On a sunny day in March, about a hundred older people gathered on the State House steps — those that could, anyway — to ask state lawmakers for $5 million to help keep 8,000 seniors out of nursing homes.

They got $200,000.

But three days after the rally something important happened: Ken Ard — the lieutenant governor and the head of the state Office on Aging — was indicted and resigned. That forced then-Sen. Glenn McConnell to become the lieutenant governor, a position he did not want.

Suddenly, instead of a little-known former Florence County councilman asking lawmakers for $5 million, that job fell to a 30-year veteran of the Senate whom many considered the most powerful person in state government.

“We’re pinning a lot of our hopes on if he can come in and do sort of the bully pulpit and try to pull together the forces,” said Teresa Arnold, a lobbyist for AARP South Carolina. “Ken Ard … he was learning everything when he came into that job. This is different, a man who already has his feet on the ground and knows what is going on.”

McConnell, more so than any other senator, knows how to find money. Over 10 years, he funneled millions to restore the Hunley submarine — a Confederate submarine that was the first to sink an enemy ship in battle.

But McConnell maneuvered that money while president pro tempore of the Senate. Now he is lieutenant governor, an office of considerably less power whose only duties are to preside over the Senate and oversee the Office on Aging.

“I’ve always been on the other side of that table asking the questions,” McConnell said, referring to the Senate budget hearings. “This time I had to provide the answers. It’s different.”

While McConnell is upfront about his feelings about being lieutenant governor — he wishes he wasn’t — he says he is committed to advocating for the Office on Aging. On his desk is a pile of papers several inches thick, representing three years worth of public budget hearings for the Office on Aging. And earlier this month, McConnell was armed with these statistics when he made his formal budget presentation to a Senate subcommittee:

• South Carolina has 914,000 seniors, as of the 2010 census — a number that is expected to double by 2030.

• 8,000 seniors are on a waiting list to receive home-based services from the state Office on Aging — services designed to keep them at home longer and out of a nursing home.

• It costs Medicaid $125.69 a day, or $45,608, to house a person in a nursing home. The average cost of home and community based services is $33.65 a day, or about $12,282.

• It cost $1,000 a year for the Office on Aging to provide home-based services to one elderly person, including transportation, house cleaning and meals.

• South Carolina has the fourth highest number of seniors age 60 and older at risk for hunger, according to a report by the AARP Foundation.

“I think what we can try to do is draw a clearer, better picture for the Legislature of the challenge ahead and try to get support for dealing with the question of aging in South Carolina,” McConnell said.

And McConnell has a personal connection: his mother died in 1998 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. McConnell said he “saw the stress it put on my dad” to take care of his mom, which is why he supports the Office on Aging’s respite care program, which gives family caretakers a break.

But is McConnell’s relationship with the Senate enough to push his budget request above the rest?

“It certainly doesn’t hurt,” said Sen. Thomas Alexander, R-Anderson, and chairman of the Senate subcommittee that oversees McConnell’s budget. “He’s held in high regard. I think the office on aging and the senior population is very fortunate to have him.”

Alexander said he supports McConnell’s budget request, adding that, “We have moral duty that’s even a higher calling than our legislative responsibility to take care of our senior population.”

But the realities of the state budget are not in McConnell’s favor. Yes, state lawmakers have an extra $1 billion they can spend in next year’s budget thanks to better-than-expected tax collections. But that money is going fast for things like teacher and state worker pay raises, adding health insurance for poor or disabled children and tax relief for businesses.

And nearly all lawmakers support deepening the Charleston port — a $300 million project that most lawmakers tie to the future of the state’s economy.

“My hope is that we can fund part of that request,” Alexander said. “It would be ideal to fund all of it. We’re still going through that process. It’s early.”

For Rochelle Dorn, a 70-year-old retired legal secretary in West Columbia, the Office on Aging’s services are critical to her quality of life. Dorn says she can’t bend over to pick anything up off the floor and she does not have a lot of stamina — meaning she can’t clean her house. Plus, she’s diabetic.

Dorn — who says she has good support from her family — says she can’t remember how long she has been on the Office on Aging’s waiting list. But earlier this month, the office notified her to say she would be receiving help at home.

“It’s an answer to prayer,” she said.

Glenn McConnell will succeed Ken Ard as the next Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina.

In a statement issued just before noon, McConnell confirmed he would take his constitutionally mandated elevation to that position.

“This has been one of the most difficult decisions I have faced,” McConnell said in a statement. ”

Ard resigned his post earlier in the morning.

South Carolina’s Constitution says that the Senate Pro Tempore–McConnell’s previous position–must become Lt. Governor if that officer can no longer serve.

“That is the duty of the office of the President Pro Tempore,” McConnell said.

He will take the oath of office next week.

There had been speculation in the days leading up to Ard’s resignation that McConnell might not want the job, since the Senate Pro Tem is a more politically powerful office. Richland County Senator John Courson told WLTX he would have been willing to take the position, if it somehow became available. For that to have happened, though, McConnell would have had to resign as Pro Tem before Ard stepped down as lieutenant governor, then ask senators to re-elect him as Pro Tem.

Ultimately, it appears McConnell felt that political maneuvering wouldn’t be in the spirit of the law.

“My entire political career I have fought to uphold the Constitution and I will not today no matter how difficult it may be to me personally” McConnell said. “It is more important that I exercise the duties of the office for which I have been elected and uphold my oath. I will not contort the words of both the Constitution and my oath of office to keep a position that I might personally prefer.”

“The greatest honor of my career has been representing the people of District 41 in the South Carolina Senate. But I came here with a deep commitment to the Constitution, and I will not abandon it today.”

McConnell has served in the Senate since 1981, and became President Pro Tem in 2001.  He also is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

South Carolina Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell says he will be the next lieutenant governor in South Carolina.

The Charleston Republican will take over from Ken Ard, who resigned Friday morning amid a criminal investigation into whether he spent campaign money on personal items.

In a statement about the move McConnell said, “I have a moral obligation to my oath of office and to the constitution of this state. It is an obligation that compels me to do the right thing no matter how difficult it may be to me personally”

McConnell’s announcement two hours after Ard stepped down was a surprise. McConnell has been in the Senate for 31 years and leader of the body for the past decade, amassing a vast amount of power.

“We look forward to a great partnership with Senator McConnell and to continuing the great progress we’ve made in the arena of jobs and economic development as well as restructuring our government to better serve the citizens,” said Gov. Nikki Haley in a statement released after McConnell’s announcement.

Some senators though he might step aside briefly and let someone else become lieutenant governor, which has little power except to preside over the Senate.

“This has been one of the most difficult decisions I have faced,” McConnell added. “The greatest honor of my career has been representing the people of District 41 in the South Carolina Senate. But I came here with a deep commitment to the Constitution, and I will not abandon it today.”

McConnell is expected to take the oath of office on Tuesday, triggering an election in the Senate for a new President Pro Tempore.

“It’s not an office I sought. It’s not an office I ran for, but part of my duties in the legislative branch put me in the position I’m in,” said McConnell.

A special election will be held to fill McConnell’s senate seat. A primary will be held on May 22. A general election is scheduled for July 10.

Members of the Senate Republican Caucus reacted to the override, and thanked their colleagues for their votes on the bill:

“Our agencies need to be looking out for South Carolina, not for the state of Georgia,” said Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler. “DHEC was wrong to issue this permit, and it was the legislature’s job to step in and right that wrong. We look forward to working with Governor Haley on any number of issues this session, but we just don’t see eye to eye on this one.”

“The governor’s veto of this resolution was just as off base as DHEC’s decision,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell. “This is not about separation of powers – it’s about reining in a rogue agency that wasn’t following science or the law. Our vote today is not only about protecting our port infrastructure and the environment; it’s about sending a message that state agencies are not free to disregard the law.”

“Georgia’s dredging plans, as approved by the DHEC board, kills the Jasper port. That approval by our own state board was a slap in the face to those who have worked so hard over the past five years to make that port a reality,” Senator Tom Davis said. “It boggles the mind to think the DHEC board would tell Georgia it was ok to dump its spoil on the Jasper port site until the year 2060, but that’s exactly what it did. Today’s action by the Senate represents a step toward trying to undo the damage.”

“Today it’s a great day in South Carolina. Rather than standing for the people of Georgia, the Senate unanimously voted to protect the interests of the people of South Carolina,” Senator Larry Grooms said.

“I am disappointed that Governor Haley is choosing to hide behind a flawed separation of powers argument in defending her agency appointees’ disastrous decision to sell out the interests of South Carolina to Georgia,” McConnell said.

“This isn’t about a conflict between the executive and legislative branches – it’s about what’s right for South Carolina. It is not only within the legislature’s purview to act to protect the environmental and economic future of South Carolina, but also its duty to serve as a check on renegade state agencies that act beyond their power and against the interest of South Carolina. This resolution passed the House and Senate unanimously, and I have no doubt it will be overridden quickly and with similar voting margins.”

The senator’s been sick for six to seven weeks and his illness may have been brought on by a tick bite.

He said back in November, he noticed two small bite marks on his neck and then developed symptoms of Rocky Mountain Spotted fever or another illness caused by a virus.

The senator said he had complications because of his asthma and developed fluid in his lungs and in the sack surrounding his heart.

McConnell is currently out of the hospital and more tests were made Tuesday. While he said he’s anxious to get back to work in the state senate, he said he doesn`t know when that will be.

Courtesy of WCSC News

Senator McConnell said “We must enact reforms that will create a fiscally fit state so that we are fair to taxpayers and we improve economic conditions for all South Carolinians.”

The more contested aspect of the agenda – needed reforms to the way government regulations are enacted, found some opposition but still passed the committee and went to the floor.

Senator McConnell said “We need the broad-based regulatory reform so that regulations and fees require an affirmative vote from the General Assembly. South Carolinians deserve better than increased costs from the state being tucked into budget provisos or being enacted because time ran out for the General Assembly to consider them. Regulations and fees need an up-or-down vote.”

“These reforms simply make sense, and South Carolinians know that,” said Senator McConnell.

A review of state government to streamline agencies and services has been carried over until the next committee meeting for additional amendments.

The “Fiscal Fitness” agenda is the result of the fiscal fitness subcommittee’s work since September. Members appointed by Senator McConnell to the subcommittee included Senator Tom Davis, Beaufort County; Senator Vincent Sheheen, Kershaw County; Senator Shane Massey, Edgefield County; Senator Jake Knotts, Lexington County; Senator Gerald Malloy, Darlington County; and Senator Phil Shoopman, Greenville County.

Thursday, Boeing and those employees celebrated the facility’s opening. Workers will be making items like overhead stow bins, dividers, closets and many of the interior pieces in the airplane. They’ll be training until January when they’ll start full production.

The employees in this facility aren’t the only ones benefiting from Boeing. Mark Derry owns Cowboy USA out of Walterboro, now contracted by the aircraft manufacturer.

“Everything that comes by truck, we bring it,” Derry said.

Derry says he never imagined his trucks would be delivering supplies to the aeronautics giant.

“As a small business in a historically underdeveloped area, we were kind of concerned they wouldn’t look at us,” Derry said.

But they did hire the company out of Colleton County along with several others. Stephen Webb works for DASH Courier and is also contracted with Boeing and hired about 20 people locally.

“We’re now racing out of town to go grab a part that’s five hours away that’s, the whole plane is waiting on this one part, so that’s the type of delivering that we do, emergent ops, emergent operations,” Webb said.

Both companies say they’ve grown thanks to Boeing, so it’s no wonder, for them, it was cause for celebration when the company opened up another facility. South Carolina lawmakers hope Boeing’s standing will lead to even more ribbon cuttings.

“We’re seeing a lot of folks looking at South Carolina like they didn’t before because Boeing is here,” S.C. Senator Paul Campbell said.

Too bad, lawmakers won’t say who else may be eyeing the Palmetto State.

“We aren’t going to give our competitors any inside information. I’ll just say this: There are some great opportunities ahead,” S.C. Senate President Glenn McConnell said.

Lawmakers say, with Boeing, the sky’s the limit.

Courtesy of ABC News 4 – Charleston