Reasonable Tort Reform to Preserve and Protect Jobs for South Carolina

Columbia, S.C. – (May 4, 2011) – This morning South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley held a press conference at the South Carolina State House alongside leaders of the state’s business community as well as SC Speaker of the House Bobby Harrell and SC Senator Larry Martin, who are both strong advocates for tort reform, to publicly extend her support for the passage of meaningful civil justice reform this year to help improve the state’s business climate and put South Carolina on an even playing field with other southern states competing for economic development.

During her remarks, Governor Haley directly asked the SC Senate to take the final steps during this legislative session to promptly pass the comprehensive reform measure that was approved by the SC House earlier this year with an overwhelming, bipartisan vote of 100-7.  This is not the first time that Governor Haley has weighed in on this issue. She has been a long-time supporter of tort reform while serving in the SC House of Representatives, and she campaigned for the issue during her gubernatorial bid. Also, just last month she cosigned a letter to the Senate along with 80 CEOs and business leaders representing businesses large and small from across the state urging for the passage of this bill.

The business community feels strongly that South Carolina must have reasonable limits on punitive damages to compete for new business and protect and grow those that are already here. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, South Carolina ranks 39^th out of 50 states for fairness of its litigation environment, which is consistently reported as being a critical factor when businesses are deciding where to locate.

“Strong tort reform is critical to giving South Carolina a competitive edge in recruiting new companies and protecting our existing businesses from frivolous lawsuits,” said Governor Haley. “Improving our state’s business climate depends on the Senate quickly passing a meaningful bill with reasonable limits on punitive damages.”

“This is about one issue and one issue only – Jobs.  Tort Reform is one of the most effective economic improvement issues before the General Assembly this year,” said House Speaker Bobby Harrell.  “Right now, South Carolina is less competitive than our neighboring states because they have already adopted these lawsuit abuse reforms that lawmakers and our business community are working so hard to pass this session.”

“This issue is about economic development and jobs,” said Cam Crawford, SCCJC Executive Director. “Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida all have reasonable limits on punitive damages. If South Carolina is to compete successfully against these states for jobs, our legislature needs to pass meaningful tort reform this year.”

“We thank Governor Haley for her leadership on this issue as well as Speaker Harrell, Senator Martin and other supporters, and we strongly agree with them that by reducing frivolous lawsuits and enacting reasonable judicial reforms we can put South Carolina back to work,” said SCCJC Chairman J.J. Darby.  “We need the legislature to pass meaningful tort reform this year to help our state’s businesses grow and create jobs.”

SCCJC serves as the unified voice of the South Carolina business community on civil justice issues.

# # #