SHEALY PACKS HEADQUARTERS WITH SUPPORTERS FOR GRAND OPENING

KATRINA SHEALY’S REMARKS FOR GRAND OPENING AND ANNOUNCEMENT

Good evening. I want to thank everyone for coming out tonight to join me and my family for a very special announcement.

In 2008, we came very close to replacing Senator Jake Knotts but the election was stolen in the runoff when democrats flooded the polls to help their friend stay in office. Since that day, I knew in my heart that we would come back in four years and claim victory in this race. We officially start this evening as I announce my candidacy for the Republican nomination for SC Senate District 23. We are also here to celebrate the grand opening of the Shealy for Senate campaign headquarters. My thanks go out to the McGee family who have generously donated this space for the purpose of putting District 23 in the hands of a true conservative and restore dignity to the office of Senate District 23.

I want to thank my husband Jimmy and my family for standing with me as I continue the fight to win District 23. And to all my friends who have shown such dedication to our goal.
Most of you know that I am committed to my faith, my work and my community. Jimmy and I are active members of St. James Lutheran Church of Lexington where I serve on several committees and Jimmy and I both sing in the choir.

Along with my commitment to God and family I will bring a lifelong history of hard work to the SC Senate. My first job was working for my dad bagging groceries at Piggly Wiggly when I was just 13. I quickly advanced to cashier and worked there until I started work in the insurance industry. I worked part-time, while a junior in high school, for my father’s insurance agency and I only had one other job before becoming employed with Davis-Garvin Insurance Agency in Columbia. I have worked there for nearly 30 years. I have worked hard all my life and I will bring this work ethic, my private business management experience, and my knowledge of free market principles to the SC Senate.

As the wife of a small business owner, I understand the problems business owners face every day in this poor economy. I know firsthand how the cost of health care, worker’s compensation and government regulations can threaten to drive a 55-year business owner out of work. As Senator, I will fight for small business owners to have fewer regulations and fewer government mandates so they can afford to keep people employed.

In addition to my strong work ethic, I will bring my commitment to supporting my community to the State House. I have served my community for many years. I am currently the chair of the South Carolina Friends of Juvenile Justice Board of Directors and I am a founding board member of Women of Hope, a newly-formed organization with Lexington Medical Foundation that reaches out to patients in need, and to the community. I am a former board member of the Lexington County Department of Social Services and the Girl Scouts of the Congaree.

While serving on a committee with Department of Juvenile Justice Director Margaret Barber and Habitat for Humanity Director Roy Kramer, I helped lead the effort to build the house that was recenty “lifted over the fence”. This project is near and dear to my heart because I am passionate about helping young people become productive citizens.

I have also contributed a good portion of my life to the conservative cause. I co-chaired the GOP Victory efforts in 2004 and 2006, and I have raised tens of thousands of dollars for the Lexington County Republican Party.

In 2007, I served as the Lexington County Republican Party Chairman. Prior to serving as chair I was the treasurer for two years. I have been a delegate to the South Carolina GOP Convention several times and while being elected as delegate to the latest convention, I received more votes than any other Lexington County GOP member, which includes several SC legislators and a US Congressman. I attended the 2004 Republican National Convention and was an alternate delegate for the 2008 Republican National Convention.

I am a charter member of the West Metro Republican Women’s group that I helped found in 2001 and I served as president from 2008 to 2010. I have also been a delegate to both the State and National Federation of Republican Women’s conventions.

Having attended many tea party events, I have been a strong supporter of the tea party movement since its inception a few years ago. I credit tea party groups and other patriot organizations for regaining the conservative citizen’s voice and for the election of sincere conservatives at every level of government.

That is just a small sampling of my background which qualifies me to enter this race. Now I want to share what my plans for when I am elected to the SC Senate. I will be a leader on key issues that create a pro-growth economy for South Carolina. My reforms will lead to more jobs; especially higher paying jobs. The reforms I am adopting as my platform are modeled after a study by renowned economists and commissioned by the SC Policy Council. The study, with bold reform recommendations, was published in 2009, and the information was widely marketed to conservative leaders across the state. So there isn’t a lack of knowledge about what needs to be done to improve our economy, there is simply a lack of will. I will lead the effort to implement fundamental reforms to free the market place and “unleash capitalism”. I have the will and I am determined to fight for the reforms that will bring economic prosperity to our state.

I will begin with tax reform. I will lead the effort to simplify the tax system and develop a tax structure that doesn’t pick winners and losers. We will save money for businesses and tax payers by streamlining the tax system, and making it simple to understand. When everyone can easily understand the system it will be harder for politicians and special interests to hide favors to friends. This will result in leveling the playing field and providing transparency for the businesses and individuals who pay for government.

I plan to eliminate all state taxes and replace them with one simple state sales tax. We will do away with all state taxes including income taxes, property taxes and fees and replace this revenue with an equitable sales tax. When the sales tax is the only source for government revenue, taxpayers will save a substantial amount of money. Furthermore, converting to a single source of government revenue will remove the burden and expense from businesses for being the “tax collector”.

I will also lead to fight to reduce industrial property taxes. South Carolina has the highest industrial property tax in the nation. The state tax on industry is 3.75% while neighboring states North Carolina and Georgia have rates of .98% and 1.52% respectively. It is no wonder we see industrial parks that sit empty across our state and we have one of the nation’s worst unemployment rates.

Another important ingredient in unleashing capitalism it regulatory reform. I will lead the effort to eliminate wasteful and inefficient regulations to create a market-friendly regulatory system. The regulatory environment in South Carolina needs to be revised and simplified. Regulatory reforms should have the goal of fostering more entrepreneurship, attracting businesses from other states, and reducing government intervention in the market place. Bold reforms will create more, and higher paying jobs and an improved standard of living for South Carolinians. The regulatory system should treat people equally under the law using a simple cost-benefit evaluation to bring much needed transparency and accountability to the system. It will then work for everyone and not pick winners and losers.

The other fundamental component to ushering in prosperity for South Carolina citizens is education reform. We can no longer allow so called conservatives in the General Assembly to hold up the proven effective model of providing competition with school choice. School choice is about freeing up parents to be consumer and freeing up schools to be innovative. Providing more choice and competition in education will give us a better product for a better price. In addition to providing more school choice, we must create an environment for innovation and flexibility in public schools by removing government restrictions on public school funding. We need to eliminate the current funding structure so that schools and teachers can respond directly to the needs of their students, not some cookie-cutter scheme designed in the dusty halls of the State House.

Another way to improve public education is to maximize education funding by distributing funds directly to schools. To get the most for every education dollar, we must remove the bureaucracy that sucks the life out of education funding before it reaches the classroom. We can increase our school funding resources by simply spending our existing funding in a more focused fashion. An overhaul directing us to responsible spending can easily guarantee schools the money they need without taxing citizens further.

I know that the economic issues that plague our state and nation are critical and these issues need the urgent attention of the SC General Assembly. However, I remain committed to the social issues of the conservative platform. I understand that it is the responsibility of government to protect our God-given rights.

I am Pro Second Amendment and I understand the responsibility of government to protect the right to bear arms; a fundamental freedom. You can count on me to always protect and defend our right to bear arms.

I am 100 % Pro Life and I will always fight to protect the right to life from conception through natural death. I believe that all human life, born and unborn, has essential value.

I am Pro family because I understand that the traditional American family is the basic fundamental unit of our society and I will promote governmental actions that strengthen the family to help foster a more stable society. And I will always defend traditional marriage between one man and one woman.

I am Katrina Shealy and I am a principled leader who wants to be held accountable and I am running for South Carolina Senate District 23. The election will be held June 12th and I need your support!
Thank you again for coming out tonight to support my candidacy. Now let’s get to work!