Through April 2017 the SCE&G ratepayers have had 9 rate increases under the Base Load Review Act (BLRA) resulting in about $1.4 billion in additional electricity costs to both business and residential consumers. These rate increases are being used just to pay for the construction financing costs to build the two nuclear…
Access to Capital
Access to capital is essential for entrepreneurs and small businesses. The South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce, University of South Carolina faculty and USC students are in the process of building an “Access to Capital” website that will provide comprehensive information for entrepreneurs and small business owners to explore…
South Carolina Businesses Acting on Rising Seas (SCBARS.org)
The South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce (SCSBCC) believes that the state’s coastal tourism economy is threatened by future sea level rise due to carbon pollution caused climate change. In May of 2013 and in partnership with the American Sustainable Business Council and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy,…
Offshore Oil/Gas Exploration and Drilling
January 12, 2015 The Obama administration has permitted seismic surveys from Delaware to the middle of Florida to determine the existence and size of offshore oil and gas reserves. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is reviewing 9 permits from oil companies for conducting these surveys and is taking public…
Minimum Wage
In September of 2014, the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce (SCSBCC) announced its support for phasing in an increase in the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. South Carolina has no minimum wage so most workers are covered by the federal minimum wage, which has been at…
Close the Health Insurance Coverage Gap
The South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce supports closing the coverage gap for the state’s low-income citizens. We are active, proud partners of Close The Gap SC, a coalition of organizations advocating for the passage of Senate Bill 845 that would create a private option, Palmetto Plus, to expand Medicaid…
Affordable Health Insurance
Since its beginning in 2000, the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce (SCSBCC) has been the state’s leading business advocate for making health insurance more affordable. During the decade of the 2000s, double digit increases in group health insurance premiums were recognized as unsustainable and had resulted in less…
Regulations
In 2004, the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce successfully worked for the legislative enactment of the Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Act, which created a Small Business Regulatory Review Committee to evaluate all newly promulgated state regulations and make recommendations as to how they can be changed to lessen…
Telephone Regulations
The SC Small Business Chamber of Commerce (SCSBCC) has consistently and successfully fought on behalf of small businesses regarding telephone service charges. In 2000, BellSouth asked the Public Service Commission (PSC) for permission to collect $340 million in surcharge fees (Universal Service Fund) on telephones that would have cost up…
State Income Tax
In 2000 the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce (SCSBCC) was formed with one of its top issues being to establish parity with big business on state income tax rates. Under the tax code at that time, small businesses (sole-proprietors, partnerships, LLC’s and S-corporations) were paying 40% higher state income taxes compared to…