May 16, 2024 

The following is a joint statement issued by the South Carolina Policy Council and South Carolina  Public Interest Foundation in response to a recent opinion column submitted by S.C. Commerce  Secretary Harry Lightsey to at least two news outlets in the state: 

The South Carolina Policy Council and South Carolina Public Interest Foundation last month jointly  submitted a formal complaint to the S.C. State Ethics Commission regarding Scout Motors’  electric-vehicle assembly plant under construction in Richland County. The commission’s  executive director in an April 26, 2024, letter notified the two organizations that the complaint  “contained facts sufficient to warrant an investigation.”  

The Policy Council and The Nerve – the investigative news arm of the Policy Council – each  published the complaint on their respective websites on April 29, 2024. 

On May 6, 2024, and May 9, 2024, two South Carolina media outlets published an opinion column  by S.C. Commerce Secretary Harry Lightsey addressing the complaint. Mr. Lightsey’s column,  however, contains a number of mischaracterizations about the complaint, including: 

• Most importantly, contrary to what Mr. Lightsey claimed, the Policy Council and Public  Interest Foundation did not jointly file a complaint against Scout for “allegedly failing to  register as a lobbyist principal.” Rather, the complaint asks the commission only to  investigate whether Scout failed to register as a lobbyist principal under state ethics law  before the Legislature and Gov. Henry McMaster last year approved a nearly $1.3 billion appropriation (Act 3 of 2023) for the project – a massive amount of state tax dollars and  unprecedented among recent incentives deals, which Mr. Lightsey failed to mention.  

• Mr. Lightsey stated that Scout wasn’t involved in his direct meetings about the project with  the Republican and Democratic caucuses of the state House and Senate before the  chambers passed Act 3 of 2023 and therefore wasn’t required by law to register as a lobbyist principal. The complaint, though, doesn’t mention those closed-door meetings.  Instead, it lists three other private meetings or events between Scout officials or its  representatives and Gov. McMaster, his staff or lawmakers before the appropriation was  approved. 

• Mr. Lightsey stated that Scout wasn’t involved in a “lengthy debate” in both the House and  Senate before Act 3 of 2023 was passed (which took only one week for both chambers) and  therefore wasn’t required by law to register as a lobbyist principal. But as with the earlier  closed-door caucus meetings, the complaint doesn’t address whether Scout was involved  with the open House and Senate debates but rather lists three separate private meetings 

or events between Scout officials or its representatives and Gov. McMaster, his staff or  lawmakers before the appropriation was approved. 

• Mr. Lightsey claims that the “main purpose of filing the complaint appears to be primarily to  create an opportunity to publicly smear Scout and rehash long-standing grievances the  Policy Council has with the confidential, competitive process of economic development  recruitment and with economic development incentives.” The Policy Council and Public  Interest Foundation strongly reject that they intended to “publicly smear” Scout with the  

filing of the complaint. Neither organization as a matter of principle opposes any company  locating or expanding in South Carolina but believes all such businesses must comply with  state ethics laws if applicable. As for the Policy Council’s “long-standing grievances,” the  organization for nearly 40 years has stood firmly for the principle of free market enterprise and remains a leading champion for our vital business community but believes that the  current incentives process lacks transparency and accountability to taxpayers. 

In the end, the Policy Council and Public Interest Foundation respect the purpose and procedures  of the State Ethics Commission and will cooperate fully with its investigation of the filed complaint  against Scout Motors Inc. South Carolina citizens and taxpayers deserve answers in this case. 

The South Carolina Policy Council is a Columbia-based, nonprofit, nonpartisan research  organization founded in 1986 on the principles of limited government, free market enterprise, and  individual liberty and responsibility. The Nerve, which has been operating since 2010, focuses on  government waste, lack of transparency, conflicts of interest and abuse of power in South Carolina. 

SCPC.scpiF Scout Complaint by MyrtleBeachSC news on Scribd

The South Carolina Public Interest Foundation, which was founded in 2005 and is based in  Simpsonville, is an independent, nonpartisan private operating foundation dedicated to ensuring  that South Carolina governments, agencies and officials act in strict compliance with the state  Constitution and statutes.