Text of Democratic response to SC State of the State speech

[...] from the perspective of a mother of teenagers in public school and a small business owner in a former textile community, I see hard working people struggling to make ends meet, Senior Citizens having to choose between paying their mortgage and buying their medicine, teachers trying to make do with less than minimally adequate funding, and families grieving after collisions on dangerous roads and bridges.

Are you proud of our public education system?

If you find that hard to believe, ask yourself, did your parents have to send packs of paper, disinfectant wipes, and glue sticks to outfit your classroom on the first day of school each year?

Republican leaders refuse to fund even minimally adequate education for our poor and rural schools.

If public education is brought to its knees, then that strengthens the argument for those Republicans who want to divert our tax money from public schools to private academies that cater to the wealthy.

[...] when I talk to children in our schools and ask them what they want to be when they grow up - rich kids, poor kids, kids of all races - they tell me the same things: doctor, lawyer, policeman, president.

While Republicans talk a big game about economic development, their policies have weakened our small businesses, small towns, and farms.

Just one month ago, Governor Haley turned her back on our agriculture community when farmers, reeling from the flood, asked for disaster assistance.

World-class public schools, a healthy workforce, and safe roadways would be far more persuasive incentives than the hundreds of millions in tax dollars our citizens are paying to recruit these companies now.

[...] speaking of safe roadways - why haven't we passed a bill to improve our roads and bridges? I remember hearing my Republican colleagues say over a year ago that roads were the most important issue.

Under Republican leadership, though, South Carolina remains one of the most unhealthy states in the nation with one of the highest rates of uninsured citizens.

Did you know that we actually turned down 11 billion dollars in federal funds that would have provided health care for 300,000 of our citizens who don't have it now, and would have created 44,000 new jobs?

Did you know that if you are working but making minimum wage, you would have health care coverage at no cost if the Republicans had only voted with the Democrats to accept these federal funds?

While the flag has come down and the flood waters have receded, as state leaders, it is our responsibility to continue to unify our state and help affected families make a full recovery.

Yet for a generation, we have continued to elect the party that refused federal health care funds, that underfunds public education, and that refuses to address our crumbling roads and bridges.

[...] you can't ensure a good education for every child if you take money from our public schools and give it to private schools that cater to the wealthy.