8 billion. It took forensic accountants, who were paid millions of dollars in fees, to finally unravel that nearly all of the $1.8 billion was not real money but just an accumulation of errors. The two Republican senators calling for Loftis to be kicked out of office said he can no longer be trusted to handle South Carolina's bank accounts. They charged that he is incompetent and never reported the mistakes to lawmakers as required by law while refusing to take accountability. 'He's a liar that was so concerned with his public appearance that he would do and say anything to cover up his mistake,' Sen. Stephen Goldfinch said. Loftis has called the Senate investigation a witch hunt. He repeatedly said no money went missing and the errors were not made in his office, although others have testified differently. The treasurer said continuing to focus on the mistakes threatens the state's strong credit rating. His lawyer Deborah Barbier opened the treasurer's three-hour case with a photo of Loftis and Republican President Donald Trump on a screen. She pointed out that he has won election four times and will face voters again in a primary in 14 months. Loftis has previously said he would not run for reelection. 'The people don't want to be told that you are better than them,' Barbier said from a temporary lectern at the back of the state Senate chamber. 'Let issues like this be decided at the ballot box.' Senators can ask questions at the end of the hearing. The Senate would need a two-thirds vote to decide Loftis committed 'willful neglect of duty' and send the matter to the House, which must also hold its own two-thirds vote to remove the treasurer. Thirty-one of the 40 senators present on Monday will have to vote against Loftis to keep the process going. No office holder has been removed in this way since South Carolina became a state 225 years ago. Republican leaders in the House have given no indication whether they will take up the matter. The books still haven't been fully straightened out, and accountants continue to struggle with Loftis' office and how they handle the state's bank accounts, Grooms said. The treasurer is trying anything to protect his 14 years in office and reputation as a competent conservative steward who is always looking out for taxpayers, Grooms said. 'Because of his failures, the self-proclaimed best friend of the taxpayer is costing the taxpayers tens of millions in legal, auditing and oversight fees,' Grooms said. 'With friends like this, who needs tax-and-spend liberals.' A Senate subcommittee held hearings to question Loftis under oath. They have been contentious. Loftis has slammed papers, accused senators of a witch hunt and threatened to get up and leave. He did not show any outward signs of frustration or anger as the hearing started Monday.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
SC Senate could bring DOGE to the state
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WSPA) – The South Carolina Senate has introduced a bill to create its own 'Department of Government Efficiency,' or DOGE, echoing one of President Donald Trump's initiatives in Washington D.C. DOGE would be a commission of 10 people appointed to look for fraud, waste, and abuse in state government. Of the ten members, three would be appointed by the House Speaker, three by the President of the Senate, three from the Governor's Office and one appointed as chair by the Department of Administration. The member from the Department of Administration would be a non-voting member. Senator Stephen Goldfinch said he believes the commission would be effective. 'There's a tendency to over bloat agencies with lawyers,' said Goldfinch. However, Representative Roger Kirby said he is all about efficiency, but he doesn't see the point of creating DOGE in South Carolina. 'The Republican party has been in charge of every leadership for the past 22 years. They're talking about a Department for Efficiency oversight for the very departments they have been in control of for the past 22 years.' Kirby said that there are already committees in place in South Carolina to do this job. 'We're creating an agency to do things when we have already have multiple layers of agencies and oversight already in place. It seems to a lot of us that this is just theater.' Murrell Smith, Speaker of the House of Representatives, told us last week that this Commission would be more efficient than other committees currently in place. 'We're analyzing two or three agencies a year, I mean it is not a full-blown analysis and anything that helps us to better the process to save money and become more efficient, I think we are all for that,' Smith said. In the bill, it said that the members of the commission will not be receiving money for their work. The bill is currently being sent to the full Senate Finance Committee. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
SC senators advance DOGE plan, with eye toward regulations
Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, R-Murrells Inlet, during a Finance Constitutional Subcommittee meeting Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (Screenshot of SCETV legislative livestream) COLUMBIA — A panel of senators advanced a resolution Thursday creating a commission proponents say aims to reduce burdensome regulations and cut down on government spending. After changing the commission's name to the Delivery of Government Efficiency — or DOGE, to mirror the federal Department of Government Efficiency — the six-member subcommittee advanced the resolution without objection. House Republicans, including members of leadership, have made a nearly identical proposal, which has not yet had a hearing. Like the name, the idea for the commission came from the federal initiative that has begun to slash government spending, said Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, chief sponsor of the legislation. If approved, it would create a 10-member commission tasked with combing through state spending and reporting its recommendations for potential savings by Oct. 1. The report would go to legislative leaders and Gov. Henry McMaster. The commission would then spend the next year doing the same for the state's regulations, looking for those that are duplicative or overly burdensome, said Goldfinch, R-Murrells Inlet. He doesn't expect commissioners to find a bunch of waste in agencies' spending. The commission's bigger impact, he said, will come from examining state regulations on businesses. Red states create their own DOGE efforts to cut state government No legislators would sit on the panel. Instead, the House speaker, Senate president and governor would each appoint three people, and a representative from the state Department of Administration would oversee the group. The key will be to select people who know the state's processes and how they affect business owners, Goldfinch said. 'A lot of times, we hear from our constituents, but we're insulated, and we don't always know what the problems are out there,' said the attorney. 'This is a great way to find out what the actual problems are.' McMaster called for similar reductions in regulations during his State of the State address last month. He specifically wants to examine whether to eliminate any of the more than 40 professional licensing boards, 'run by 350 appointed board members, who license and regulate over 500,000 South Carolinians in the workplace,' he said. 'Each year, the licensing of these professions seems to become more complicated and burdensome,' McMaster said in his Jan. 29 speech. 'I agree with my colleagues that it's time we pause, review the laws that created these boards along with their statutory requirements and determine whether they are necessary, effective, and balanced.' Churches, charities with little track record among nonprofits in line for $90M in SC budget The commission's findings could also be a chance for legislators to reevaluate some of their own spending, Goldfinch said. For instance, legislators could rein in the hundreds of millions of dollars they have spent on local projects annually through the last few state budgets. 'A little self-reflection is not always a bad thing,' Goldfinch said. The state already has safeguards against unnecessary spending, other senators pointed out. The Legislative Audit Council audits agencies and programs at legislators' request. The Office of the State Inspector General examines agencies, colleges and school districts. And oversight committees in both the House and Senate investigate state agencies over a seven-year review schedule. 'I'm not seeing the necessity for it, if we can maybe expand the responsibilities of the oversight commission as it is,' said Sen. Margie Bright Matthews, D-Walterboro. But she didn't vote against it.
