March 15, 2024
Last month the South Carolina House of Representatives and the State Senate both past bills in their respective chambers to consolidate six health agencies into a single agency in an effort to restructure the health-related functions of state government and comply to a new law passed last year.
In May 2023, South Carolina lawmakers approved, and Governor Henry McMaster signed into law S.399 --a law which abolishes the current maze of health care bureaucracies of the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) and creates in its place a singular health care agency state Department of Public Health (SCDPH) separated from the environmental side creating a standalone environmental agency Department of Environmental Services (SCDES).
In theory, I support such a move, that would create a streamlined structure for more efficient and better coordinated delivery of services that would save hundreds of millions of dollars annually eliminating the failed bureaucracies.
In reality, it just creates more alphabet soup agencies ran by unelected bureaucrats that will cost taxpayers a lot more money.
And even the left-of-center media outlets seems to agree.
Editorial writer Cindi Ross Scoppe, Charleston, S.C. Post and Courier, who I rarely, if ever agree with, but there is a first for everything, wrote, "For all its boasting about conservative lawmaking, one of the most consequential things the S.C. Legislature did this year was to grow our state government." She also added it will cost taxpayers $21 million initially and $14 million annually to maintain the two new bureaucratic agencies.
"The only way lawmakers can even begin to recoup those funds and turn this divorce into a positive change is by following through on the one legitimate reason for splitting DHEC--to merge our state's alphabetical array of public health agencies into one," Scoppe added.
That's problematic, but it's not the biggest problem that is coming with the new restructuring effort that now seems to be a bipartisan effort of legislative leaders, with 100 percent of democrat support along with McMaster to consolidate power through the guise of restructuring.
Since the passage of splitting up DHEC, the state legislature has commissioned the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to conduct a study of all the state's healthcare agencies and provide recommendations for further consolidation. A global consulting group that appears to support overbearing big government solutions to problems with a globalizationist view of the world with ties to the World Economic Forum. You can read more about that from Diane Hardy, executive director of the Mom and Pop Alliance of South Carolina in her March 14, 2024, FITS News Guest Column: Group Advising South Carolina Lawmakers on Restructuring Might Surprise You.
In an article published, Oct. 21, 2020, Vaccines Aren't the End of the Fight, but the end of the Beginning, BCG suggests for the control of social media information to stop "conspiracy theories" from spreading.
"Leaders will also be fighting an information and communication war. Clear, consistent
messages won’t be enough. Public sector leaders will need to play offense and defense. On the one hand, they should be encouraging vaccination through traditional and social media, applying behavioral insights to influence the public, and reaching immigrants, undocumented workers, and communities of color through trusted intermediaries. Without thoughtful, targeted campaigns, communities with low testing levels and high rates of infection are also likely to have low vaccination levels, amplifying the health disparity these communities face," BCG consultants write. "On the other hand, leaders will need to respond quickly and with finesse to fears and conspiracy theories, tracking social media sentiment and intervening if necessary to get control."
In another article published, May 27, 2020, Start Reimaging Government Now, BCG consultants links the response to COVID-19 response to such catastrophic events as hurricanes and suggests governments need a plan to deal with a coming "climate change" catastrophe.
The increased pace of such disasters reflects, in part, the grave threat that climate change poses to global economies—a threat that dwarfs the damage caused by the current pandemic," BCG writes. "Most governments need to urgently rethink their approach to assessing risk overall—and climate risk, in particular—and how they prepare for the next calamitous event."
On March 11, 2022, BCG published another healthcare policy article titled Unwinding from One Pandemic, Preparing for the Next stating "the pandemic harshly exposed gaps in the nation's decentralized, public-private health care system," and concluding "The pandemic was a crisis too valuable to waste. Now is the time to use the lessons of the past two years and prepare for the future."
That article was co-written by Colleen Desmond, BCG Partner and who is also a part of the non-profit Chicago Council on Global Affairs, a group committed to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)
Desmond testified to a South Carolina Senate Committee in January 2024 saying a plurality of states, 19, have integrated all health and human services under a single umbrella organization and said South Carolina's health care structure is broken.
"South Carolina is the most fragmented structure for health and human services delivery in the country," Desmond said.
You see that's bad, a crisis way too valuable to waste. And lawmakers in South Carolina seems to know it's a crisis too valuable to waste to consolidate power and expand government overreach.
As a result, on January 9, 2024, a group of senators filed S.915 for the purpose of consolidating the state's six health-related agencies under one leadership structure. The bill places the department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services (DAODAS), Disabilities and Special Needs (DDSN), Health and Human Services (HHS) and Mental Health (DMH) under one roof.
This bill was fast tracked through the senate. Once it passed the senate, a group of House members filed H.4927, a companion piece of legislation that was also fast tracked through the House, but not before a number of conservative house members asked for a debate on the proposed legislation.
Conservative members, mainly of the S.C. Republican Freedom Caucus, had concerns about the language of the bill that they say creates an unelected health department Czar and would require the state's elected sheriffs and constables to follow and carryout orders to include enforcing restrictive measures and quarantine measures prescribed by the head of the department.
"The authority the extreme moderates at the statehouse just gave to an unelected official 'Health Czar' is astounding," said State Rep. Jay Kilmartin, R-Lexington. "And the Republican Caucus talking point? 'This is a conservative.' The moderates repeat that line like the stormtroopers in Star Wars repeated, 'These are not the drones we're looking for.'"
Other Republicans joined 100 percent of Democrats to pass the bill through the House doesn't agree claiming the legislation does not change current law or health policy.
"It's solely about organizational policy and streamlining administrative functions, communications, and coordination between the current agencies," House Rep. Bill Taylor, R-Aiken said. "But more importantly, it brings accountability so South Carolinians can get much-improved health services and avoid being ping-ponged between state agencies and not get the help they need,"
Taylor also said the unaccountability of an unelected 'Health Czar' claim is nonsense.
"This bill brings accountability for major health decisions to the Governor. Like every cabinet official, the Health Secretary is nominated by the Governor with the consent of the Senate. Unlike the current DHEC board, the Governor can fire the Health Secretary, with or without cause," said Taylor. "Social media went into whacky overdrive this week when sensationalists stirred the political pot, claiming the bill creates a Health Czar. They made ludicrous claims that the Secretary of the Executive Office of Health Policy could single-handedly declare a health emergency and shutdown the state or require vaccines. They didn't know that DHEC's seven-member appointed board currently has those powers."
This is a screen shot from H4927. Anything struck out is what was removed from current law. Anything underlined is what has been added or amended, and anything that has not been struck out or underlined was already in current law.
While it is true these powers were and are already in existence under state law giving the board at DHEC control over law enforcement officers, members of the Republican Freedom Caucus attempted to strike out that clause from the law and that power from the new position being created.
"It's terrifying that an unelected official can have control over all South Carolina law enforcement. Then and now," said Kilmartin. "Some will call it 'restructuring', but it is creating a new position to oversee multiple departments with the excuse that they are all underperforming due to a lack of accountability. They could have done that without granting law enforcement powers to the position.""
One of the biggest questions and concerns to this whole deal is the Sheriffs being required to take orders from the state. Sheriffs are elected positions held accountable to their constituents. A very important elected position, and in many cases the last line of defense between tyrants and our rights in the constitution. Several Sheriffs throughout the state have made statements they will not comply to this if it is signed into law. What would happen to a Sherrif that refuses to not fall in line with the orders of a state department?
House Rep. Josiah Magnuson, R-Spartanburg, tried to take action so we would not have to find out the answer to that question taking his concerns to the House floor arguing sheriffs should be able to maintain their ability to exercise independent discretion in the implementation of emergency public health orders.
Magnuson referenced unilateral impositions and overreaching mandates by government health officials during the COVID-19 pandemic and told the body he didn't think we are "at a time in history where we should just throw caution to the wind and not have eternal vigilance continue to be the price of liberty."
He and other Republican Freedom Caucus members proposed amendments to strike or weaken this ultimate authority, but their efforts were repeatedly voted down by 100 percent of Democrats voting and Republicans that joined them.
Currently there are two bills, House H4297 and Senate S915. Both have passed their respective chambers. The next step is for the House version, H4297, to pass the Senate and the Senate version, S915, to pass the House.
So basically, what you have here is the South Carolina General Assembly, with a super majority of republicans, who split the party to join Democrats to pass a piece of legislation that will eliminate a group, a board, of unelected bureaucrats and replace them with an unelected bureaucrat, because we need a king to lead this failing state health agency of unelected bureaucrats.
There is no doubt, South Carolina's healthcare bureaucracy is in definite need of an overhaul restructuring effort that streamlines services and has accountability, but this restructuring efforts is a recipe for tyrannical disaster without accountability to constituents.
Please, reach out to your Representatives and Senators and tell them not to support these bills.
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