SC Senate Passes Health Czar Bill, Sends To The House At Record Speed

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On Thursday, February 21st, the South Carolina Senate passed S. 915, otherwise known as the Health Czar Installment bill. The Senate offered many amendments to the bill that have been used as justifications by “Republican” Senators as to why this bill is needed. However, these amendments are as effective as a bandaid on a sinking ship. The only Senator who voted against this bill was Senator Tom Corbin. See which senators let us down here.

Last week, we published an article that covered some of the problems with this proposed Secretary of Health position and how dangerous it could be by taking a look at the tyrannical Secretary of Health in Washington State.

Let’s take a look at more of the detrimental problems in these bills…

Conflicts of Interest

The main sponsor of every “1984″ health-related bill is none other than the Speaker of the House, Murrell Smith, Jr. (R), from Sumter. Some may believe this is just a coincidence, while others may attribute it to the fact that Smith is the attorney for Prisma Health and Smith’s father is Dr. Murrell Smith Sr., who sits on the board of MUSC, South Carolina’s own publicly-funded medical school/hospital system.

Take a look at some of the main sponsors of these two bills and compare them to the graphs we created in April 2023 highlighting the top Representatives who reported conflict of interests last year. Speaker Murrell Smith self-reported the most conflicts out of all Republicans in the House of Representatives. Another sponsor of H. 4927, Weston Newton, came in 3rd with 22 self-reported conflicts. The Department of Health & Environmental Control was the fourth top state agency listed by SC State Representatives as a conflict of interest.

It’s a little-known secret that gigantic bills that are rushed through in less than a month are almost guaranteed to have some form of incentive that legislators have or will receive for their dedicated work to getting the said bill passed, such as S. 915 and H. 4927. While I’m sure we have no idea about most of the pharmaceutical/insurance money and incentives that SC legislators receive, we took a look at the reported filings of the General Assembly. Health Insurance giant Blue Cross Blue Shield gave donations to over half of the members of the House in 2023, starting with leadership of the House Republican Caucus and the Speaker. Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer was also very strategic, giving first to the Speaker and then to the Chairs and Vice Chairs of both the Ways and Means Committee and the Labor, Commerce & Industry Committee, along with select members of each committee.

Splits Duties of the Governor

Let’s take a look at one of the myths being peddled by Senators as a “pro” for S. 915 (but also rings true for H. 4927): “It doesn’t create more power.” Last time I checked, when you appoint a position and give them unilateral power that is usurped from the Governor and democratic groups like the General Assembly, that creates more power under one individual.

Currently, the Governor appoints every agency director with the advice and consent of the Senate. This new position would take away that power from the Governor and would give the control of six statewide agencies to one appointed person, who then in turn would hire numerous agency heads. Of course, Governor Henry McMaster would keep this new position in line right? I highly doubt it, especially after McMaster gave unilateral power to an extreme leftist and head of DHEC, Dr. Simmer, who mandated vaccines, masks, and testing during the COVID ‘pandemic’. And who closed down South Carolina, putting over 5,000 small businesses out for good? Oh right, that was Gov. McMaster too. But I’m sure he and his successors will provide great oversight to a tyrannical health czar…

Medical Insurers Sit On Advisory Committee

The Health Planning Advisory Committee is made of many individuals including medical insurers. Doesn’t it seem to be a conflict of interest to have individuals whose livelihoods depend on financially profiting off the medical industry on the most powerful medical committee in the state? These individuals on the Health Planning Advisory Committee will potentially have ground-level access to shape the comprehensive State Health Services Plan of the State of South Carolina. Both bills refer to this board member as “health care payers.”

Inherently Conflicting Objectives?

While there is some overlap in services of some of the agencies involved, one wonders why we need so many. I mean, South Carolina has a staggering 136 agencies, surely some could be consolidated to create efficiency in government. Instead of doing that here, the following agencies are being placed under one head:

The Executive Office of Health Policy will consist of the following departments:

• The Department of Health Financing (new)
• The Department of Public Health (newly created from the split-up of DHEC last year)
• The Department on Aging
• The Department of Intellectual and Related Disabilities (new, changed from Department of Disabilities and Special Needs?)
• The Department of Behavioral Health (new, previously Department of Mental Health?)

No longer in existence, or being merged into one of the above categories:

• Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services
• Department of Health and Human Services
• Department of Mental Health

Arguably, many of these agencies have overlap and consolidating many of them is a good thing. However, putting the Department of Public Health, which collects vital statistics and plays a mini-CDC role in the state, under the same directive as the rest of these agencies that provide medical and human services to the public creates an inherent conflict of interest, especially when you add board members with large financial interests such as insurance companies to the mix.

Local Law Enforcement Must Enforce Orders

Currently, SC Code of Law Section 44-4-530 (4) allows local law enforcement to “arrest, isolate, or quarantine an individual who is acting in violation of an isolation or quarantine order…” This law was passed in 2008, was overreaching then, and is overreaching now. S. 915 and H. 4927 both state that local sheriffs and law officers must aid the Secretary of Health, obey, carry out their orders, and enforce “all restrictive measures and quarantine regulations that may be prescribed.” To make things even worse, it is established in Title 44, Chapter 4 through the Emergency Health Powers Act that public safety authority may request assistance from the South Carolina National Guard to enforce orders as well.

There are two problems here: (1) That this is already a current law and overly-broad, sweeping power given to DHEC (which we contend should not be codified in law), which would transfer to the new Director of the Department of Health once the agencies transition, and (2) the newly appointed Secretary of Health has the ability to direct elected sheriffs and an army vis a vis the SC National Guard to perpetrate horrors we saw happening in other countries such as Australia, during the COVID-19 “pandemic”.

Let us remind you that there are no prerequisites for who will be placed in this position, nor are there requirements that this official be free from financial ties to major pharmaceutical companies and/or medical lobbies/associations. And judging by how our legislature is currently encumbered by so-called conflicts of interest, should we expect any less from their newly-appointed Health Czar?

The Solution

Tell Representatives of the General Assembly to kill these bills. An amendment will act as a thumb tack on a gaping wound. If you tell your legislators to support an amendment, you risk your legislator voting to pass this bill at the end of the day. Asking them to support an amendment is playing with fire and this is a bill South Carolina cannot afford to pass. Kill. These. Bills.

When was the last time you saw a legislator offer legislation that repealed the countless terrible laws and eliminated unneeded agencies over South Carolina without creating a mess? Instead of trying to pass more laws through unenforceable bills, it’s high time for our legislators to start repealing what is currently in place that clearly oversteps the bounds of common sense and our Constitution. Politicians (especially those who profess to be conservative) love stroking their egos by sponsoring new legislation that will “end transgenderism” or “create school choice” when it usually does the opposite and creates even worse issues.

What happened to having a backbone and doing the job those who actually voted for the legislators put them in for, as opposed to favoring those special interest groups who foot the majority of the bill for reelection campaigns and woo with meals, receptions, and even threats once in office?

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