house has passed both repeatedly . south carolina thanks you for that. the senate has refused to even vote on either either, repeatedly. let's break this down a little bit. house members, we are not going to talk to you right now. senators, we see an opportunity. we see an opportunity because the state is watching. we see an opportunity forou to show where you stand. so i'm going to ask for every

disclosures to please stand. stay standing. stay standing. i'm going to ask for you to continue to stand if you support true independent investigations emma please stand. >>[applause] . >> ladies and gentlemen, we finally got to see what that boat might look like -- that vote might look like. i hope this will be the last

reform, and i look for to working with all of you so we can celebrate. as you may have noticed, i love to celebrate. we build things in south carolina. we build planes with boeing. we have five international tire companies. we are the bmw capital of the world. we broke ground yesterday on a billion-dollar investments by the largest producer of carbon fiber in the world. this past year are south carolina family continued to grow, and we will soon be building even more automobiles than ever before. presages and stands will soon be manufacturing sprinter and mattress bands in south carolina-their custom vans are developed for custom and freight transport and for executive purposes, with swivel

more options than you can ever imagine. they truly are the coolest stands you'll ever see. and we want every company across south carolina, and the world, to buy these american- made vans. dimer has also -- also has freightliner custom chassis operations in cherokee county. and today they announced the expansion with the $22 million investment. please help me welcome -- and i'm going to ask these two to stand up in the gallery, please. please help me welcome michael pahlke and roger neilson as we give a welcome to mercedes-benz. >>[applause].

bobby hitt and our teams within the governor's mansion library with carol campbells portrait the king over us. we took a long-awaited call that volvo cars had chosen to partner with south carolina as they begin their journey of manufacturing in america. volvo is known for its reputation of quality and safety . we are so proud that they trust south carolina to help them continue to deliver to their customers. to our friends up volvo, i have total faith in our workforce. we won't let you down. please help me welcome -- and i'll ask just these two to stand the these two ladies from volvo cars. >>[applause]

celebrate over the last year than these two additions to the south carolina family. south carolina's unemployment rate sits at e .5 percent, the lowest since 2001. in the last two years we say business is more than $151 million in unemployment taxes. we have cut our service by almost half over the last five years while at the same time doubling our jumbo reserves. we've moved almost 30,000 people from welfare to work. the most recent data shows the rate of released inmates returning to prison has decreased by more than 25 percent. 2015 was the third year in a row with record-breaking tourism. and there are more people working today than ever before

carolina. these things don't happen by accident. world-class manufacturers don't isnso ll s carolinaoon wm. and are not the result of a great string of luck. successes. we have been smart. leave paid attention to the changing world around us and the growing competition for good jobs that pay good wages. we have caps off fiscal house in order, and protected our credit rating. we have invested in our ports, our workforce, and in our children's future. it's a great day for south carolina. as i learned a long time in north carolina, good times don't last if we squander them -- squander them. let's continue to be smart together so we grow our success

and watch it just the way to go to that end trent rotation has been a topic of great interest in even greater discussion as of late. so i will be brief. and also, i hope, very clear. i think no differently of our road situation then when i stood before you one year ago. i will not sign any piece of legislation that raises taxes, not in year one, not in year five, not in year ten. i will not sign any piece of legislation that does not include real reform to the department of capitation. the days of horsetrading south carolina roads have to and. and i will not buy into the idea that somehow we cannot afford to cut income taxes for our people. in december a u.s. economy said, "in 28 years of forecasting our

seen it in such good shape and such steady footing." we had $1 billion in new revenue last year. we have 1.3 billion in new revenue this year. my executive budget includes every dollar needed to pay for this year's tax cut. next year's will too,. this is not our money. it belongs to the taxpayers. we can't, and we should, return it to them. pass legislation that is our taxes, reforms our flawed transportation system, and invests in our roads, and i will sign it to pass legislation that does not do all three of those things and i will veto it. the choice is clear, and it's all yours. i cannot and a speech about whether a state of south carolina stand in january of 2016

most impactfulexperience of this year, the mother emmanuel tragedy. sharonda coleman singleton, depayne middleton doctor, cynthia heard, susie jackson, at the legs, clemente pinckney, tywanza sanders, daniel simmons, myra thompson. the nine we lost in the most sacred of places. their memories will forever be with us. my family and i pray for them and there's every day. when i speak of the tragedy, i no longer speak of the emmanuel nine, i speak of the emmanuel 12. why? on june 17 there were 12 men

bible study. i've said it before but i imagine i will say it until i no longer have the capacity to speak it all. those toe people did what so many south carolinians do on a normal wednesday night. they went to bible study, to profess and to grow their faith . but that was not a normal wednesday night. that night someone else joined them. he didn't look like them, didn't sound like them, and didn't act like them. they didn't call the police. they didn't throw him out. instead, they pulled up a chair and they prayed with him, for an hour. for reasons only god knows we lost nine amazing souls that night. so too, for reasons only he knows, god decided he

that he still had work for them to do. i ask that you join my family as we pray for mrs. felicia sanders, for her 11-year-old granddaughter, and for mrs. polly shepard, as they continue to live with that memory. mrs. standard and mrs. shepherd are here joining us in the chamber tonight. i'm going to ask that they be the only two standing in the upper chamber. i am so grateful that they are, just as the nine we lost in bore my belief that angels must

these two women in the precious little one who was with them that night are proof that we have angels living on earth. please let me express to ms. shepherd, the love that the entire state of south carolina

>>[applause] ethel lance, who despite losing her . >> ethel lantz, who despite losing her daughter to cancer, was a woman of love and joy, known for constantly sending her favorite song, "one day at a time, suite jesus, that's all i'm asking of you," she would sing. just give me the strength to do every day what i have to do. just give me the strength to do every day what i have to do. we are a different south carolina then we were one year ago ago. of that there can be no doubt. a place, a people, cannot go

not come out changed on the other side. the questions we in this room must ask ourselves, our what does it mean? what do we do with it? my hope is that they follow the example set by those around us, those 12 who prayed with a stranger, their families who forgave a murder, theft community that came together together, our state that inspired a nation. there is greatness in south carolina, a people. a greatness unequaled in our country. we have all seen it. we all know it. it is my fervent wish that in this year we as the representatives of those people act in a manner that is worthy of that greatness.

to where we can take our state. so i will continue to work toward a brighter future, i will continue to believe in a stronger south carolina,and i will continue to pray that god gives me and you the strength to do every day what we have to do. thank you, god bless you, and may he continue to bless the great state of south carolina. >> following the governor speeches in south carolina since the 1980s, i remember ever seeing a governor overcome by emotion as we just saw. of course it was a most unusual year last year. she began tonight saying it would require a different kind of speech on her part. we certainly seem that tonight. >> a couple things we did not see mentioned, the flag was not mentioned, the confederate flag

roads. she didn't talk about roads per se, she talked about taxes. she put it in that perspective and tom, you observed this could set up a do-nothing legislature on this issue potentially. >> they with this with doctor brent nelson's perspective in just a moment. several times the governor said we did this is not raising taxes, this without raising taxes, i'm not going to approve a tax increase. we will see where all that leads. in addition to the governor's speech i can the democrats selected mandy powers know well to give their response to the governor's speech. she represents district 44 in lancaster, is an attorney, graduated from the usc school of law 1997. she is married with two children. now the democrats response. >> i am mandy powers no rail in opposite the second half of lancaster county the south carolina house of representatives. like the governor i was also

carolina and educated in our public schools. but while we have similar backgrounds we see things from different things. governor haley describes a south carolina from the perspective of those at the top. i see it from the ground level, and from the perspective of a mother with teenagers in a public school and a small business owner in a textile community, i see people struggling to make ends meet, senior citizens having to choose between making their mortgage payments and buying their medicine, teachers trying to make do with less than minimally adequate funding, and families ieving after collisions on dangerous roads in ridges. twenty-five years ago governor haley and i were both finishing high school. she was in bamberg and i was in lancaster. funding at that time was an all- time high, or roads and bridges were some of the best in the nation. our neighbors had jobs with reliable health insurance

future looked bright uko what changed in the past 25 years? i'll tell you one thing that's changed: during that time republicans have been in almost total control of state government. they have had the governor's mansion, the house of representatives, the senate, our congressional delegation, and republicans currently control everstewe ecd ofce. are you part of our public education system? are you satisfied with the conditions of our rosando ridges? are you confident that if you get sick you could afford that treatment? in the past 25 years our state has declined in all every category. we've been duped. i drop in a small textile town. both my parents workforce brings mills, and i worked there too, during the summers to pay for college. but those mills and that textile economy are gone.

preparing our children for the economy of today much less the next economy. in the past two decades public education has become grossly underfunded. if you find that hard to believe, ask yourself did your parents had to send packs of paper, disinfectant wipes and glue sticks to outfit your classroom on the first day of school each year? republican leaders refused to even minimally adequately fund our education for poor and rural schools. and now they are even refusing to obey a supreme court order requiring them to fund public schools equally. this pattern of the funding is no accident. if public education is brought to its knees, then that strengthens the argument for those republicans want to divert our tax money from public school to private academies that cater to the wealthy. public school has always been the great equalizer. it's the promise that no matter who you are or where you come

work hard and sacrifice you can be anything. and when i talk to children in our schools and i ask them what they want to be when they grow up, rich kids, for kids, kids of all races, they tell me the same thing: they want to be a doctor, a lawyer, a police man, the president. but we know that a child from a low-income family, the chances of them realizing these goals is not as great as it was just a generation ago. a democratic legislature would invest in our public schools the way we did 25 years ago. democrats believe that our children are our future, and that we need to start today to prepare them for success in this quickly changing world. i bet you agree. while republicans talk a big name about economic development, their policies have weakened our small businesses, our small towns and our farms. just one month ago governor

agriculture community with farmers reeling from the flood asking her for disaster assistance. her unwillingness to help our state's lart industry has put the future of agriculture in south carolina at risk. the south carolina farm community can trust and believe that you have a friend and unwavering advocate in democrats. you heard a lot about the witnesses that have relocated to our state. shore. the economy has improved in many ways. i would submit to you that south carolina's recovery is part of a national recovery. happening in every single state , not just south carolina. january marks the 78th straight month of job growth in our country. so of course south carolina is sharing in this national trend. it's true that we have brought in several out-of-state and overseas corporations by offering generous incentives

but what about the local family businesses who are being taxed at the full rate for their larger competitors and joint subsidies funded by every day south carolinians like you and me? that's not fair. what about workers who were displaced when their jobs moved overseas, who were too young to retire but all the available jobs pay only a fraction of what it used to make ? what if we didn't have to hand out hundreds of millions of dollars in tax incentives to convince companies to move to south carolina? world-class public schools, a healthy workforce and safe roadways would be far more persuasive incentives than the hundreds of millions that our citizens are paying to recruit tsonn. and speaking of safe roadways, why haven't we passed a bill to improve or roads and bridges? i remember hearing my republican colleague say over a year ago that that was the most important they. make that you've haley call for

we need to start working together to get things done. but what she hasn't told you is that the fighting is within her own party. republicans in the senate actually filibusted their own roads bill last summer until it was dead for the year. and while republicans are fighting amongst themselves our citizens continue to suffer with tattered roads and dangerous bridges. democrats on the other hand remain unified in our commitment to pass a bill to reverse the decay of our long neglected roadways. we hope the republicans would join us. but if democrats were in control of the legislature we would have a bill on governor haley's desk within days. republicans have had over a generation and we still have no solution for our roads and bridges. i love south carolina, and i know you do too. i especially love living in my

people i meet on the street every day, i know the names of the police officers and emergency workers who protect me and my neighbors. our greatness comes from our people, not from our politicians. and we have a moral duty to take care of our people, our greatest resourc. under republican leadersp south calra 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 in federal funds that would have protected healthcare for 300,000 of our citizens who don't have it now? and would have created 44,000 new jobs in our state? did you know that if you are working and making minimum wage, you would have healthcare coverage at no cost if the republicans had only voted with the democrats to accept these federal funds. in this money would have come

either. you've already paid for it with your federal tax dollars. but republicans said no. this does not make sense for our people who need jobs. and it especially the not make sense for those in our state who would sit and cannot afford to go to the doctor or the hospital. our state has been through a lot in the past year, from the unspeakable tragedy in charleston to the thousand year flood, these events tested or fabric and showed that south carolinians are made to endure. but the flood is not over for many south carolinians. while the flag has come down in the flood waters have receded, as state leaders it is our responsibility to continue to unify our state and help these affect the families make a full recovery. we are woven together with love and compassion for our fellow man man. we have so many critical issues before us still. but the

the same ring over and over and expecting a different result. yet for a generation we have continued to eat. the party that refutes federal healthcare funds, that under funds public education, and that refuses to address our crumbling roads and bridges. we want you to know that the south carolina democratic party has been fighting for south carolinians just like you and me , that the democratic party has made mistakes too,. chief among them is we have let the other side define themselves as the moral party. but the truth is you cannot lead on moral issues if you mislead on substantive ones. you cannot alleviate the hearts of working people by giving tax cuts to the wealthy. you cannot protect this beautiful earth that god has given us by opening our shores to offshore drilling. you can't lift people up by

can call yourself pro-life if you are anti-child, and you can't ensure a good education for every child if you take money from our public schools and given to to private school that cater to the wealthy wealthy. if the republicans could have given us the south carolina we they would have done it a long time ago. it's time for us as a state to wake up from these distractions and this information because we are better than that, we are smarter than that. we are south carolinians. we are family. and i am my colleagues urge you to come home to the democratic party, the party that cares about you and your family. everyone is welcome here. good night, god bless you and your family, and god bless the state of south carolina. >> ghettos democratic state provides preventative many

>> she also said while the state economy has improved over the last few years she believes is part of a national trend, not wanting to give the governor a lot of credit for that. given what the governor has laid out in the space, can she get it done teaching we are joined by political science professor doctor brent nelson. doctor nelson the governor has said no tax increase for our roads, reformed the dot, cut income taxes or sheil veto it. can we see rohs legislation passed this year? >> i think it's all up to the senate. if they can find a solution that satisfied all of those criteria plus fixes the roads, we might have something. it will be difficult for some senators to vote for any raising of taxes of any sort. >> it's an election year. >> the governor know that and she is playing this very carefully.

tissue into a taxation issue. and that probably plays in her favor. she's playing tough, and she will probably get some of these senators attention. >> no flag mentioned of the confederate flag. surpriseo >> no but she did do an awful lot with what she calls the emanuel 12. this speech will be known for probably the two times when she went off script, was when she talked about the emanuel 12 and got very emotional, and the other time when she went off script and she called out senators for not passing on an ethics reform bill speech as they, so much for joining us, doctor. >> we thank you for watching our special report on the state of the state. >> we will have a full wrap up tonight for you at ten and 11. we think you for being with us tonight, we'll see you later on this evening. 7 news is always on, on-air, online, and on the go. we are proud, to be clear,