Hello everyone
and welcome to another episode of Selling Greenville
your favorite real estate podcast here in Greenville
South Carolina I'm your host as always
Stan McCune Realtor right here in Greenville
and you can find all of my contact information
in the show notes
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or upstate of South Carolina real estate needs
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today
we have a special guest
this is a first for the show over five years running
we have a politician from Colombia from the state house
Stephen Frank who
in full disclosure is a friend of mine from many
many years back
and Steven is serving his first term
in the state house he is my representative
and we're just gonna be talking not
we will talk a little bit of real estate
but obviously on this show if you guys listen much
you know that
we talk about a lot of things that pertain
to Greenville because it all indirectly
impacts real estate in one way or the other
and obviously what's happening politically in our
in our state directly impacts
what's happening in the upstate of South Carolina
and so Steven is boots on the ground over there
he can share us all the
all the dirty secrets that's happening in the graveyard
in Colombia so Steven
welcome to the show Stan
thanks for having me on today
appreciate the invite yeah absolutely
so
I guess we'll we'll just kind of start high level here
what's it like running for office
specifically in the state
and what would you say it's
it's been like
just being in the South Carolina state government
yeah
that's a question I get often
I've grown up here so this is my home
so I
it to me
it's a little extra special
because these are the people that I've grown up with
I've known all my life and now I get to represent them
in Columbia
so that that responsibility isn't lost on me
in fact every time I
I drive into the state house during session and
and you kind of you know
get going into the garage and just you the
the weight of it
hits me every day that that this is
it's not a just a
I don't know a
a fun adventure that that some treated as or or
or a self serving
mechanism to increase their lot in life
but really the the
responsibility
to represent the people that
that are closest to me
in the state government and
and
that that
that hits me every day and yes
what it's like running for office
you know
that that was one of the most interesting
experiences I've ever had
I bet
it wasn't something I was expecting
or planning on at the time
it was it just
the opportunity kind of came out of the blue
and as I asked I was asked if I'd consider doing it
wasn't something I was looking for
I was happy business
you know good family
you know kids keeping us busy church
every sphere of life was was
in my opinion as it should be
you know God's been very kind to me
so it's not something I was looking for and
and so I had to quickly
shift gears you're thinking about that
one of the biggest
the the amount of work that goes into a campaign
people talk about but until you actually experience it
it's it's hard to really describe just the
the the
all the amount of time the door knocking
it's time consuming but it was fun
you know there
there's so many people I met that
you know
I might have passed her house every day driving to
to work or taking the kids to school where
whatever that route is you know
you pass those houses all the time
but you don't know those people
so getting out and knocking on doors
meeting so many
folks in the district was a lot of fun
a lot of work wore us out
but it was fun and
and I I enjoyed pretty much the whole process of it
so you were you were kind of going in considered an
an underdog
for that election and I actually spoke to a lobbyist
at one point
just like asking about your race
and this person was just like yeah
Steven doesn't have a chance
haha
so obviously a lot of people were wrong
what do you attribute that success to
well as a Christian I
you know I
I believe it's the sovereignty of God
not to say that it's because I'm better
I think it was just that's what God intended
but but not to be
say that in in a trite sort of way but I
I think overall that that is the answer
but as far as specifics you know what
what we could you know
what we can tally on a page
I think a lot of it has to do with
with just being from here I
I knew who my people were
I know how they think I know what's important to them
I know their values
cause I've lived in this district
I grew up in this district
so so being so close to it
my opponent wasn't very nice
but she wasn't from here and didn't know the people
wasn't as connected to them
and I think that made a huge difference absolutely
so what it let's talk about Colombia for a second
what would you describe as the political environment
in Colombia obviously it's
it's really a it's really lopsided right
it's a worst we become a very
very red state I mean
we've kind of always been a red state
even
well not always
but in more recent history
in more recent history we've been a
a red I guess in my lifetime
it feels like
South Carolina has always been a red state
but what
what
what would you describe as the as the political climate
I
that's an interesting question
and you you just kind of touched on that
describing us as always have been a red state
I would obviously we weren't that
that really started to change back in the 90s
as far as the political party
affiliation but
but the people haven't changed much
we've always been a very conservative people
the south in general
South Carolina specifically
you know
Christian culture very conservative
the party affiliation
of course changed
back in in the 90s
but I would I would
I think one of the best ways to describe
you know we're
we've often been described as the
the a purple state
we're one of the bluest red states
and what people mean by that is
the representatives in Columbia
are not really representative of the people
the values are
are completely opposite really
the
the people
the South Koreans are still very conservative people
but
but our representatives are not
even though they might have a particular
party designation as Republican
you know we're a
we have a Republican super majority
but the
but the bills that we pass are
are not really reflective of values of our citizens
so that creates a whole
whole range of issues you need to contend with
yeah absolutely
and I guess I should I should probably say
to those I I've
I've realized in recent years
that people get confused about the red
versus blue thing
so an easy way to think about that is red R
Republican R so for those that are confused
we are a very Republican state
when I said we're a red state
that's right
what
so let's talk about some issues here
so
roads okay
one thing that Greenville County Council
has made abundantly clear
is that they want the state to be the primary
ones to fix the roads and we had a
we had a penny sales tax that got voted down last year
I'm not gonna ask you where you stand on that
and I'm specifically not going to ask you that
because I don't think it matters
because I found out that Greenville County Council
people they told me this themselves
that some of them that publicly came out against it
in private voted for it
and what that tells me is that
they thought it was the best thing for the county
but it wasn't the best thing for their political
ambitions
and so they had to do a little sleight of hand
and I'm sure that you didn't do that but regardless
I I just felt like I needed to say that
need to get that off my chest
I'm sure that there are people in the state government
as well doing that kind of stuff
but regardless the
the one of the biggest talking
points that came out of that was
so many of these are state roads and
and why should the county be doing
what the state should be doing
and so I'm curious what what your take is on that yeah
you you said a very good backdrop on that question
be and that highlights really the conundrthat
that we have so when
when you said you know
the council you know
county
feels like the state should be responsible for them
in one sense they are correct
because the state has claimed responsibility for them
so the state should be fixing them
we have taxes allocated for roads
and they just accumulate
and are not being dispersed as they should be
and there's a whole whole litany of reasons
you know
why and in different people's hands and pots and and
and wanting this and that and the other thing
rather than just focusing on
on fixing the roads we
I think we have some systemic issues with the way
everything's set up on the state level
it's very inefficient
you know a lot of different
different bodies can point fingers at one another
and say well
it's not happening because of this committee over here
that committee over there
so
so on the state level
I think we need to restructure how
how we handle roads I think
I think the lieutenant governor
at least for a short short period of time
could be made responsible for the roads
lieutenant governor has
a very short list of responsibilities
in South Carolina
I think that would be a very logical individual or
or or office
to put
in charge of the roads
but but even deeper than that it
you know
back to the county council or county versus state
in South Carolina state government is
I think responsible for too many roads
too much roads at the
the more we can put the roads back to the counties
the more efficient it's gonna be the the counties are
are much closer you know to the people yep
they they know the roads better they know
they're hearing directly from their citizens on
on where those potholes are
where the most dangerous curves are
etcetera etcetera and so the more you can
more power you can put back to the local government
the the more efficient it's gonna be
doesn't mean that it's you
you don't get rid of corruption entirely
as long as you have human government
you're gonna have some some corruption somewhere
some favors being done and that's
that's the unfortunate nature of human government but
but you get rid of a lot of it
you reduce it greatly so you increase your efficiency
so I think the state needs to turn up or turn over the
the authority on on most of these roads dot
SCDOT should not have
responsibility for as much many miles as we do
it's more than than than most other states
so it makes us very inefficient
it makes it more expensive and
and then you're coming to these
you know questions well
we don't have the money it's gonna cost we do
we raise taxes and nobody wants taxes raised
but they want the roads fixed
so I think we can avoid a lot of those
those conversations if we
if we just shift
the authority for the roads back to the counties
and give them the the ability to
to do the maintenance and the construction
I think a lot of these issues will self resolve
yeah and
and I'm I'm
I'm definitely in agreement with you on that
I have seen the backlog of roads that the dot has
I mean
and every year it gets more expensive right
so it's not you know
if there is an eight year backlog to
to fix you know
a handful of roads out here at well
that backlog eight years is gonna turn into 10 years
is gonna turn into 12 years very quickly
because it's just keeps getting
everything keeps getting more expensive
and
and so you know I'm
I'm with you I'm
I'm in favor of County Council figuring out a way to
to do it
but I I don't think that that's gonna happen not
not with the current makeup of
of Greenville County Council
not with the current makeup
not with the current current tools that they have
you know
if the the
we really need action from the state first
the legislature needs to act and
and restructure and restructure dot and then
and then turn
turn control back to the counties
cause you really create one bottleneck
or one funnel that
that gets bottlenecked instead of having 46
we have 46 counties
you can have 46 different bodies handling
local road issues
and some of them are going to get it wrong
because that's just the you know
but you have more opportunity for success
is there any 46 is
is there any appetite in Colombia for this
like is there any movement
or is this just something that
is kind of being talked about
but it's probably not gonna go anywhere
there's appetite
and I've had a lot of private conversations
about this
a lot of it's you know
there's so many issues
and we have such a short legislative season
that it's hard to get big stuff done
it's amazing how how short the
the session is it's a
it's incredible it's very short and
and I and
and I'm not advocating for extending it
I think it's good that it's short
it's sure
it's better for the citizens the less we're in session
I in my opinion
but but I think
I think next year you'll likely see more action on this
being that it is an election year
and this is a big topic as I door knocked
it was the No. 1 topic
as I talked to people in my primary election
so I I and
and that's the same
that's not unique to me that that's across the board
so I think you're gonna see more appetite next year
I'm hoping so
coming back in January and maybe have some
more desire to move on this issue
what what I this is getting a little bit off topic
but I'm just gonna throw this out there
I am very much in favor that our
state should legalize gambling
specifically sports gambling and maybe expand
loosen up a little bit on the cannabis
related kind of stuff
and bring in tax revenue from that
cause people are sports gambling
it's really easy to to to bypass the
the current rules that are in place
like everyone's doing it it's just that the state there
we have all these other states in the US
that are bringing in tax revenue
and quite a bit of it from people gambling on sports
it's a booming industry
but I don't hear anyone talking about that
and it's just like
why don't we like nobody wants taxes raised
why don't we do that and then just say
all of this money is going towards the roads
there's been a lot of conversation about that
but it's a big topic this last session
about legalizing gambling and and in one sense
you know I'm I'm with you as far as I
I think people should be free to waste their money
however they see fit right
I don't think it's the government's
responsibility to tell you how
you can use spend your money or not right
but but the solutions
that were being presented were very much big
government solutions
for specific reasons of raising taxes
and control and authority
and it wasn't about freedom and liberty for citizens
so it's the solutions I couldn't get behind
as far as need you know
needing to raise more tax revenue
I think the the better focus of
rather than
figuring out how much more money we can raise
in different sources of tax revenue is
is figuring out how we can shrink
the size and scope of our government
we're in so our government's just way too big
and and we don't need it to be this parental
you know in
in our lives so sure
I think that'd be a better
a better route to go
first is see how much we can cut and cut cut cut cut
cut and streamline
and be more efficient and reduce the size of
scope of government
then see if we need to raise more revenue
I have a feeling
we won't need to look for more sources of revenue
at that point okay interesting
so
pivoting from the roads issue
which those you know
I've got a lot of listeners and watchers
on YouTube
that don't know a ton about Greenville so
I I will say this
I've talked to people from other states that come here
and they're like
I don't see any problem with the roads
and then you get you get on the flip side
you get some people that come from other states that
they're just like man
there's potholes everywhere so
when we talk about the roads that's the issue there
now the the thing that got the most publicity
I feel like this session was the tort reform
and for those that don't know the a
a big aspect of that and Steven
for those that don't know has
has an insurance background he works in insurance
a very qualified person to speak on tort reform and
and just everything related to the insurance industry
the the there were a lot of tort problems and and
and all of that related to
you know
all these frivolous lawsuits that were happening and
and people and double jeopardy s kind of situations
specifically with with
bars and and establishments that served alcohol
that were being made you know
my understanding is multiple different
restaurants could be essentially 100% liable for
a a
a criminal act that's performed by a drunk person
even if they one of them
you know
gave him a beer at four PM and the other one gave him
you know 10 Irish car bombs at ten PM
they were both equally liable right
so that's obviously not a just system
and that in just system created insurance
these liquor liability insurance
rates to skyrocket which then we
we the past two years
I mean I don't know how many
how many restaurants have gone out of business
bars have gone out of business
what not they've directly identified that
liquor liability as the reason why
they had to do that so with all of that backdrop
for those again
for those that don't know
we did pass tort reform in the house and
and it well
in the entire government
the governor signed off on it
and I'm curious what what your thoughts are on it good
bad ugly
just anything anything you have to to say about it
we
we passed nominal tort reform
we did we took barely a half step forward
so that politicians could
but go back to their districts
and tell their citizens that they did something to for
stand up and protect small businesses
we did we passed
nothing that's gonna amount to any meaningful change
or any reduction in premiums and
and I hate to say that but it
but it's just not going to
we did not address the real issues of what are driving
driving these these
rate increases
and it's the litigious nature of our state
as long as the carriers are threatened by these
by
by these ridiculous lawsuits
they can't write business here
you'll have a carrier take in
you know even $100,000 of premibut
but if they if
they are gonna get hit with million dollar lawsuits
over and over and over
they can't sustain that business model
of course right
so it doesn't matter how much we do
until we actually go all the way and fix the problem
going halfway doesn't result in anything at all
because the carriers can't
until the carriers can comfortably come back
and write business
and and do it profitably
we don't fix the problem and
and forcing them to do it isn't gonna help
we can't force them to go out of business yeah
you know
if you take in I had a an account or several years ago
we took in 15,000 a premium
they gone up from five to 15
it was a big jump and and
great little establishment
they never had an issue before and then they had a
had a claim where it wasn't their fault
we had video footage
and we had the receipts from the POS system
we knew how much we had served this customer
we watched on the exterior
footage of that car
drive away in a perfectly straight line
no issues at all go to another bar continue drinking
picked up a couple passengers the driver
the the
ended up getting an wreck later passing away
the passenger sued
it took over a year for this
we had an open claim
but where I'm going with this
that they took the carrier at that time
took in $15,000
and before there was a judgment or a lawsuit even or
or any kind of payout to or of damages
the cost of the carrier was over $80,000
cause they had to hire investigators
they had to hire outside counsel
you know and for that length of time it
it balloons they
before they had even had a
a lawsuit to to look at the cost to them of
of this incident was
was several times greater than the premithey took in
they can't sustain it and that
that's one thing that makes this issue hard to
even qualify or quantify
it's because there's
there's no real central database of that
to see
and it's very nebulous to to
to get down to well
what is the true cost of of all this
so it's easy to manipulate numbers
the attorneys are great at doing that and trying to say
oh well
this isn't really that big of a deal
maybe just raise the price of your beers a little bit
right but what we've done is is the lawyer
legislators have created a pot of gold in Colombia
and they paved the road to get to it
and they are guarding that with their lives
hundreds of millions of dollars a year in attorney fees
being raked in on on this stuff and
and it's really just a massive grift
but they're very powerful
it's it's a lot of money and
and they're gonna fight tooth and nail to
to keep what keep that pot of gold
so so until
until we can get serious and
and really put the citizen
put the pressure on the legislature
you know we're not gonna see anything meaningful
so the Bill that we passed was
is all performative
and really really disappointing
do you do you think that it's gonna kind of be like a
alright we
we did it we're done
move on or do you think that
that there's gonna be pushes in future session to
to try to to
to actually improve it
that that's the hope of the other side
is that just be able to you know
ring their hands free of it and say well
we tried we
we did something we passed a Bill
we we fixed the reform
and so that's the hope is to not have to deal with it
but I'm not gonna let it go and and
and my my clients
and the citizens of South Carolina aren't gonna
let it go
so I'm hoping to bring that fight back up in January
is there is there more appetite in the
in the house or in the Senate for
for this type of thing
cause I know some senators that were
that were not super excited about it either
yeah it
I mean we got
we got loyal legislators in both chambers
yeah and
so it's hard to say
which chamber has more appetite for it than the other
the thought this time was that the Senate
you know started in the Senate and then the house would
would follow along that was not true
and I was saying that from the beginning
it's not true that's what was
that's the
the strategy that was attempted
and it didn't really work
in fact the Bill that was passed
they passed the Bill it
didn't really even go through the full committee
process it
the they used some
some maneuvering some legislative maneuvering
and basically took another Bill that
had had nothing to do with anything port reform related
and and they
on the floor they put
used amendment and did a strike and replace amendment
basically they just gutted this other Bill
and inserted something else into it
is last minute it was
it was a a backroom compromise between house and and
and Senate
leadership and so forth and
and so
it didn't even go through the full committee process
and then they rushed it through
rammed it through
I tried raising a 24 hour rule on
on it was overridden
we had very little input on it
which is interesting because
you know
some of those same
legislators really harped on the legislative process
you know
the committee process is so important and that's where
that is where the the debate should happen not on
we shouldn't be wasting time on the floor right
so they bypass the their whole process entirely struck
struck and replace this and then to the point that
you know
they even had to then amend the title of the Bill
to make it conform to to the Bill itself unbelievable
so that's that was the tort reform Bill yeah
well not not a lot of positives there
but that was kind of what I expected for you to say
being being an insurance person and not an attorney
that's right but yeah
now we've got I I
I definitely
feel like we have a major problem with attorneys
I mean it's it's nationwide
but it definitely feels like in
in the state of South Carolina
they are more so than some other states
definitely running the show
a lot of power in fact
we the legislature picks the judges in South Carolina
I think most people know that by now
so so we have lawyer
the
the attorneys basically picking the judges that they
or their friends or their partners
or their family members are gonna practice in front of
yup
the the cycle of
of life and corruption goes round and round
indeed it does
so let's talk about specific real estate kind of stuff
so
and I don't have a specific question
obviously
housing affordability is on a lot of people's minds
there simultaneously
there's very heavy
nimbysm or anti development sentiment
is anything that would directly be real estate
directly pertinent to real estate being discussed
in Colombia right now
I I don't know about directly
as far as a particular Bill that would
you know specifically have some impact
or create some shockwave for
for real estate specifically
but the way I see the issue with
with overdevelopment you know
some might call it or
you know housing affordability
and that's a
that's a broad
topic that's not just
you know low income folks
that's a lot of natives
can't afford to buy
homes in the neighborhoods they grew up in
and and
and so you've got
other than issues and conversations that come around
around that
what what I see
and I've really clearly come to see
as one of the central issues affecting all of this
is the corporate welfare state that we have
you know the the
the mantra constantly repeated is jobs
jobs jobs
we gotta create more jobs
but but it's a little bit of a head scratch
cause our people have jobs we're
we don't really have a
an issue of not being able to find jobs
there's plenty of jobs all over the place
sure and so what
what I've realized is you know
we've got this this Republican controlled legislature
government
and and because they're
but they have a spending problem Stan
they want to spend spend
spend we're all you know
the governor's you know
state of the state address was all you basically
there wasn't a problem he couldn't fix
as long as we gave him enough money to do it
that's right
and and so we got a spending problem and rather than
than being physically conservative
we keep spending but you gotta pay for that somehow and
and that's where the bit of the conundruh
appears is because we're Republicans with a spending problem
the solution sounds natural to raise taxes
but we can't do that because we're Republicans
and Republicans don't raise taxes ever
otherwise you ain't a Republican right
so that's that's a rock and hard place right
so the solution then is well
since we can't raise taxes
we're gonna increase the tax base
so we're not gonna increase the tax rate
we're gonna increase the tax base
and that's why we have this overdevelopment
this corporate welfare state that we've found I mean
heck we gave a $1.3 billion to Scout Motors
and not just an incentive
we gave them hundreds of
millions of dollars out of the treasury
and we just let them rob us blind
all for the sake of creating jobs but like I
you know started answering
you know we don't have a jobs problem so
so who are these jobs for
well these jobs are
for all the people that we need to move here to
increase the tax base
these jobs are for everybody else
and I'm not against growth
I'm I'm a capitalist through and through
I am all for growth and and and and and progress
but it needs to be market driven
it needs to be natural
and when you have the government central planning
picking winners and losers
we're creating this
this atmosphere where for some people in a microcosm
it's great if you own property and you own land and and
and you're thinking about selling it
or you're retiring
or you're at a point of maybe offloading that
and the prices are skyrocketing
you're gonna make a lot of money
that's good for you okay but that's a microcosm
that's looking very specifically at that
but when you zoom out
you're creating these issues where people
natives
can't even afford to live in their neighborhoods
anymore
prices are skyrocketing
so it's government spending that creates inflation
we're doing it on the state level
by driving all these jobs again
we should be pro business
but that doesn't mean
all these incentives for business
if businesses want to come here
because we have a great work ethic
we have a great environment
we have a good climate you know
we have good natural resources
those are all legitimate reasons
for a business to come here and thrive
but but giving the money from the government is
is not a good good way to do that central planning
that's Marxism it's
it's communism it's
it's it's antithetical to what we would
hold as conservatives sure so
so that this is a very long
roundabout answer talking about real estate but
but that's that's where I see the biggest impact
is we're keeping the foot on the gas
we're keeping this red hot
and that's gonna keep driving up prices for a while
for some people that's
that that's good
they they like to see those prices going up
but
that's gonna have consequences in a lot of other areas
and and I think that's gonna be very painful
in the long run yeah absolutely
well you've got
to your point we've got government pressure on
we've got supply side and demand side pressure right
so we've got particularly when it comes to real estate
so on the on the
demand side you just described it where they're trying
they're creating jobs perhaps artificially
at at least
you know via government spending
they're helping to subsidize
creating jobs that are then bringing in outsiders
that then need housing and then you've got
that's happening on the state level
it's happening on the county level as well
but then you've got
specifically all the counties around here
Spartanburg not as much
but Spartanburg eventually will head in that direction
as well
I'm sure that are basically saying no more housing
we don't want to build any housing
so then so then you've got a
a supply side problem
as well so you're
you're creating all this demand for housing
on the government and then suppressing all the supply
what could go wrong what could go wrong
and that's a very unfair position to put
county governments in sure
and other municipalities it's really unfair to put them
because
that's a conundrthat I don't want to be caught in of
well I understand
I know that
I'm tired of seeing every piece of farmland and
get developed and every tree get cut down
sure again
not hating progress and development
but it but it just
it seems so much you know
and it's like gosh
we can't even hardly breathe
you know the impact on infrastructure
so but
but at the same time
how do you balance that with property rights
you well
if you own a piece of property
you ought to be able to do with it whatever you please
because it belongs to you
that's the nature of liberty
freedom and rights so
this is a very unfair position
that we're putting our county governments in
of trying to balance property rights
individual rights with all this overdevelopment
and it's putting a legitimate strain on
we talk about roads you know
puts a legitimate strain on
on the roads and then the rest of the infrastructure in
in grid and everything so
I am I am very thankful I'm in Columbia
not on County Council right now
ha ha ha yeah no doubt they have some
they have some difficult
difficult decisions that are very personal
to some people that they have to make
I'm curious I've just got a couple more questions here
but because I know you're busy
what sort of influence do you feel
or that do you hear about from lobbyists and
and what not in Colombia
obviously we've talked about the
the the attorney cycle of life that happens over there
but in terms of in terms of influence from lobbyists
I know that we hear this
we hear people talk about that a lot
I'm curious what what actually is happening
I'm not I'm not anti lobbyist necessarily
they exist for a reason yep
they and and there's some legitimate
I think some legitimate place for for a lobbyist
some of them I've gotten to know well and
and are good people and they do good work and honest work
as much as government work can be honest right
and they can be very useful allies
especially like in tort reform because they can
they have relationships with different industry groups
and associations and
and we can find ways to work together
but we're we're lobby I
I assume you know in
in these situations they can help to provide data and
and help to provide perhaps to even fund studies or to
you know provide studies things of that nature that not
not all the not all of the
like I personally know lobbyists
and so I can I can speak to this as well
it's it's not
they're not coming up to your I
most of them are not you know
coming to your office and sliding you a check
and saying hey
make sure this Bill goes through correct
not that's not most of it and not with me
I think I pretty well made my position clear in Columbia
and so I don't so that
that does happen though OK
that that does happen yup
I I know that it happens
I've seen it happen
and and not
not the chat it's just not
it's just not exclusively what happens correct
it's it's not the only way that lobby works
but a lot of times lobbyists
you know they
they they are paid by a particular industry
and industries that that want to protect themselves and
and I'm not a protectionist I
I will work I
I want to help industries in
so far as creating a free market environment
for them to thrive
but passing legislation to maybe
create a barrier of entry that
that excludes competition and protects
you know only their members
that happens a lot there's a lot of bills that that
wanna get filed
for those reasons and so those
you know I might create a little friction
between me and and some of the lobbyists on
on those fronts but
but there's plenty of room to work together
because they've got relationships
you know you mentioned
you know studies and relationships are key
they might have relationships with some of the business
owners in their
in their professional organization that they represent
that are very very helpful to be able to go and
and then just have a conversation and ask
you know the impact of maybe even tort reform
you know how's this impacting your business
what have you seen
whereas
I might not have those relationships off the bat
so there is value
that that they can bring
for sure it's not all nefarious
sure sure
so moving on from that
a couple of couple of just high
high picture just what your general sense is
high level
kind of thing what kind of legislative priorities
do you have moving forward
are you wanting to stay in Columbia kind of long term
I guess we'll start with that
like do you
do you see this as something where
you'd like to be there for
a few years or is it just kind of like maybe
you know a one or two term thing or a feel it out
not feeling it out
I don't see it as necessary a long term sort of thing
maybe a handful of terms
you know but we evaluate that
even now is do I want to run for reelection or not
I think so we'll make that decision as a family
you know just
you know the kids are growing up
so that's my first priority
there will always be somebody who can sit in this seat
and and cast a vote
and there's good people that can do that
I enjoy it
so I think
I might like to stick around for a couple terms
as far as staying in Columbia
you know I'm not trying to
this isn't a stepping stone for me
many
many see these positions as stepping stones
maybe to
to a higher office maybe governor or
or even Congress or a federal position or appointment
I have no ambition like that
this to
this to me it
it is where the the battle is fought this
this is of great importance to me
so
I'm not trying to get somewhere else
through this channel this
to me is a destination of its own and
and I'm enjoying it but it's not
I don't feel like it's a lifelong calling necessarily
sure I
I will say you know
with all the mixed opinions on our governor
one thing that I have appreciated is that
once he got there he
it wasn't a stepping stone for him
you know it was like
so many governors are angling for something else and
and our previous governor was certainly of that mindset
oh
still is yeah
yes still is
but
but I do appreciate that that Governor Mcmaster for
you know some of his shortcomings
he has been focused on the state and hasn't been
you know
going out to California to see the wildfires and
you know random things like that
that don't help South Carolinians
that's right Mcmaster
and I pick on him a lot
and I call him out constantly on social
well not as much recently but but
but I I've taken my opportunities to do that
but they're not personal attacks
I don't dislike the man personally and
and to your point he
he is a South Carolina
and he loves this state and he loves his people
we have completely different philosophies
on how to best help the people of South Carolina
completely they're
they're they are opposing ideologies
but I don't dislike the man personally
and I've had good conversations with him at
at at
at the mansion around the State House
he
he's gracious he's cordial and and
and he does love I
I think he genuinely loves the people of South Carolina
misguided as you may be
that that I've
I've
agree with with your appreciation of
of him staying here and focusing on the people here
and not using it as a stepping stone
yeah absolutely
so what
let's assume that you that you do
get a a couple of terms
maybe more
what would be your legislative priorities currently
you know we're recording this in July 2025
yes so it
it's it's somewhat multifaceted
so I
I do serve on the Education
Public Works Committee in the house
so that the legislation that goes through there is of
naturally of of
of importance to me because that's
that's what I'm working on in committee
in subcommittee and so
so
and being a homeschool you know
parent that education is just
it's just
naturally important to me so
so I'm drawn to that
and that will remain a priority
just because of the job that's assigned to me there
as far as other personal
endeavors or or
or passions the tort reform is huge
was long before I got elected
so that's gonna stay of high importance until we fix
fix that problem and then the
the Make America Healthy Again agenda has been of
of of growing
importance to me I've gotten
I'm very plugged in with RFK junior and his team
in in Washington
and they've been very helpful
in helping with state level policy and
and guidance that you know we
we have a very sick population
we have a lot of people on Medicare
you know the very unhealthy population
childhood obesity is
is rising here as it is in many places and
and so we got to take a really good look
especially that that's our future
it's
it's not just not just the people it's
it's the it's the
you talk about expense of the state
it's very expensive to care for sick people
and so
so the the Make America Healthy Again agenda
and applying that to South Carolina
we've
we've got a project called healthy and Free SC
that'll launch publicly
hopefully this fall
got a lot of legislators very interested in
in working together
and we've already passed some legislation
we passed a out of the house
we passed a healthy school lunch Bill
it
it doesn't go as far as I'd like to
but it goes it does a good job of starting to clean up
a lot of the school lunches
and setting a standard to getting rid of some of the
some of the food dyes
and some of the other ingredients that contribute to
long term sickness
so that was a
I thought that was a good Bill
we got that
got that passed out of the house
the Senate will take that up when we
when we return
I've got a snap Bill filed to get rid of candy and
and Coke off of snap benefits
that's
I think most people by now
I've heard that
a lot of states are getting those waivers
from the USDA to get rid
snap is a USDA program
so we have to get permission to remove stuff from it
but the USDA secretary has been
been very quick to respond to all those waivers
so my Bill that that's in the house will
direct the state to apply for the waiver
is essentially the mechanism
so that'll move in January
I've got assurance from the committee chairman that
that'll be a quick
quick move
there and get it over to the Senate so they can
pass out of there make it law in South Carolina
so the the whole Maha platform agenda is
is a big passion of mine
and
and seeing what we can do because I think that's just
if we've got to
we've got to we have a short window of opportunity
we really a generational opportunity to fix things
and change the the direction that we're going in
and I think we need to capitalize
on the opportunity we have right now
absolutely yeah
that's great alright
last question is there anything that excites you
we talked a lot about the negative things
is there and I actually had a question on here that was
is there anything
concerns you about the direction of our government
I think we pretty much well gone through that
is there anything that excites you
about the direction of our state government
and we'll end on that positive note
yeah well
what I was just talking about
the whole Mahar stuff there
there the it's
it's it's bipartisan
you know it
it crosses party lines
Democrat kids are just as sick as Republican kids
you know it affects everybody
and so it's brought some unity
to that regard and
and
and that I am excited about
because that does change the direction as a state
and and there's a big appetite for that right now
no pun intended
so so I'm and
and not not just in the Legislature
but in some of the other agencies
I've had great conversations with other
agency directors who are excited to implement stuff
and so they're looking at what they
they can do just on their own
and then taking a look at what they might need
legislative direction on
and and so
being able to collaborate with agency directors
and other agencies
who are administering these various programs and
and so forth
meeting with nutrition directors at schools
and high schools understanding that better
we've got a lot of momentthere
I'm very very excited about that
school choice is moving
I think that
opens the door for a lot of freedom
and opportunity for folks
so there's a lot of
can you explain what the state's doing
on the school choice
initiative just real quick
so and we could probably take a whole podcast for this
yeah yeah
let yeah
give us the give us the
the executive summary yeah
we we passed the Bill
out of the house
a school choice Bill that
that expands school choice some
and it and it's kind of a phase in type of a
a Bill it's not it wasn't my preference
but where I've landed on the school choice topic is
is I'm really an all of the above
legislator so if it's school choice
if there's different ways to do school choice
and everybody's got their opinion
on how it should be done
where we tend to agree is that something
it should be done right so
so if we can get legislation that is gonna move
and it's gonna expand school choice
no matter how much I'm generally gonna get behind it
what I'd like to see is is more of a tax credit model
to where
to where the parents really are in charge of that and
and we have a Bill in there
for for tax credits for
for school choice and and basically the requirement is
as long as you don't send your kids to government
school
you get a certain amount of
tax credit on a refundable tax credit on your state
state income tax and so so you'd file your
your tax return and if you check a box that
that you do not send your kids to
to public school as long as that's true
you'd get a certain amount of money
if I think that Bill
is it's either five or 7 thousand dollars per kid
so then that allows those parents
to take that money and direct it whether it's to
to homeschooling or the private school or
or or
or I think you'll have other
other models pop up different micro schools
you've got so many people who can educate children
so I think that's gonna I think that model gives you
a bigger I think it's more of a free market approach
as long as you
and I know there's still government money
tax money involved but
but that's really
you're getting back money that you put in
you're really just getting back some of your taxes
yeah and and we pay taxes in so many different ways
it's not just just income tax
we've got sales tax you've got you know you
if you if you own a boat
you're paying tax property tax on that
if you have a fishing license
you've paid a tax to get a fishing license so
so I think it's a I think it's a pretty fair
system and get that money back and
and then direct your kids education as you see fit
that's my preference
I'm hoping to get some traction on that
we'll see what everybody else thinks about it
but we are there's a number of
you know efforts made and and
and the momentum's growing
so I think in the next several sessions
we're going to see a lot more progress there fantastic
well Steven
it's been a great interview
thank you so much for
for being a gracious host and coming on
where should the
if the people want to find you and I'll
I'll put your contact information in the show notes
but for those that don't go to the show notes
where can they find how to contact you or
or find social media updates
or whatever you want to share
yeah my website is votestephenfrank.com
I've got links to both
Facebook and and X I'm on both platforms
X is more exciting
so if you wanna have a little more fun
then find me on X if you just want some general updates
Facebook is probably your place to go
both of those there
emails is on the website as well
Steven at votestephenfrank.com
and my phone number will be there
so people are free to email
call text
whatever is convenient
I'll happy to reply anyway I'm contacted
alright awesome Steven
thank you so much
thank you to the listeners for listening
please don't forget to subscribe like review rate
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my contact information will be in the show notes
alongside Steven's you can also reach out to me
for any of your local real estate needs
thank you guys for listening
and we will talk again next time!