Columns

It’s Sunshine Week, a week to promote open government.
Since you are reading an editorial column in this newspaper, you likely care about what is going on in your community and with your government. This is a good thing and unfortunately not common enough.
Let me encourage you to also care about open, transparent government on the local and state levels.
Without open government, you don’t know how your tax dollars are spent, how your public bodies make decisions, or if our laws are being enforced efficiently and with equality.

Has there ever been a bigger example of an over-reaching federal government than the recent dispute in Washington over contraceptives?
In February, the Obama administration unveiled a mandate for employers and insurance companies to cover the cost of contraceptives for women. The mandate is part of Obamacare, the sweeping overhaul, or as many people call it, the government takeover of health care.

A bill that would allow South Carolinians to get copies of public documents faster and less expensively is heading to the full House of Representatives for consideration.
It represents significant progress for open government and would be the first step in improving the state’s Freedom of Information Act since 2003.

I am going to do something that doesn’t happen very often. I am going to defend Lancaster County Council. And yes, before I go any further, my father-in-law is Larry Honeycutt and my sister-in-law is Kathy Sistare (married to my brother, Mike). I cannot speak for everyone on County Council, but because I am close to these two, I will tell you what I see.