SC’s Most Impotent Office … Has Power?

INSIDE BASEBALL IS ABOUT TO EITHER KILL … OR PASS … NIKKI HALEY’S “ETHICS” BILL

|| By FITSNEWS || The lieutenant governor’s office in South Carolina is beyond impotent.  Its occupant – “Republican” Henry McMaster – has two real functions: First, to preside over the State Senate (ceremonial), second to run the state’s Office on Aging (bureaucratic).

In fact the office is such a joke, lawmakers have gone to great lengths in order to avoid having to occupy it … 

For the moment, though, McMaster appears to have been endowed with some real power – albeit temporarily.

How’d that happen?

Well …

It all started two weeks ago, when S.C. governor Nikki Haley traveled to Florence, S.C. and called out powerful Senate president Hugh Leatherman (in his own backyard) for standing in the way of her so-called “ethics reform” bill.

Now, let’s get something out of the way before we go any further: Haley’s current ethics bill is crap.  Just like her last ethics bill was crap.  Not only that, Haley is a complete and total hypocrite on the issue of ethics reform.

Seriously … we’re amazed she doesn’t get struck by lightning every time the words “ethics reform” escape her lips.

But Leatherman – stung by Haley’s criticism (as well as the “Japanese Surrender”-sized headlines it produced in his hometown paper) – vowed revenge against the governor.  And this week the diminutive liberal – who happens to be the most powerful man in state government – got his revenge.

How’d it go down?

For those of you not hip to parliamentary procedure (hell, we feel sorry for you if you are), a single State Senator can block any piece of legislation that isn’t set for “special order” – which means any bill that isn’t fast-tracked (or placed in a prominent position on the Senate’s calendar).

Senators, you see, are slaves to their calendar.  If a bill isn’t set for special order, it faces an uphill battle just to receive a hearing – let alone a vote – and those who oppose it can procedurally kill it with ease.

Haley – desperate to get her ethics bill passed – had been expending tons of political capital in the State Senate in recent weeks in order to ensure she had the two-thirds majority necessary to get her ethics bill set for “special order.”

In fact the chairman of the Senate’s rules committee, Ronnie Cromer, had been among the governor’s staunchest supporters in that effort – rallying Senators in support of the governor’s bill.

Displeased by Cromer’s advocacy?  Leatherman … especially after the governor came into his own back yard and slapped him around like a little, um, “digger.”

So Leatherman made a simple strategic move – one designed to ensure Haley’s “ethics reform” remained deader than the proverbial doornail.

And as much as we can’t stand the guy … it was a thing of Machiavellian beauty.

As a matter of Senate custom, when it comes time to set pieces of legislation for special order – the presiding officer of the State Senate (the lieutenant governor) always calls upon the rules committee chairman to make the motion.

At that point, the rules committee chairman calls out the bill number – and Senators vote (at which point Haley would need her two-thirds majority to show up and vote).

Well this week – in a surprise breach of custom – lieutenant governor McMaster decided not to call on Cromer when it came time for Senators to vote on a special order matter.  Instead, he called on Leatherman.

Why?  And why does that matter?

We can only assume Leatherman told him to do so … but whatever caused McMaster to call on Leatherman, the impact is seismic.

“Leatherman stripped Cromer of his right to decide which bills we vote on for special order” one Senator on the rules committee told FITS, referring to the move as “payback for Cromer supporting Nikki.”

And again … why does it matter?

“Leatherman now controls the calendar,” another Senator told FITS.  “If he doesn’t want a bill to be debated, now it won’t be.  Nikki can get her two-thirds majority – it won’t matter.  If McMaster keeps calling on Leatherman whenever it’s time to set bills for special order, then we will never get a chance to vote on the bill.”

That’s power, people …

Well, for as long as McMaster plays ball …

At any point, the lieutenant governor could conceivably revert to custom and call on Cromer – thus siding with Haley on the issue.

Will he do it?  We shall see … our guess is McMaster is so dumb he hasn’t even figured any of this out yet.

It’s interesting, though, how a simple procedural move has suddenly elevated this ceremonial, part-time position from impotence to holding some real sway over the legislative process.

Pic: Travis Bell Photography

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