West Columbia, SC 06/06/2022 (Paul Kirby) – Representative Micah Caskey (R) of House District 89 is running for reelection in the upcoming June 14th primary. He faces newcomer Melanie Shull, also a Republican, for the seat that represents the people of West Columbia, Cayce, Springdale, the area around the Columbia Metro Airport, most of the Pine Grove community, and almost up to the Town of South Congaree town limits on Airport Boulevard. That district is bounded by I-20 on one side and the Congaree River along a large swath of its northeast.
Caskey said in a recent interview that he was exceptionally proud of what he and the other members of the SC Legislature had accomplished during the 2021-2022 session. Some of these new laws he mentioned included the “Heartbeat Bill” which protects the lives of unborn children, a bill that strengthen the 2nd Amendments Rights of South Carolinians, and as the pandemic slowed down, their work to get South Carolina’s children back into their traditional school and classroom settings.
Caskey grew up in Springdale and was first elected to serve in the House of Representatives in 2017. Prior to that, he was an assistant solicitor in the 11th Circuit which covers Lexington, Saluda, Edgefield, and McCormick counties. He is also an Eagle Scout and a former active-duty captain in the United States Marine Corps. He currently is an attorney by trade and owns a private law firm in West Columbia.
If reelected, Caskey will begin his fourth two-year term in the House. That would make him one of the most senior members of the House in the Lexington County Legislative Delegation. He says that even today, he is still learning the many nuances of how laws are passed, and things are best done at the Statehouse in South Carolina. “No matter how many years you serve, the learning never stops,” he said. “Behind the scenes, there are certain policies, procedures, and legislative tricks that you must constantly be watching for. Often, we only see a few simple lines of wording that changes a bill’s meaning. Those changes often have no business being there, they are add-ons that flash quickly across our system but can change a bill’s meaning dramatically. Knowing how these are displayed and knowing the proper procedures to get them stopped is a difficult and complex job. In cases such as this, my seniority counts so that I can help protect the people of Lexington County from these types of sleights of hand moves.”
He also said that what some people see as a negative vote on legislation is not always the final story. During this session, he took some heat after first voting against the “Women in Sports Bill” that would prevent biological males from competing in women’s sports. “The first version of that bill was far too narrow,” Caskey said. “The first version, the one I was against, did include high school sports but did not cover athletics on the collegiate level. Once we had a better bill that covered everything it needed to, I was fully in support of it.” He continued by saying, “The problem is my opponent and a few others latched onto my first opposition and never mentioned my support of the later version of that law that passed. That’s the politics of the situation and in order for people to know the truth, they have to be following the bill’s progress closely.” In closing on this topic, he agreed these half stories are sometimes like a crime report on the news. Often, when a crime is committed, it makes a big headline, and everyone sees it. It’s big news. Many people simply believe the accused is guilty because they’ve been arrested and charged. However, when the case comes to court two or three years later, the case is dropped prior to trial, or the suspect is acquitted, there’s little or no coverage of that. It’s often the same when a member of the legislature votes against an incomplete or bad bill. If the concept of the bill is popular but the bill itself doesn’t get it right the first time, that no vote is reported and heavily used against the elected official. When the improved version of the bill passes with that same member’s support, few are willing to point that out or it goes unnoticed.
Caskey is exceptionally proud of some of the tax measures he helped pass this year. In total, a $1 billion dollar tax cut for South Carolinian’s was passed. The legislature also passed a Sales tax exemption for Senior Citizens and eliminated income taxes for Veterans who receive retirement income after serving 20 or more years. Caskey said that they did this and were still able to give teachers and those in the law enforcement fields pay raises. He also supported the 2022 House Budget which supports volunteer firefighters, EMS, and law enforcement personnel among other things.
“We were able to pass laws this year to prevent the teaching of Critical Race Theory in SC schools in the last session. That is another good example of the importance of having a good, clean bill,” Caskey said. “If we simply had passed a bill that prohibited Critical Race Theory (CRT) by name, the same curriculum and concepts could be given another name and acronym and then be taught to our children. We had to have a good bill that didn’t just prohibit teaching CRT but also the basic thoughts and pretenses behind that. It had to be a bill that couldn’t easily be sidestepped. Again, my experience tells me there is a way to identify and then get a good, clean bill through the House. That experience also tells me when to vote no if a bill is either overreaching or too narrow.”
One of the other things that the legislature accomplished during the last session was changes in our state laws that now allows South Carolina to stand up to unconstitutional federal mandates that arose so quickly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Part of that was establishing additional checks on the Governor’s emergency powers and protecting religious freedoms. This will ensure that churches can no longer be forced to close their doors when they are needed most. Caskey is proud to have voted to pass these measures as well.
There are a number of other laws that were changed or came into being in the 2021-2022 legislative session with Caskey’s support. Many of the most important are detailed on Caskey’s Legislative Update mailer that was sent to the people of House 89. For your convenience, a PDF copy of that is included here:
Legislative Update:
In closing, Caskey said that he is both accessible and accountable to his constituents. If you’d like to speak with him regarding the issues, you can reach him by telephone at 803 250-5834 or by email at micah@micahcaskey.com. You can also review his website at MicahCaskey.com or follow him on Facebook at facebook.com/votemicahcaskey.
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