David Williams

Thank you Coach @dawnstaley. Proud to support @GamecockWBB and the incredible standard you've set for the program. Go Gamecocks. 🤙

With Florida’s “Tort Reform” (aka Big Insurance Bailout), insurance premiums have increased ⬆️ and insurance denials have increased ⬆️. Do you want this to happen to you South Carolina? Senator Massey said S. 244 was modeled after Florida’s tort reform- a failed disaster that President Trump called “the WORSE INSURANCE SCAM in history.” We cannot fall for this Big Bogus Insurance Bailout in SC. Call your SC state senator and tell them to STOP 🛑 Senate Bill 244!!!

Incredibly proud of this team and the work we are doing!

S.244 would make it even harder for vulnerable people to get justice. One group it would hurt? Victims of nursing home abuse. If it passes, corporate-owned nursing homes could shift blame onto individual employees—often low-paid workers with no ability to compensate victims—allowing the corporations to escape accountability. Here’s how it could play out: A man’s elderly mother was assaulted by a nursing home worker. The company had been warned about dangerous hiring practices but ignored red flags to protect profits. When he sued, the nursing home added the abuser to the case. The jury, disgusted, assigned most of the blame to the individual worker—not the corporation that hired him. The result? The nursing home walked away unscathed, and his mother never got justice. This is the loophole S.244 creates. It shields corporations while victims are left with nothing. Call your Senator at (803) 212-6200 and tell them to VOTE NO on S.244.

I’d love to see the data on Orangeburg. This should be a bipartisan issue. Education is the building block for everything we all want. Frustration with our schools is the number one reason why I hear people do not live in Orangeburg - whether looking at coming or going! Those that are critical, offer solutions to fix the problem. Everyone deserves a good education even if it’s the only thing our government provides.

This Wednesday, the SC House will once again vote on school vouchers. To level set, the House passed vouchers two years ago. I voted no because it’s plainly unconstitutional to give public money to private or religious schools’ tuition (Read Article XI of the state constitution). Fortunately, the state Supreme Court agreed & struck down the tuition portion but allowed any other private or public expenses. Unfortunately, the state appropriated $30 million last year to the vouchers for this school year out of public education funding. What that practically means is my school district, School District of Pickens County, lost $611,000.00 this year. (I have the lost revenue for each school district. If interested in yours, comment and I’ll reply.) What could have been another $600 raise for every one of our 1,000 teachers in Pickens County or what could have been another 10 teachers to reduce class size or 10 mental health counselors was instead sent to the voucher fund. In full transparency, 28 Pickens County students received $53,000 in voucher money this year. Well what was it spent on? Tutoring or services or transfer fees? No, nearly $30,000 was spent on computers. In effect, we traded $611,000 for 15 computers. No reasonable person would say that is a good trade, or that “choice” occurred, or that education improved. Did you know that out of the $30 million, $4.5 million has been spent: $1.5 million paid a Florida-based company called Class Wallet to distribute the money and $1.5 million was spent on computers. Worse, currently, the budget proposal includes $45 million for next year. SDPC will lose another $885,000. Even worse, there’s no accountability. How much was spent on the computers? Were they returned for gift cards or money back? We will never know. Here is where I am: Of course, the constitution is still important to me. If we want to amend the constitution to allow public money to private & religious schools, then put it to a public vote. The state constitution has been amended at least 100 times since 1974, including twice in 2022. But just as important to me now is the practicality of the issue. What’s the objective? I’m told the objective is to give choice, improve public schools, & allow money to follow the child. Practically, there won’t be one new school created with this voucher system. It’s impossible to build a facility, maintain a facility, & pay teachers for $6,000 per pupil. The math doesn’t add up. Try it yourself with whatever building you want to build. We have been experimenting with charter schools in SC for over two decades. Despite steady revenue, there is not one charter school in the I-95 corridor. Are we expecting private or religious schools to do so with less money? So the whole “we’re creating a market” or “competition” or “choice” is just plain false. Going to improve public schools? Umm, no. The first school voucher program passed in Wisconsin in 1989. 4th grade proficiency is worse in 2024 than in 1998 in Wisconsin. Florida and Arizona have been highlighted by choice advocates. It’s pretty well known now that Florida outputs have plummeted. Fourth grade reading scores this year fell to their lowest point since 2003. Florida ranks 43rd in grade 8 reading. Florida ranks 41st in grade 8 math. Arizona has plummeted. Arizona’s proficiency is at its lowest point in two decades. In contrast, Massachusetts is consistently ranked #1 in the nation. Guess what, no vouchers. Money follow the child? This is humorous if we understand the math. To pay $6,000 in taxes for vouchers intended to follow the child, a taxpayer would have to have taxed income over $250,000. Only 2% of taxpayers have that income. So, it’s literally taking money from others intended for mass education to give to an individual. That’s one of those bad -ism words …

I’m hearing there are a lot of pissed off Senate Caucus GOP members after yesterday’s revelations that the Caucus account was used by for the ad buy to push 244.

@dcm1142 If the people giving money have to hide what they are doing and who they are paying, shouldn’t that tell us something? Citizens should ask about the “dark money” where it’s coming from and who’s behind trying to take away the systems that make us safer.

@ColaSCWatchDog Not just buy ads. . . They bought ads to have people call and email their senators. In other words they bought ads to try to trick themselves into believing this is what people want?

What a joke. More people are starting to get smart on how bad this legislation is, so here come the deep pockets to try to ram it through.   As a reminder, here’s what S.244 really does:   🏢 Lets insurance companies drag out claims—you could wait 10 months or more before seeing a dime for auto or home insurance claims.   ❌ Does nothing to lower your premiums—in states where similar bills passed, rates skyrocketed by 35%.   🤷‍♂️ Has both Donald Trump Jr. AND Democrats against it—when do they ever agree? That tells you how toxic this bill is.   📞 Call your State Senator at (803) 212-6200 and tell them: VOTE NO on S 244! We won’t stand by while insurance companies rewrite the rules in their favor. @reform_ins_sc

@crazyclips_ Typical insurance company

A Chicago Bulls fan made this shot for a million dollars but the insurance company refused to pay him after finding out he played college basketball

@ColaSCWatchDog @shanemassey @Allstate @postandcourier @thestate Why do politicians believe just because plaintiff's lawyers are against it there must be something good for the defendants?!? Reminds me when the defense lawyers thought it would be a good idea to bifurcate punitive damages on verdict forms . . . we warned them and ?!?!

I’m hearing that SC Senate Majority leader @shanemassey’s biggest client is @Allstate—meanwhile he is sponsoring legislation that benefits his cash cow (& all insurance companies) big time. 🤔 Is anyone in #scpol media covering this conflict? @postandcourier @thestate

@scinsdefenselaw @ColaSCWatchDog @shanemassey @Allstate @postandcourier @thestate you are an anonymous insurance defense lawyer because that's the real problem. You don't seem to appreciate who your client is. You give bad advice and fail to protect your clients (the people and businesses of SC). NOT A REASON TO BAILOUT INSURERS!!!!

@ColaSCWatchDog @shanemassey @Allstate @postandcourier @thestate I’m hearing the SC plaintiff trial attorneys benefit from the current system and are painicking over the proposed law change.

Insurance companies & their cronies want you to trust them that it’s someone else’s fault they are ripping you off on your car, home & biz coverage.Their greed may not even stop at picking your pocket tho, now are they stealing & selling private data too? texasstandard.org/stories/texas-…

@scchamber They can under what scenarios. . . Fill in the blank and quit causing good businesses to fear so you can protect bad actors or further line your pockets via insurers. Is the Chamber now a division of the insurance industry?

@scchamber Who is responsible for this content? Your leader of this bill in the senate is a trial lawyer! He just primarily represents individuals via their insurer. Think about all the businesses you are supposed to represent that need our civil justice system primarily to fight insurers