Latest News & Updates from Bill Herbkersman

The latest COVID-19 data from the South Carolina Hospital Association. see data

“South Carolina is blessed with the most beautiful and pristine beaches, sea islands, and marshes in the nation. Seismic testing and offshore drilling threatens their health and jeopardizes the future of our state’s $24 billion tourism industry. Today’s announcement is good news, but we must remain vigilant in the conservation and preservation of our coastline.” Gov. Henry McMaster. read more

Legislation H. 5305 establishes how the 2020 General Election will be conducted given the Covid-19 pandemic.  The bill now crosses over to the South Carolina House of Representatives, which will consider the legislation when it reconvenes on September 15. read more

“Rep. Herbkersman was instrumental in getting $1.2 million to renovate the facility. That enabled us to essentially gut our lab building,” ... “And after that, we were able to secure some other federal funds so that we could redo our entire factory.” - Director Erin Levesque, Waddell Maricultural Center. read more

Understanding SAFE Grants, a program, developed by Gov. Henry McMaster, to address the educational needs of eligible K5-12 students who attend a participating independent school in SC. read more

The situation with COVID-19 changes rapidly and may do so for the foreseeable future. That means we cannot fully predict how the virus will affect our community in six months or even six weeks. We have developed a comprehensive reopening plan that allows parents to choose either a face-to-face or virtual option for their children. read more

Bluffton Police Department spokesman Capt. Joe Babkiewicz said the department has added a policy to its code of conduct that requires officers to intervene when they see another officer on duty inappropriately applying force. read more

The state gas tax increase, including the new two-cent per gallon increase effective today, has already been put to work for South Carolinians. In addition to $1.3 billion in road and bridge work under contract now, the new gas tax increase is making possible an additional 661 miles of paving projects that were approved by the Transportation Commission in June. The new paving projects will be moving to the contracting phase in the coming months. read more

“I asked to be on the conference committee for this exact reason. We can’t back down on this,” Herbkersman said. Conference committee assignments have not been announced yet. “The COVID pandemic would be part of (additional need) … but every year, we see things get worse and worse and we can really turn it around. Financially, we had a good year but whether we had a good year or not it needs to be a priority.” read more

The $562 million of new paving includes projects in all of the state’s 46 counties and is in addition to the $1.3 billion of road, bridge and safety project work SCDOT is currently implementing. Paving the state’s roads is the largest of the 10-Year Plan’s four programs, which include rural road safety, replacing or repairing bridges, and Interstate widening. read more

The last thing anyone wants to think about is Hurricane Season, but planning ahead of time is so important. This 2020 guide from the South Carolina Emergency Management Division has a ton of useful information to have on hand, including what you need in order to evacuate with your pets, evacuation routes (go ahead and save them in your phone), emergency contact numbers + more. click here for guide

I’m proud to co-sign this legislation, introduced by Rep. Beth Bernstein and Rep. Wendell G. Gilliard, along with my colleague Rep. Weston Newton. It is an example of taking partisanship out of the equation and uniting for the common good. read more