For those who weary of Vincent Sheheen criticizing Nikki Haley and not making enough positive statements about what he would do as governor (and I’m kinda one of those), this release should be welcome:
Sheheen Releases Women’s Agenda, Launches Statewide Roundtable DiscussionsGubernatorial candidate lays out plan to ensure equal pay for equal work, stop violence against women, & support women-owned small businessesCamden, SC. – Today, Sen. Vincent Sheheen released his plan of leadership for women in South Carolina, after recently launching a statewide series of roundtables to discuss the challenges that women and their families face in the Palmetto State.Sen. Sheheen’s Women’s Agenda includes immediate steps that he will begin work on in the State Senate as well as action he would take as Governor of South Carolina to support equal pay for equal work, reduce violence against women, grow women-owned small businesses, and restore common sense and accountability to government through honest leadership.Throughout the month of March, Sen. Sheheen is holding a series of roundtable discussions with women to discuss these policy initiatives and listen to their stories. The statewide roundtable tour kicked off in Spartanburg and Rock Hill on March 8th and will include stops in Columbia, Myrtle Beach, Charleston, Greenville and Aiken over the next three weeks.View Sen. Sheheen’s Women’s Agenda as well as his other ideas for how to improve leadership and accountability in South Carolina atwww.vincentsheheen.com. His book, “The Right Way: Getting the Palmetto State Back on Track” is free and also available online, here.Equal Pay for Equal Work. Women are a key part of our state economy and our businesses, and whole families suffer when women do not get paid equally to men. However, wage disparity is alive and well in South Carolina. Nationally, women earn only $0.77 for every $1.00 that a man makes. There is anecdotal evident that it’s in our state it’s even worse. So it’s time for action.Vincent’s plan of action:
- Call for an audit to examine the wages currently being paid to South Carolina’s state employees based on position and gender, to determine if female state employees are being compensated equally with their male counterparts for equal work
- As governor issue an Executive Order requiring state employees to be paid equally for equal work.
- Ensure state government sets a good example for the private sector on pay equity.
Stop Violence Against Women. Violence against women is at an unacceptable level in South Carolina. We rank first in the nation in the number of women killed annually by men, and the rape rate in the state is higher than the national average. Yet, Nikki Haley vetoed funding for rape crisis centers and even referred to abused women as a “special interest group.” It’s time to be proactive in working to stop violence against women, and ensure that our laws are strong enough to hold abusers accountable.Vincent’s plan of action:
- Expand Domestic Abuse definition to include teenage relationships and protect women under 18
- Increase penalties for those convicted of domestic abuse.
- Protect vital funding for rape crisis centers and women’s shelters to provide safe havens for women and children.
- Work with faith-based and non-profit organizations to improve partnership with government and amplify efforts to prevent violence against women.
Support Women-Owned Small Businesses. South Carolina is close to last in the nation with the percent of businesses owned by women. But it’s not a lack of talent. So what’s the problem? Under Nikki Haley, women face significant challenges in opening and growing their businesses, and have unique barriers to achieving the American dream here in South Carolina.Vincent’s plan of action:
- Support small businesses in-state as much as those we recruit from out-of-state.
- Remove the barriers women face in starting up a business in S.C. by creating a Division of Entrepreneurship and encouraging small business investment.
- Fully fund our state’s technical college system and streamline worker-training programs to improve women’s access to education and technical skills.
Demand Common Sense & Accountability in Government. Women and families have been repeatedly hurt by the incompetence in government over the past four years. Nikki Haley’s administration hid a TB outbreak at a public school for two months before letting mothers know their children were being exposed. She covered up the Dept. of Revenue hacking for 16 days and put parents and their children at risk of identity theft for the rest of their lives. People deserve a government that works and works for them. And when government doesn’t, they don’t need excuses, they deserve action and results.Vincent’s plan of action:
- Appoint a diverse group of qualified leaders, and demand accountability from them.
- Fully fund his Taxpayer Protection Fund to help those who suffer financial loss from the hacking.
- Increase diversity on college boards and in leadership positions around the state to better represent women.
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And I particularly appreciate it when a Democrat gets all the way through a release like that without saying “War on Women.” It shows admirable restraint.
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He’s getting a little better. Couldn’t stop himself from trying to blame everything on Haley though.
” Under Nikki Haley, women face significant challenges in opening and growing their businesses, and have unique barriers to achieving the American dream here in South Carolina.”
Really? Nikki Haley is responsible for the challenges of opening and growing businesses? She specifically is the person who made that happen (if it even is true)?
As for the “gender wage gap”, good luck trying to fix that. When you dig into the details, most times the gap is related to years of uninterrupted service due to having children. I hope they don’t waste too much time trying to measure something that isn’t there. At the state level, there should be pay ranges for each job code and I would expect a male and female with equal experience would be pretty close in pay.
I voted for him last time- and I like him.
But he has ABSOLUTELY NO CHANCE unless a Hurricane hits our coast this summer and Gov. Haley decides to go to Hawaii on vacation with her family the day before.
and even if she did- she still might pull it out late on election night.
27(c)
I liked how this press release started:
” Gubernatorial candidate lays out plan to ensure equal pay for equal work, stop violence against women, & support women-owned small businesses”
So if we elect him, he’s guaranteeing an end to violence against women and equalize pay? Or should he have added the qualifier “make some small incremental change” in those areas?
Well, even incremental change would be progress. I’m not sure I could trust a politician who promised to wave a wand and solve all the world’s problems…
Isn’t that what the opening line suggests? What does “ensure” mean? My dictionary says “make certain that (something) shall occur or be the case.”
All he can ensure is that he will throw a bunch of ideas out there. From there, his ability to get anything through the brain dead legislature is unlikely.
He’s requesting an audit by the state treasurer to determine if state employee men/women doing the same job get equal pay.
As a former state employee for 6 years, I guess the desire is that women make the same lousy pay as men.
Of course.
“Remove the barriers women face in starting up a business in S.C. by creating a Division of Entrepreneurship and encouraging small business investment.”
That really made me chuckle. It’s adorable that Sheheen thinks that creating a new government agency is the best way to get small businesses going. I can see the meeting in which they thought this up.
Advisor: We’ve got to figure out a way to get small businesses going – especially for women.
Sheheen: Yeah, there’s so many obstacles to starting your own business, we really need to help folks out.
Advisor: The red tape is just so hard to manage. If only there was something we could do about that. Any ideas, sir?
Sheheen: I know! The only way we combat government agencies, taxes, and regulations on small business is with an equal, but opposite force! Let’s create a new government agency that works to cut through all the red tape that the other government agencies put up.
Advisor: Genius, sir!
Sheheen: This will be great. People will finally be able to use the government against itself – think of all the efficiency!